Meet Kees van der Sande, Formation Architects
Custom Lutron lighting plates with Focus SB and custom back boxes, Park Lane project, courtesy of Formation Architects.
We’re pleased to interview one of our customers Kees van der Sande from the established award-winning RIBA architectural practice, Formation Architects.
As part of their work. Kees van der Sande, Trustee and Director at Formation Architects, specialises in integrating natural and artificial light into architectural designs.
Tell us why you became an architect - was it something you’d always wanted to be?
Like many architects I played with a lot of Lego as a child. However, I also loved drafting and was given my first set of technical pens when I was 11. I was always curious in how things go together and how you can describe that through drawings. I was lucky enough to learn technical drawing at Parsons School of Design in New York with a ferociously strict tutor and that put me in a strong place when I started at Edinburgh University the following year.
In your early days as an architect what sticks in your mind about the different ways of working?
I was very fortunate to work at KPF in the mid 1990s where I was mentored by Jamie Von Klemperer. As an intern I was given a huge amount of freedom to switch between CAD, 3d CAD (when very few people worked on computers) as well as hand drafting and physical models. The ability to jump between mediums really helped me develop as a young architect.
Formation Architects is a 100% employee-owned business with design and technical architectural expertise. Is this a growing trend in your industry and why does it work?
The EOT [Employee Ownership Trust] model is very fashionable at the moment with practice owners looking to find a tax efficient way to pass on ownership to the next generation of employees. It isn’t right for every practice but for us it allowed us to change the way the company was governed to a much more democratic process while still maintaining the entrepreneurial vigour to drive the company forward.
Buildings are collaborations, describe how you work and what makes Formation’s approach to design and specification unique.
I have a background in manufacturing and when I started at Formation Architects in 2008 we spent an enormous amount of time getting our systems right for our project at 100 Park Lane. The success of the way we draw our buildings to make it contractor-focused from Stage 3 onwards was a very novel approach at the time. Since then we have used the EOT structure to develop a series of handbooks to manage the practice – from BIM to Design Management. This allows consistency between projects which also allows us to be very flexible with resource. Teams can grow and contract as the project allows. It also releases staff to try a number of project types and at different stages rather than get typecast or stuck in a silo. Our relationship with the supply chain is also second to none. If we really can understand how the other trades integrate into our designs then we can make our work truly collaborative.
Does designing lighting for super prime luxury developments such as The Glebe in Chelsea vary enormously from hotels or heritage buildings, or is there commonality when it comes to technology or traditional style products offering dimming functionality?
We’ve had a incredibly close collaboration with our lighting designers and lighting suppliers over the last 20 years. At 100 Park Lane we were able to design custom Lutron lighting plates with Focus SB to ensure the heritage elements of the building and the interior design by Alberto Pinto were considered. This even meant custom back boxes throughout to ensure the design was not compromised. It’s this attention to detail coupled with an understanding of how things are built that makes Formation Architects unique.
When sourcing electrical accessories for a project are there trends in what’s most important to your clients in terms of where and how a product is made, as well as the aesthetic considerations? How does your expertise guide clients and demystify the wealth of options available?
The overriding request is to keep it simple. I think clients are all fed up of overcomplicated keypads and tablets to control simple functions. However they still want a huge amount of functionality behind the button! We have seen a return to clean switches and traditional rotary dimmers to rooms with fewer circuits. The days of 15 mood settings are behind us thankfully. While we have seen imports of some very attractive electrical accessories from France and the US we find that both the cost and lead times are often the dictating factor. Working closely with Focus SB in a post-Brexit world gives us a level of customer service and shorter supply chains for UK projects which we cannot replicate abroad. It also allows us to change things later in the day if we need to which is another benefit.
In September you were invited by Artroom London to participate in a panel discussion titled ‘Language of Light’ discussing the role of lighting in art, architecture, and interior design with Sally Storey, Design Director of Lighting Design International and John Cullen Lighting, known for her dynamic luxury interior lighting schemes, and the renowned artists Shuster & Moseley, complementing the ‘Bringing Spaces to Life through Contemporary Art & Design’ exhibition curated by Vanity Barany at the John Martin Gallery.
Tell us how contemporary art and design combines with the crucial role of lighting to inform Formation Architects’ projects and how these are integral to a successful interior scheme?
We have been very fortunate to work on many private projects where the display and lighting of art has played an important factor in the final scheme. We have been very privileged to work alongside Sally Storey and her team at LDI for many years and they just get it. We have also worked with artists like James Turrell where the lighting and the installation are one and the same thing. High end projects work from the finishes backwards. As such we need to consider the artwork from the very first part of the brief if possible. We work closely with our clients and their art consultants to ensure that the artwork and its lighting are not an afterthought.
What makes a successful interior and why are Formation Architects experts at this?
Architects are often dismissive of what interior designers bring to a project. More than often they imagine they could do better. Since our earliest prime residential and hospitality projects, we have taken a very different approach to support the vision of the interior designer and to ensure that the information can be developed to produce the finest result – even when that means working with seven signature designers simultaneously as we did at The Glebe!
The other key element is depth of finish. We work really hard to ensure that our projects do not look like generic show apartments. It’s vital that you understand the materials you are working with as well as the trades that work with them. At the end we want the project to feel like a home, not a catalogue photoshoot. A good interior designer understands this and luckily many of the best ones also understand how we can bring that from concept to reality.
Recently shortlisted in the Building Design Awards for ‘Best Architect Employer of the Year’. Formation Architects’ design work has been recognised in the industry with awards such as the prestigious Housing Design Award, British Homes Awards, British Council of Offices Award and numerous others. How widely do projects vary?
We still have a very broad range of clients. We like to say that we have the broadest range of residential work of almost any architectural practice. This means that we can design a series of modest alms houses in Morden as well as luxury apartments in the converted Lots Road Power Station or a one-off country estate in Cheshire. Our work is now taking us further afield into Europe, Asia and America where our flexibility and skillset is appreciated by clients who are looking for a more precise way of delivering quality.
What would you say makes you an award-winning practice?
We don’t go chasing specific awards but there is a general culture of quiet excellence. Much of our work cannot be published but would win awards were it put forward. However our projects are the results of many companies coming together with a common goal. We passionately drive the need for quality throughout the whole project and it’s wonderful when the results are recognised. For instance Project 89 which was voted SBID global winner for ultra-luxury residential property in 2024 after seven years of hard work with both Olson Kundig and Rigby & Rigby. Ultimately it’s our commitment to being a team player that makes us an award-winning practice.
Where do you see the world of architecture headed and what’s important to you in terms of a sustainable world?
I think we are looking at projects where the lifespan of the interior and the building fabric is becoming more important. The projects with bolted-on solar panels and windmills are few and far between. The best way of creating a low carbon building is to make it last a long time yet be adaptable to both other uses or upgrades. That strategy works just as well for a Victorian terrace house through to converting a former power station into luxury apartments. Globally the rise of countries like India and Middle East approach the future of architectural development with a level of optimism I think is beneficial. The idea that all the best ideas for design happen in Europe or America now is long past.
What inspires you and how do you like to spend your spare time?
Bit of a busman’s holiday - I spend a lot of time building. I enjoy realising what I design and have restored and extended a number of houses over the years. It allows me to really understand what can and cannot be built. I also volunteer in the education sector and for many years I have sat on the governing boards of schools in Islington and Camden. Given more time I would go sailing with my family.
Visit Formation Architects.
