Serge Schoemaker Architects

Every architectural design carries the seed of a new world. But architecture is never a completely new beginning. All architecture builds on what already is. Building is always the transformation of a world that is already there. Architecture reforms. The aim of any architectural intervention is to improve what is already there, to supplement what is lacking, to repair what is not working. To meet unfulfilled wishes, to give shape to desires and needs. By changing, renewing, reorganising. Not by starting all over again.

Building upon, and onward can be done in countless ways. At Serge Schoemaker Architects, it starts with the recognition that reform requires open-mindedness and accuracy. Open-mindedness to recognise the valuable qualities and possibilities of what is; accuracy to make what is being reformed part of a greater whole. All this requires not only architectural expertise and craftsmanship, but also a highly developed aesthetic intelligence. A keen eye, a sense of beauty, and a precise hand.

Just as the architecture of Serge Schoemaker Architects manages to give the past a place in the present (and vice versa), the work also has a spatial continuity. Transitions from interior to building and from building to environment are designed with the same attention and sense of detail. This gives furniture and interiors an architectural character; buildings the sophistication of a piece of furniture.

Architecture and construction are closely related to Serge Schoemaker Architects. Just as a graphic designer cannot suffice with indicating how text and illustrations are put on a page, but also needs to know how a book is printed and bound, an architect must know the possibilities (and impossibilities) of building. A thorough knowledge of building forms the self-evident basis for the architectural designs of Serge Schoemaker Architects. Making a design is directly connected with making a building.

For Serge Schoemaker Architects there is an overlap between the customisation of the design and the manufacturing of the execution. The realisation is directly in line with the design. The ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of making are intimately intertwined. The optimal outcome is achieved through the involvement of designers in the entire process, from initial idea to delivery, and close collaboration with all parties involved, from clients to builders.

The agency bears the founder’s name. Serge Schoemaker’s design attitude is directional and determines the signature of the office, which is radically understated. Yet, it is the addition ‘Architects’, in plural, that indicates that his approach and ideas are shared by the whole team. The office creates architecture that is supported by a personal approach, leading to buildings full of character: tangible, atmospheric, elegant.