Glasgow’s industrial heritage and roll-up-your-sleeves building traditions informed the work of Robin Lee and Alan Pert when they launched their firm NORD (Northern Office for Research & Design) in 2002. The city’s old factories, its history of craftsmanship, and its cold, wet climate encouraged the architects to think carefully about materials and how buildings are made—lest their projects leak, or dishonor the spirit of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. In May 2011, Lee and Pert dissolved their partnership, with the former establishing Robin Lee Architecture in London and Dublin and the latter working as NORD in Glasgow and London.
“The notion of making was essential to our work,” says Pert, 40, who grew up in Scotland and remembers visiting Crichton Castle as a boy and being fascinated by the 16th-century building’s courtyard walls studded with massive diamond-shaped stones. Lee, 45, was born in the Channel Islands (between Britain and France) but grew up in Scotland. After earning a degree in architecture, he went back to school to study sculpture—an experience that shaped his perspective on form, materials, and the value of limited means. “Architects today can do anything with form,” states Lee. But the freedom unleashed by computer-aided design holds little appeal to him: “I want to develop a position in terms of form that has rigor to it.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.