WHAT THEY SAY

Adam Day-Lewin - Global Creative Director, Hearst Media

"I had the pleasure of working directly with Richard and James during a global pitch for a leading household name. They have a real 'no problems, only solutions' attitude and their tremendous abilities never ceased to amaze me.

They had an uncanny ability to know what I wanted before I told them. The brief was constantly changing and evolving but this never slipped them up or affected their infectious positive attitude.

Their relentless perseverance meant the job was done on budget, on time, to the highest quality, with very little stress.

I couldn’t recommend these guys highly enough, but I was kind of hoping to keep their magic powers a secret so they are always available when I call.

Thanks guys."

Leonie Knowles - Creative Director, Mindshare

“I just wanted to say what an amazing time it was working with you guys. You are incredibly talented and creative, meticulous with detail, extremely fun and a pleasure to work with throughout the whole process.

I have never seen such scales of professionalism and craziness work so well, I just wish I could work with you guys all the time! Now I'm just sad it's over… until next time!”

Lola Harper - Brand Strategy Manager, Resorts World Birmingham

Working with James and Richard was a pleasure. They took a very loose brief based on a real-life problem we needed to solve and turned it into a clearly thought out creative solution that delivers a powerful visual impact.

We’re really pleased with the final results on this project, and have had great feedback from guests experiencing the space as well as senior colleagues in the wider business. We are looking to expand upon the work already done, and would recommend Alexander Owen highly.

Joseph Curle - Designer, Make Shift

James and Rich are the best thing since sliced bread. Really impressive architects with an eye for the experiential and an ambition to create amazing, immersive and human-centred installations / activations. They’ve essentially put the soul into Peckham Levels.

Leo Boscherini - Design and Strategy Lead, Make Shift

Rich and James designed and delivered a number of creative projects within Peckham Levels and the success of their work is evidenced by how ofen it appears as an amazing backdrop to not only the site’s marketing campaigns both digitally and in print, but unmistakably across Instagram from public posts.

Limited by a tight budget and a restrictive timescale, AO were incredibly pro-active in coming up with a creative solution to the brief they were set. With a careful eye for detail and real professional pride always present, they were very malleable in re-evaluating their designs and proposing tangent ideas to mitigate the problems that were encountered. It was a pleasure working with them, and I will be working with Alexander Owen in the future.

Anne Kyyro Quinn - Fabric Artist

"I have worked with AOA for around 5 years on a number of projects and I have always enjoyed working with them, as they are a breath of fresh air, always cheerful and have a talent for approaching problem solving in an innovative fashion.

My clients have always enjoyed working with such a dedicated, talented, and affable team."

Phil Boyce - Founder, Avalon Pro

“AOA couldn’t have more perfectly designed a house that matches my family’s personality!”

Chris Ronketti - Head of Energy Solutions for British Gas

“The house is extremely innovative and looks to push the boundaries of low carbon living, without making unacceptable sacrifices to quality of life or the internal environment.”

Chris Newman - Director, Parity Projects

"It was a pleasure to work with AOA on our extensive retrofit and extensions. We are particularly please with their inspired idea to enclose our alleyway to effectively insulate a wall whilst giving us a unique and stunning entrance.

Bringing together my expertise in energy conservation with AOA's ideas and designs for the development, led to the project being shortlisted across all the major retrofit awards.

We love our family home, so thanks AOA, from Chris and Nette."

Dave and Renato

Both James and Richard were a real inspiration to work with, constantly giving us a lot of support on decisions we needed to make.

As a team they gave us some fantastic options to think about and guided us through all the intricate design and functional decisions that we needed to consider.

They managed to maximise light and living space and gave us what we believe is the best possible solution for our house renovation and basement extension with many additional stylish and contemporary design features throughout.

It is a real testament to their work that we now have a completed renovation where we do not believe anything could have been done better than what we see and love today.

We do really appreciate everything they did for us and we love the final results and are so glad they pushed us for the better products and design.

Thank you both !

Tom and Chloe

"We stumbled upon AO purely by chance, but what great luck in doing so! They understood what we were looking to achieve from the off and shared the same passion to do something modern and flexible, yet in-keeping with the building's heritage. Due to the age, style and location of the property in a conservation area, we were somewhat restricted in what we could and could not do, however AO still managed to design something special, whilst ensuring that the local planning authority requirements were adhered to.

AO are rising stars of the industry!"

Nicola and Paddy

"When we decided to renovate the house we knew we wanted something different but didn't really know where to start. We were going to need guidance from someone with imagination and a shared vision who we could work with to develop our ideas. We got lucky, AO were one of four firms recommended to us. We met with four and it quickly became clear that AO were going to be the perfect partner on the project. They were wonderfully calm and nothing was too much trouble and their interpretation of what we asked them to do was achieved in the first draft, which was impressive. They also helped us find the builder who they had worked with before on a similar project and the results were outstanding. The design is absolutely stunning and coupled with the extremely high quality of the building work, we now have exactly what we wanted to achieve - a practical, comfortable contemporary living space that has maximised the the use of natural light and the available space. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend AO to anyone."

