Architecture Awards 2020

2020 Architecture Awards BUILD 15 contend with, as well as the economy being on the brink. The architectural industry tends to be particularly sensitive to economic turbulence, and activity within the industry can often be a market for turbulence to come. This is because architecture, and particularly residential architecture like OLJ Designs offers, tends to be a luxury service item and grows from people’s relative wealth. However, as with the 2008 crash, COVID-19 is resulted in an increase of customer enquiries, particularly for the smaller boutique firms. In the case of COVID-19, people has had lower expenditures, allowing them to save up, suffering from the less- than-expected standards of living they had allowed themselves to be in when home had basically become only a place to sleep. However, the housing market is in recession, meaning that people cannot afford to sell anymore and are instead looking to upgrade and improve. However, it is not all bad news. Thanks to the current crisis with Brexit and COVID-19, OLJ Designs has been able to grow faster than before, and Mr Jauniaux’s desire is to try and maintain this level of growth, perhaps even begin looking to begin winning larger development projects. OLJ Designs also strongly believes that it could bring something niche and interesting to the larger scale, and the future may well hold this. There are a whole series of projects with varying scales that are in development, from a large country pool and entertainment complex, to new build homes, and even beautiful and tightly-crafted extensions. Ultimately, OLJ Designs is an outstanding example of how architecture can be used to bring families together, and draw spaces into luxurious living areas. Company: OLJ Designs Ltd Contact: Olivier Jauniaux Website: www.oljdesigns.com