15th Anniversary Series – Introduction: The building blocks of an architectural practice

In 2010, Magnus Ström founded Ström Architects, blending his architectural training and work in award-winning practices in Dublin and in England with his Swedish heritage to create bespoke, contemporary homes. Now, fifteen years on, the firm’s extensive portfolio stretches from New Zealand to the Middle East, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean.

“My first project was a house in Suffolk where we were one of five practices interviewed for the commission,” says Magnus Ström from his office in England’s New Forest. “The clients told me, when they appointed me, that all the other architects arrived with their portfolio in hand and explained what they did for their clients. I was the only one who asked what he wanted from the property. That has been the driving ethos of Ström Architects from the outset. What I need from a first client meeting is to understand how they live, their daily routines, what’s important to them and then work out how to enhance their lifestyle through their home.”

Within its designs, Ström Architects aims to create purposeful, beautiful and clutter-free spaces that forge a deep connection with nature. A clear Scandinavian influence is apparent throughout: light materials, simplicity, functionality and sustainability.

“We are a niche international business, concentrating on designing bespoke residential homes,” says Magnus. “Details, structure, materials and order are of course vitally important in architecture but as we’ve grown, our designs have become more intuitive, based on our accumulated knowledge and the continual desire to push what we can achieve.”

In a typical year, Ström Architects work across 12 projects, all at various stages of completion. From the initial meeting with a client to handing over the keys, projects take on average three to four years.

“Meeting clients in the early stages is certainly a favourite part of the design process for me,” says Magnus. “Often the land where they want to build their home has special meaning to them. For example, clients in Wales were retiring and wanted to build where one of them had grown up. In Finland, a US-based client had generational land of great beauty and emotional value where she aimed to create a family legacy and when I first walked the site with her, the passion she felt for it was clear. How we each live is so varied and every client is unique. A bespoke home must factor in all these elements. We work with the clients to develop the hard brief, the number of bedrooms they want, the scale of the living spaces, but the deep and important information, for me, comes from the soft brief, information about how they live. What do their weeks look like? How do they spend weekends?”

Ström Architects was established as the global design world flourished. Established and progressive architectural and design online magazines including Dezeen, ArchDaily and Designboom became widely read and new technologies including photorealistic CGIs emerged, perfectly in tune with the growth of dynamic social media platforms that prioritised excellent visual content. It was a superb way to showcase the dramatic and strikingly beautiful contemporary homes that Ström Architects specialised in.

“We have always invested heavily in the best quality visualisation and that really helped get the message out about what we do,” says Magnus. “And today, with a 15-year history, an extensive portfolio and a reputation for effectively communicating our way of working and how we approach design, clients trust us and trust the process.”

Unlocking the essence of a project is another favourite moment in the design process he says, and can be almost instant. On that first visit to Finland, standing on giant boulders that were remnants of the Ice Age and looking out over a remote peninsula, Magnus drew an immediate outline of the off-grid project he planned. It’s an inspirational process that he describes as a ‘divine download’.

“This is when the combination of everything you know, your full experience, and what your client has told you about their life and their desire for the property, makes the vision superbly clear. The Genius Loci, the intrinsic spirit is revealed, captured in the views, the setting, the atmosphere,” he says. “I can see this end result and then apply rigour to all the many decisions on how to achieve it. Like so many creatives, I am constantly striving for perfection, hugely self-critical and never fully satisfied, continually questioning whether perfection is attainable. That is why my final favourite part in the entire process is returning to a project a year or so after it is completed. When you step away for some time, you see it afresh when you come back. You see how the client is using the space and understand again its worth. As one client told me this year, commissioning Ström had transformed his family’s life. It was, he said, the best decision he had ever made.”