Designing by Instinct: Why Smith Architects Starts With What a Site Is Already Saying

Smith Architects founder Phil Smith spoke with ArchiPro about the instinct behind good design — why every project begins by reading what a site is already saying through its sun, its prevailing winds and the feel of the land itself.

The conversation traces that thinking across the practice's work: the lessons early childcare projects taught about how people really move through space, the evolutionary roots of what we find beautiful, Te Mirumiru's use of concrete to express permanence for Ngāti Hine, and a 48-home passive house development in Hamilton arranged around shared green space.

It closes on a case for climate-responsive, long-life buildings — and for trusting the instinct that comes from years of watching how people actually use the spaces we make.

Read the full article by Tara Bird on ArchiPro here.