From Design to Construction. From a mere dream to a key in the door.

How A Living Concept’s holistic and coordinated full-service approach delivers projects where the joy comes built in.

Does struggle mean success?

Convenience and excellence are usually seen as mutually exclusive. For something to have the quality of excellence, it is often assumed that the process of its creation must have been intensive and laboured, full of struggles to be overcome. Our inbuilt scarcity mindset means we often believe that if it comes easy, it can’t be valuable. Thank struggling artists like Hemingway for that…

But it doesn’t have to be this way. At A Living Concept we believe that it is not a struggle, but instead a state of calm and tranquillity that bring about beauty, harmony and elegance. Indeed, a chaotic build can leave excited new home owners with nothing but a bad taste in their mouths, when what they should be doing is enjoying their new home and bathing in the pride of a project well executed. Building (or re-building) a house is a life investment – not only of money, but of one’s personality, effort and love. As such, the relationship with the building process itself needs to be characterised by love and respect as much as the relationship with the final product.

It’s important to get it right.

Integration and streamlining to reduce stress

Resultantly, at A Living Concept we believe that the process colours the product. And this belief is fundamental to shaping not only what we design, but how we address the way it will be implemented. All too often architects and designers allow their flights of fancy to get carried away with unrealistic, impractical and ill-considered concepts, which they then throw into the hands of construction planners who are tasked with making the impossible possible. The relationship between the two is marked by tension and conflict – with each pursuing different priorities and objectives. All-too-often, this lack of an effective working relationship creates the kind of planning stress, budget overruns and arguments that embed themselves in the final result – just as we talked about above.

That’s why not only do we engage in a design process that is focused on the whole path – from initial conception to final creation – but we design our services in a joined up way – offering a ‘one stop shop’ for clients who are seeking to create their dream space.

This goes beyond merely having a favoured contractor – our construction services are an actual part of our company; they’re fully in-house. Our process consists of more than mere partnerships, it’s a holistic ecosystem; built around a relationship between designer, in-house building and project management teams, and incorporating a range of technical experts, craftspeople, and even finance and administrative services. When we say we offer a Turnkey service, we truly mean it.

And emerging from the pandemic, where people are beginning to re-feel a sense of cautious optimism, this has resulted in greater demand for our integrated services than ever before – especially as people are taking a more critical look at the way they live and starting to explore what will make them truly happy. But as they start to ask these complicated questions, they need to know that the answers they are given come from someone they can trust; someone with a proven track record who demonstrates that highest levels of accountability, and who understands their needs, dreams and ambitions inherently. And that’s where A Living Concept steps in…

It’s a cliché, but Teamwork truly makes the Dream work

When you have the opportunity to watch a truly effective team together, it’s like watching a dance performance; the movements are seamless, the flow natural, the cogs that make the machine work seem to disappear in a blur. We have worked for years not only to select the best-in-field practitioners of each part of the construction workflow, but then worked tirelessly to grow and support our collective relationships. Communication is both open but also sometimes seems to be almost superfluous; we occupy a space when mindset is so aligned then it can become possible to anticipate the thoughts of others without uttering a word.

The result of this is a seamless and stress free experience for the client. They don’t have to liaise between stakeholders, negotiate arguments between contractors, balance books or endure the endless frustration of form filling. With a coordinated team, everybody is pulling in direction: the direction of the client’s vision, realised through the creativity of the designer and the talent of the construction workforce. The potential for mistake and miscommunication is virtually eliminated and – as we explored above – the end result is one that embodies calm tranquillity and joy, rather than delivering a building that takes on the status of a monument to struggle, heartache and difficulty.

Some examples from our practice

The results driven by a symbiosis between design and implementation can readily be seen in many of our catalogue of projects, where the end result becomes more than the sum of its parts – elevated by the collaborative mindset that underpins it. At 41 Bolton Gardens many of the sweeping lines and open spaces have been achieved by embedding practical elements directly within the infrastructure, thereby reducing the clutter of furniture. But these elements are not something that a designer could communicate by drawing and then handing over to a craftsperson to implement – they are the manifestations of close collaboration, dialogue and positive negotiation.

We’re all in it together

Ultimately, for us, the ideal solution can only be reached together, as a circular evolution rather than a linear progression. Bringing together the expertise of committed, creative visionaries who are united in their values, goals, mindset and talent allows us to take incredible design, and turn it into something more than a mere idea.