and we use 3D printing in a whole range of applications to translate our ideas into build form

MATT's quite a young company. We do a whole range of work

from bespoke residential work to commercial developments

We're quite a fun company

and we're just enjoying the process of designing and delivering buildings at the moment

Part of our mission statement or company ethos

is to unlock the potential of difficult sites through fun and inclusive architecture

In the past, in my old job, we would have made models by hand

just cutting the paper, cutting card

It's great for capturing ideas

but when it comes to developing complex shapes, complex geometry, it's really labour-intensive

So for something like this, for example, we would have cut out all the floor plans, all the facades

we would have to work out all the geometries and fold the card

and even then it wouldn't have been very sturdy

so we were kind of limited, in a way

By the time I come to MATT in 2013, desktop 3D printing was already starting to become kind of available

and Matt actually funded a Kickstarter 3D printer that we were trying to use in the office

so that's how we started to use it here

I'm working on a project called Ilona Rose House, and it's a large mixed-use redevelopment in central London

and that's a model that we worked with through the planning process, to show the building in its context

and that's actually a traditional architectural model; quite expensive, takes a long time to produce

and we found we needed to reiterate the design quite a lot of times

so the 3D printer was super useful for being able to produce cheap but really beautiful massing proposals

to show the planners and engage them in the planning process

and we just print it in a filament which has wood embedded in it, so we can achieve a really similar look

The real advantage of Ultimaker for us has been the speed that it can print at, but also the reliability

and this is one where we 3D printed at 1-to-1 the pattern that we want to have on the building's facade

so the green and the yellow are 3D printed pieces and the white are cast from this central green piece

and this lets us then cast a mold

a flexible, silicone mold

and then produce a tile

which is really useful to talk to manufacturers about the finish we're trying to achieve

but also to show the client the vision we have for the build

We've designed all the facade pieces we're going to then take a mold of and then cast

This is another example of how we just reintegrate 3D printing with traditional techniques

So here we are, at the site of the Ilona Rose House project

These 3 buildings on the corner here, going all the way back to that road are all to be demolished

to make way for the project we're designing on at the moment

That model of the corner you were just seeing is actually this corner here, which marks the entrance into Soho

so it's really important for the project and really important for us

and this facade pattern we've been working on will be applied to the building all along here

and on that street there

We find that, when we make models it really engages the client

A lot of what we do is quite technical, like producing technical drawings

When you show someone a technical drawing, they don't really engage with that

but when you show someone a model and suddenly they can pick it up and look around it

I think it's a way we engage people with the ideas we're trying to pursue

That's what we're trying to do