PETA COTTEE

"Alexander Owen are a breath of fresh air."

Ben and Hannah

"We had the pleasure of working with AO on the re-design of our house which included a loft conversion, rear extension, and full house refurbishment.

The project was completed within our budget and timescale, and the effort, energy and dedication that we got from them totally surpassed what we were expecting from their service.

Not only was the whole process creative and fascinating, it was great fun as well. The results speak for themselves and are absolutely stunning, totally original and have absolutely enhanced not only the house itself but our lives through living in the beautiful and inspiring space they created."

Cleo Barbour - Founder Cleo B Shoes

"It's a great fusion of fashion meeting architecture. You two are the only people I trust to make a design decision on my own home.

I guess that trust is what it comes down to! "

Orde Eliason - Link Photographers

"After photographing their projects for a few years and experiencing their client’s reactions, I employed their talent at the first opportunity.

AOA's strengths are their ability to envisage a concept and assist you to translate the space into a functional form. Their practical knowledge of the building trade allows them to realistically manage your expectations. They have a passion for utilizing light and space, and are open to suggestions and discussion.

Should you require a thoughtful, creative, methodical and dependable architectural design practice, AOA are your people."

Luigi Caccavale

"I chose AOA for a complete Enerphit eco-retrofit and extension of a run down terrace as they were the people that gave me the confidence in being able to advise on the practical issues of a challenging build, as well as produce a coherent architectural design.

Sixteen months later, several changes to the design, an Enerphit certification achieved and tens of pages of diagrams required to show construction details for every thermal bridge, AOA demonstrated their commitment in accompanying us all the way in this long and challenging journey. They were always very professional and most importantly present onsite whenever it was necessary to be. I am sure they put the same passion in all other projects they are involved with."

Robbie Hale

"We appointed Alexander Owen for a full conversion of our Victorian house in Balham. From the outset we were impressed with their enthusiasm, excitement and passion over their work and our project. They presented us with a fabulous design in a very visual way so that we could completely envisage the final look.

AOA were a true partner throughout the project. They were available, they listened, and they always came up with practical and visually impressive ideas. They were very hands on, and we would not hesitate to recommend Alexander Owen to anyone embarking on such a project."

Paul Collins

“I found AOA to be detailed, knowledgeable and passionate about the project and had lots of ideas on how it should work and how to utilise the space in the best possibly way. They were easy to work with, open to our ideas, and guided us through the process which saved us a huge amount of time and worry.

All in all I would thoroughly recommend AOA and have done so at every opportunity to any of my contacts.”

Rudy Reginiano

"Thank you for the excellent work and for your infinite patience. The end result has exceeded all our expectations!"

Claire Kean - Interior Designer and Project Manager

“AOA are very good at working to a specific brief without becoming over creative for their own benefit. Equally they have great design ideas without a massive ego.

They are pleasure to deal with.”

Rafael Molina

“AOA have been a pleasure to deal with since the outset of our project. Their youth and desire to think outside of the box have been what our project needed.”

Andrea Shen

"We renovated a renowned grade 2 listed modernist building and without AOA going through various issues with the conservation officer and English Heritage we could not have done it.

AOA were very helpful, both in terms of design as well the regulation side of things. They are very creative and can come up with lots of interesting uses of space, lighting and bathroom designs. They are not pushy with their designs, and they offer the choice.

I would recommend AOA – they are very creative, patient, and sensible. "

Chris Gomez

"I have found AOA to be very professional and really proactive in their advice and service. They have been easy to work with and had a lot of really great ideas."

Spencer and Joel

“AOA’s style is very consultative, they worked hard to understand how we would be using the space so that they could ensure it would best suit our needs. They allowed us to make the plans our own whilst at the same time making great design touches that enabled our fairly standard conversion to look different to similar projects.
I would say that AOA’s skills straddle both technical architecture and also creative design. This is a real plus.

Simon and Kiranjit

"It has been a pleasure working with AO from start to finish of our build. They took the time initially to understand our lives, and vision for our home. They then went off to produce multiple variants based on our needs. We were able to chat through the pro's and cons of each without being rushed. AO answered our questions and guided us to the final design choice which we were extremely excited about. The chosen idea incorporated some smart design elements that we have never thought of, and was completed with reference to our original budget. We changed our requirements along the way and AO were always there for general ad hoc advice, without charge and helpful with suggestions related to any changes.

The pricing structure is transparent and very reasonable given the quality of their work.

Overall we would not look anywhere else for future work, or when providing recommendations.

Thanks Alexander Owen!"

Justin and Mara

"Was great having you over and even more exciting seeing your great ideas. Really good work guys - very impressed! 🙂 "