Architecture Unknown Ltd

Architecture Unknown Ltd We are a young, progressive, Manchester-based Architecture Practice and aspiring spatial facilitators. Architecture Practice

Creative, Community-focused Architecture
•Architecture, Public Engagement, Wiki house, Interiors
•Creating Collective Change

Introducing the (completely-not-made-up) "SMORGASBORD" approach to values alignment! It's took us 10 years to come up wi...
13/09/2026

Introducing the (completely-not-made-up) "SMORGASBORD" approach to values alignment! It's took us 10 years to come up with this... nailed it!

We are: Pragmatic, Compassionate, Authentic, Empowering, Playful

We work as: Disruptors, Collaborators, Leaders, Pathfinders, Makers

Pick a one from Column A and one from Column B and suddenly you've got a description of both how and what it means to work as Architecture Unknown. Everyone in the office engaged in the exercise to narrow down all the ways in which we see ourselves and the practice, now and into the future, to question how we felt we could best live by our ideals.

This is what we came up with, what's your favourite combination?

We thought we would kick off the "back to school" season 2026 with a reintroduction to us and an round up of our summer!...
10/09/2026

We thought we would kick off the "back to school" season 2026 with a reintroduction to us and an round up of our summer!

It's an exciting time at AU, our team is growing in skill and confidence and things are changing but the core of who we are is still the same.

We are Architecture Unknown. But we aren't your typical suit-wearing, desk-bound designers. We are allergic to beige walls and boring corners. We are the ones obsessed with the tactile details, the "mucky" boots on the ground and making sure each space actually feels as good as it was designed to be. Whether it’s a self-build community project or a bespoke residential renovation, our ethos is simple: “design and construction should be an inclusive dialogue where everyone takes part”. Simple.

This summer has seen us win two prestigious Manchester Society of Architect's awards and turn 10 years old (we wrote a book to celebrate!).

To our relatively new followers, welcome aboard! To the usuals, thanks for sticking with us!

Maybe the industry’a more ready for this conversation than we’ve been giving it credit for. Emily Scullion Architect Roy...
10/08/2026

Maybe the industry’a more ready for this conversation than we’ve been giving it credit for.

Emily Scullion Architect Royal Institute of British Architects RIBAJ
NORTHWEST SMALL PRACTICE FORUM


There is a version of architectural practice where junior staff stay junior for a long time. We do not run that kind of ...
24/07/2026

There is a version of architectural practice where junior staff stay junior for a long time. We do not run that kind of practice.

Prem joined us as a graduate. From day one he was in front of clients, shaping decisions, asking braver questions than his job title suggested he should. Today he graduates from his Part 3, officially becoming a qualified architect!

Three years on, he leads on projects that genuinely matter, with a confidence that was always there, not waiting for permission.

If you are commissioning a project with us, you might find yourself in a room with Prem. That is what entrepreneurial design culture looks like up close.

Congratulations, Prem.

Premdyl Shadan Premdyl Shadan.dwg

22/07/2026

As we count down the days to our AU-versary, we’re sharing our key projects.

This time it’s a little different. Instead of one project, we’re putting the spotlight on a few of our research projects, because honestly we love digging into the thinking as much as the building.

Allerton Rising, for Rooted In Homes in Bradford. This one looks at housing as something that should support people, not just shelter them, building in a network of professionals and neighbours to help create real community.

River Clyde Housing, a WikiHouse based modular housing model for Port Glasgow. It turns small underused gap sites into high quality homes and gets local residents and trades involved in actually building them.

Cumbria Microhomes, Caravan Act compliant modular tiny homes made with Digital Woodoo. They range from small one bed annexes up to three bed family layouts and sit gently into the landscape.

What ties these together is our research into Mass Customisable Community Housing with Digital Woodoo, which ended up shaping how we approached both River Clyde and Rooted In Homes too. That’s the nice thing about research, it doesn’t just stay in one project.

21/07/2026

As we count down the days to our AU-versary, we’re sharing our key projects. Next up is Brayton Avenue.

