Northern Bureau for Architecture - James Longfield
The Architects Journal spotlights the Northern Bureau for Architecture in its latest practice profile
13 December 2023
The Architects Journal is running a series of practice profiles looking at architects who have recently decided to go it alone, with the Northern Bureau of Architecture being the latest in the series. James Longfield is one of the practice's directors and is a Creative Practice PhD graduate from our School and currently tutors a Stage 3 studio on our BA Architecture undergraduate programme.
Name Northern Bureau for Architecture
Where based County Durham
Founded April 2022
Main people James Longfield (chartered architect), Lee Ellison (senior technician), Andrew Skaife (senior technician)
Where have you come from?
James took the road less travelled into the industry as the first candidate on Newcastle University’s creative practice in architecture PhD programme. He was part of the university’s AJ 40 under 40-listed Design Office, before joining Lee and Andrew running the regional branch of a larger firm (Dixon Dawson). We worked together for a few years before launching the new practice with a desire to test our own ideas and explore a distinctively regional architecture for the North East.
What work do you have and what kind of projects are you looking for?
We have a very diverse range of projects, preferring to focus on pursuing a rigorous design process that combines rich creativity with rigorous technical detailing regardless of the building typology. Projects on the drawing board include a new golf clubhouse, a historic barn conversion, a garden dining pavilion, a large industrial unit, a contemporary house extension and planning for several wind turbines.
A large proportion of our work involves some degree of retrofit and alterations to existing fabric, the largest being a 1970s community centre where we have adopted a fabric-first approach to reduce energy demand, which was a key contribution to the client’s business case for securing an asset transfer from the local authority.
Alongside commercial projects, we maintain links to academia as a space for critical reflection. We run a design studio for Stage 3 at Newcastle University and pursue research practice through published papers – most recently a chapter in Creative Practice Inquiry in Architecture edited by Ashley Mason and Adam Sharr.
From time to time we participate in competitions. Though yet to win, we console ourselves with the thought that they are a way of exploring ideas beyond the constraints of daily practice.