Grace & Morris, a new high-end residential architectural practice, has torn up the rulebook with its dynamic shop-office site, trust-based culture and top-tier communication.
Edward and James Park, both highly experienced architects and co-leaders of PARKdesigned, a firm that has taken the commercial architectural sector by storm with its vast portfolio of projects and multi-talented team of experts, are rocking the residential world too.
Grace & Morris, a sparkling new residential architectural and interior design business, marks their move into the lucrative luxe-residential market. However, the idea for a separate brand came from within PARKdesigned itself, where they had taken on a series of smaller, private projects at the start. “It seemed a bit bipolar,” comments Edward on the company website’s mix of private and larger-scale commercial projects. “Clients were wondering whether we only did domestic work or vice-versa.” Earlier this year, the decision was made to separate the high-end domestic residential part of the business from the commercial, and thus Grace & Morris was born. “It has made things cleaner and simpler,” he adds.
Despite only being a few months old, Grace & Morris already has a healthy rota of clients, one being a 6-8,000 sq ft manor-house-style project outside Wakefield. Since its launch, client design requests have been interesting, ranging from an indoor golf simulator, and arcade rooms, to a bunker. Edward attributes the firm’s early success to its physical presence in the heart of the affluent Yorkshire town of Harrogate. “We opened on a Monday, a lady walked in, and we’re now working on that project.” This site Edward calls a “shoffice”, which is a combination of a shop and an office. They came to the idea through attending a business growth course at the University of Leeds, and decided that as Grace & Morris is “dealing with the public and people’s homes,” as opposed to a commercial entity, a shop-office hybrid where people could walk off the street and make enquiries would work best, “not many architects do that,” he claims, adding that this format gives clients a large degree of “security.”
Grace & Morris is all about the personal approach, and you can see it in their shop-office site which features an interactive showroom, “there’s an entire house entertainment system in there,” says Edward. Visitors can also browse security systems, lighting and invisible in-built speakers in the walls, giving them an idea of what they could integrate into their homes. There are also virtual reality (VR) headsets available, so clients can see what their unfinished projects will look like, “that’s quite rare for domestic residential clients,” he concludes.
When it comes to client support, quality service and clear communication are paramount for the team. “A big thing for us is communication,” he confirms, “there are always issues on site and that’s inevitable, but it’s about staying on top of it and being proactive.” Edward credits their workforce for “always being available via regular communication, site meetings and client correspondence.” They also ensure that minutes are taken during all meetings, with notes shared with the client for utmost transparency. “When people are spending their own money it’s about trust, you have to be there and have the trust of the client.”
Carefully considered branding is a core part of Grace & Morris too, and it was during the aforementioned business course that they decided that the firm’s name should have personal connections. Grace is the name of James’ daughter, and Morris is Edward’s son. “Our preference was to go for something personal with strong branding built into it,” Edward explains. “The names have the values that are integral to Grace & Morris.” By this, he means the firm’s approach to client work, encompassing elegance, beauty, charm, respect for craftsmanship, and much more. “We knew that we needed something softer, something about being approachable, as we’re dealing with private clients and their homes.”
Edward has some advice for SME owners involved in a branding or rebranding exercise – look at what you’re selling and explore your company values. “With our high-end service, integrity is so critical to what we do that we used our children’s names.”
Like other firms in their sector, they’ve had to navigate the market challenges brought on by inflation and the rising costs of materials, partly caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Because of this, Edward explains that generally fewer projects are coming to the market, but here’s the better news, budgets are bigger with clients taking more time to build up savings. “Clients these days are still finding the money to work on projects,” he confirms.
Of those ready to design their dream homes, Edward has noticed that they prefer to spend money “on the things they can see,” such as kitchens over structural work. Other, more aesthetic trends include a movement away from bi-folds to sliding doors in their homes, due to its “more refined” look with “cleaner sightlines.” Furthermore, the long-enduring open-plan style has given way to a “broken plan”, where clients have the popular open-plan kitchen dining space but with separate rooms too.
If 2024 hasn’t already been a great start for Edward and James’ new residential brand, the future looks even brighter. A second “shoffice” is part of the plan for next year, with it hopefully up and running by the summer. The five-year goal is bigger still, and includes having several Grace & Morris shop-office hybrids dotted around salubrious areas of the country, an exciting prospect indeed…