The client, an artist and passionate maker, needed more than a renovation. They wanted a home that could double as a living gallery and a working studio, a place where baking sourdough, sewing clothes and painting canvases weren’t tucked away in spare corners, but became part of everyday life.

The house also needs a serious energy upgrade. Improving insulation, reducing carbon emissions and futureproofing the building were all high on the agenda, but never at the expense of its character or personality.

Rather than stripping everything back, the design leans into colour, texture and joy. It’s a home that celebrates making, collecting and living creatively.

Getting the project through planning was a story in itself. Despite the ambitious transformation, the application sailed through without a single question or comment from the planning officer. The silence initially had us wondering whether something had gone wrong, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. One could say that the proposal was so well considered and carefully resolved that it was approved without any back-and-forth; a small planning Christmas miracle (despite being approved in May), and a testament to the strength of the design and preparation.

20/07/2026

As we count down the days to our AU-versary, we’re sharing our key projects. Next up is the Peel Park Pavillion

CommUNITY Little Hulton has transformed an unloved building within Peel Park, Salford into a mixed-use community space, providing new headquarters for this amazing charity alongside a hub for social, recreational and creative activity, with a community cafe and kitchen.

This award winning WikiHouse Magpie building is built by the local community, with more than 100 volunteers (including around 60 children from The Lowry Academy and St Edmund’s RC School) taking part in the construction.

To follow on from receiving the Architect of the Year award at the Structural Timber Awards 2025, we managed to win not one, but two awards at the Manchester Society of Architects Awards 2026. This project scooped both the Community Built award alongside being selected for the Design Innovation award from all 110 entries submitted.

The innovation award was for the unique way the community was involved in this project and is a fitting culmination for the build, but also the journey getting here all the way from the failed Woolpack scheme, via the Scout Hut and through to this wonderful community space and asset. This project holds a special place in the hearts of the AU Team.

19/07/2026

As we count down the days to our AU-versary, we’re sharing our key projects and here’s an bonus one from our Holme house farm project.

17/07/2026

As we count down the days to our AU-versary, we’re sharing our key projects. Next up is the
Ford Park.

Ford Park Community Centre is less a building in a park than a park that has quietly learned how to become a building. Designed with WikiHouse Magpie, the scheme pushes the boundaries of what you can physically do with CNC cut plywood, a mallet and screws, spanning further than ever before.

The building itself, sits gently among the park and trees, treading lightly on the landscape while creating a robust home for community life. The project embraces architecture as a collective act: assembled by local people, built by local trades, its structure is as much about participation as construction. Flexible, accessible and inherently low-carbon, the building provides a space for everything from workshops and celebrations to the everyday rituals that bind a community together and embodies the spirit of Ulverston. It again demonstrates what we live to do at AU, that modest architecture can achieve an outsized impact, not through spectacle, that modest architecture can achieve an outsized impact through community construction, collaborative making and a lasting connection to place.

As of publication this project is just about to start on site, and we’re all revved up and ready to go with leading the WikiHouse construction in the Summer of 2026.

16/07/2026

As we count down the days to our AU-versary, we’re sharing our key projects. Next up is the
Scafell Visitor Centre.

Landscape and architecture are always two sides of the same coin but when you’re lucky enough to be working in one of the most monumental, picturesque and environmentally sensitive areas of the UK sometimes you just need to sit back and marvel. We were appointed by The National Trust to design a Welcome Centre for the Wasdale Head Campsite, the primary “base camp” for ascending England’s tallest mountain Scafell Pike and adjacent to the country’s deepest lake, Wast Water.

Due to Covid this project did not materialise. Lost and still not rediscovered by this great organisation.

However we will never forget the great feedback from the National Trust on our initial proposals and harbour a small hope that one day, some day this might reappear.

Address

The Courtyard, Royal Mill, 17 Redhill Street
Manchester
M45BA

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9am - 5:30pm
Friday 9am - 5:30pm

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