A BOOK marking nearly 20 years of practice by an architect firm had its charity launch in Winchester.

More than 150 clients, consultants and friends of Design Engine Architects gathered in their Coker Close studios to celebrate the launch of Building Stories, written in collaboration with academic Martin Pearce to mark 18 years of the practice.

All proceeds from sales on the night were donated to Shelter.

Design Engine is a multi-award winning architecture practice founded in 1999 and with studios in Fulflood and London.

It works across all scales and sectors and is proud that its work has been recognised by critics, awards and by repeat commissions.

In 2014 Design Engine’s John Henry Brookes Building for Oxford Brookes University won a RIBA National Award and reached the midlist of the Stirling Prize.

In 2016 the Student Services Building at Arts University Bournemouth won a RIBA Regional Award while in 2017 AUB Design Studios and Winchester University’s Winton Chapel were both winners in the RIBA Awards in the South-West and South regions respectively.

They are currently working on projects as diverse as the West Downs scheme at the university, a new pavilion building for St Peter’s College, Oxford and a new HQ for Formula 1 design and engineering legend Professor Gordon Murray.

Building Stories explores the idea that buildings tell stories in many ways. These can be the stories of those whose lives they touch, of the hands that crafted them, of those that conceived them and the ideas from which they were shaped.

Structured around thematic chapters, Building Stories features all of Design Engine’s best known projects including 2008’s RIBA International Award-winning British Embassy in Yemen and 2014’s John Henry Brookes Building.

The book will be available in all good bookstores and can also be ordered from Design Engine’s website.