Yiangou Architects Offers Bespoke Designs For Every Home

Yiangou Architects is an entry in our Great British Brands 2024 book. 

Yiangou Architects: Great British Brand 2024

‘Award-winners with a reputation for highquality, considered and imaginative architecture, Yiangou Architects have designed buildings of distinction for over 40 years. We’re best known for our country houses for private clients, whether new dwellings or alterations and extensions to historic buildings.

We started in the Cotswolds, setting out to maintain the vernacular architectural tradition that has made the area so sought- after. With growth has come expansion beyond the Cotswolds, and we now work nationwide, always keeping our focus on design and our quality high. We’re not associated with any one style – no churning out of replicas – but we create individual designs specific to site and client.

Bespoke architectural design is a human endeavour. The first broad brushstrokes flow better from head to hand, from soft pencil to paper, where early ideas are also more understandable for clients. Then you bring in detail, the pencil gets sharper, and ideas are honed – the human touch of hand-drawing. Computer Aided Design (CAD) comes into its own once a design and planning budget are set, allowing speed and efficiency in detail and accuracy. CAD is a good tool but must never take away from human talent or substitute for creating and communicating original ideas by hand. For the same reasons, we’re not planning to use AI.

Every building tells a story. With older buildings, where every generation has had its say, it’s our chance to add a 21st century chapter to that long history. When designing from scratch, whether in contemporary or traditional classical style, there’s a story there too, in response to the site, client and their lifestyle: why rooms position a certain way; where the sun rises and sets; the topography and views; how clients live their days. Our buildings fit because they are made specifically for place, people and lifestyle.’

Andrew Inchley, Director

Five Proudest Moments

1. Over 42 years, since 1981, we’ve built a strong brand synonymous with a legacy of high-quality homes and levels of service.
2. Our first large, new country house in the Classical style, begun in 2013: a benchmark for the scale and quality we can achieve, and which set us on our current path.
3. Winning both RIBA and Georgian Group awards in the same year (2014), recognition that we create high-quality designs regardless of style.
4. An in-depth Sky Arts TV profile broadcast in 2022 showcasing our full and aspirational body of work, paying particular attention to our continued commitment to the skill of architectural hand-drawing.
5. In 2023, the team had an almost 50/50 balance of men/women in positions of seniority and leadership, moving on from a more male-dominated workplace.

What I’ve Learnt…

• When building a brand there must be real substance. Slick graphics and production values are meaningless without a quality product.
• In a busy market, it’s vital to highlight what sets you apart.
• Always move forward, update and refresh. Don’t sit back, tread water or rely on past glories. Always showcase something new.

YIANGOU ARCHITECTS

Dyer House, Dyer Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 2PP

+44 (0)1285 888150

yiangou.com

@yiangouarchitects