One of the joys of practising architecture for me is the crafting of good details that celebrate the materials being used. These are the bits very few non-architects notice in isolation, but which contribute to the greater whole of a building that people will tend to notice as ‘better’ than something visually similar – even if they couldn’t articulate why.

It might be an extra half brick on a window reveal, or the quirk on a piece of flashing; a shadow gap on a door frame, or the well-worked-through geometry of a handrail that sweeps rather than steps its way up the building. They also tend to be the bits highlighted for “value engineering” but that is a topic for another day!

Working through some of these details with experienced builders or craftspeople who know their material can add so much to this process. To this day one of my favourite meetings was working through thatch interface details (!) with a master thatcher. Admittedly this is one that doesn’t come up often – but working with someone who knows their material this well makes it come alive in the drawing, and ultimately “sing” in the finished building (though sadly those thatch details are for a long-paused project so may never see the light of day).

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