Start with the site and its light
Before we draw, we visit at different times of day. We note where the sun falls, where the wind comes from and what the neighbours see.
Most of our best ideas come from that first walk around.
Studio, Ropewalk Lane
Five people,one long table.
We are an architecture and interiors studio in a former sail loft in Saltmere.
We design homes, small places to stay and eat, and workplaces. We draw by hand first, then on screen. An architect leads each project from the first visit to the last fitting.
Our approach in three principles
These are not rules for their own sake. They are the habits that have made our buildings better, project after project.
Use fewer, better materials
We pick four or five materials for each project and use them throughout. It keeps the building calm and the build simpler.
We choose materials that age well and can be repaired, not replaced.
Design the everyday moments
Where do the keys go? Where does the morning light land? Where do guests leave wet coats?
We design those small moments as carefully as the big rooms, because you live with them every day.
What we do on each project
You can work with us on one stage or all of them. Most clients stay with us from the first sketch to the day they move in.
- AArchitecture
New buildings, extensions and renovations, from the first sketch to the finished building.
- BInteriors
Layouts, lighting, finishes and colour, drawn alongside the architecture.
- CJoinery and furniture
Kitchens, shelving, window seats and tables, designed for each room.
- DPlanning and permissions
Drawings, statements and meetings with the planning office.
- EOn site
Regular visits during the build, so what gets built matches what was drawn.
The people who will draw your project
Five of us, one room, one long table. You will meet everyone who works on your project.
Elin Varga
Director and architectLeads every project from the first site visit. Led Harbour House.
Jonah Mertens
ArchitectRuns planning applications and the technical drawings. Led Linden Yard.
Saga Lind
Interior designerChooses materials, lighting and joinery. Led the interiors at The Orchard Rooms.
Ewan Hallam
Project architectLooks after projects on site, week by week. Ran the build at Harbour House.
Maren Kerr
Studio managerLooks after clients, fees and the studio diary. Your first call goes to her.
How the studio has grown
Ten years, two addresses and one rule: take on only the work we can do well.
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2016
The studio opens above a boat shop
Elin Varga starts Atelier Nord in two rooms above a chandlery on the harbour. The first jobs are kitchens and loft conversions.
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2018
Our first new house from the ground up
Jonah Mertens joins. We start designing Two Pines on the edge of Marrow Heath and learn to keep a house low beside tall trees.
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2020
A move to the old sail loft
We finish Stone Barn and move into a former sail loft on Ropewalk Lane. The long upper room becomes the studio, with one table for everyone.
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2021
Our first workplace
Weighbridge Offices opens in Brannock: four floors for a firm of accountants. Ewan Hallam joins to run our projects on site.
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2022
Cafes, kitchens and rooms to stay
The Salt Store opens on the harbour, our first hospitality project. Saga Lind joins to lead interiors. Two Pines is finished.
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2023
A busy year in Saltmere
We finish Ropewalk Studios and Tollhouse Kitchen. Maren Kerr joins to run the studio, the diary and the fees.
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2024
A depot and a cliff cottage
Linden Yard turns a tram depot into a design office, and Cliff Path Cottage steps down the slope at Wenna Cove.
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2025
Harbour House and The Orchard Rooms
Two of our largest projects finish in the same summer. Both have full case studies on this site.
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2026
A new house on Gull Point
Our next home starts on site on the headland at Gull Point. We still work around the same long table.