OMMX

About

Introduction

OMMX are architects. We innovate in complex settings where traditional approaches fall short. We aren’t only interested in how a neighbourhood looks and feels, but who and what it stands for. We create spaces that we can all relate to and that help us relate to one another.

We currently advise Hackney and Brent Councils on their future development, sit on the board of Brighton’s West Pier Trust looking after the iconic ruin, and serve on the Mayor of London’s Architecture and Urbanism Framework for housing and public spaces.

We have worked on diverse projects for diverse clients. This includes housing, galleries, offices, public spaces, national landscapes, historic buildings, biomedical research facilities, festivals, exhibitions, playgrounds and shops. The breadth and depth of this experience enable us to break down siloes, offering fresh perspectives on historic and urgent challenges.

In 2023, we founded Young Policymakers to champion the rights of children from under-served and under-represented communities in the UK. We are now helping establish Playrise, a charity creating disaster relief play spaces for the world’s most vulnerable children. As part of this, we have been collaborating directly with Palestinian and Sudanese refugees, working alongside Save The Children in Egypt.

In Ethiopia, we have partnered with the NGO Empowerment for Development to evolve the traditional Daboyta homes of the two million Afar people. This work aims to protect their nomadic way of life from the combined threats of climate change, deforestation and USAID cuts in one of the poorest, hottest and driest parts of the world. In Zambia, we are working with the grassroots charity Viking Sport FC to equip young children with vital life skills and educational facilities.

Our portfolio embodies a seismic shift towards a more fiscally, socially and environmentally responsible architecture. One that properly caters for our planet, its diverse communities and natural habitats.

Presence

While we don’t actively pursue awards, we have been nominated for the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture, the Lisbon Triennale Début Award and are included on the Architects Journal’s 40 under 40 — a showcase of architecture’s brightest up-and-coming talent — and Platform’s European 40 under 40.

This summer, we won two major competitions. The first is for the redevelopment of St Mary in the Castle in Hastings, a project to inject new cultural and community uses into the historic church, arcade, crypt, carpark and ruin of Hastings Castle.

The second is for a new public space in front of the London Museum in Canary Wharf, where we are collaborating with Brazilian artist Khaleb Brooks, YAA Projects, curators from the Mayor’s office, the museum and local communities to address the site’s colonial past.

Other notable wins include 326 affordable homes and 10 town houses in City Airport’s flight path, 22 experimental homes funded by the Mayor of London for their innovative approach to housebuilding, a vision to open up the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to children with different needs and numerous exhibitions and galleries for some of the world’s leading institutions.

Our work has been published widely, and we regularly contribute to architectural critique and discourse at institutions and biennales, often collaborating with curators, makers and artists. We recently participated in the Architecture Foundation event Introducing New Housing — a presentation of the best architects working in the UK today — and at the Building Centre panel discussion Rethinking The Way We Live.

Research

OMMX have been appointed Design Fellows at Cambridge University, UCL, the Architectural Association, London Metropolitan, Westminster, Central St Martins and the Leeds School of Architecture.

Our teaching focusses on how technology is disrupting the status quo and shaping our lives. We examine the common misconceptions, aspirational hangovers, accepted norms and prevailing orthodoxies that render individuals and societies impotent to enact meaningful change. An academic setting provides a collaborative, discursive and rigorous platform to look at the different phenomena affecting our environment with urgency and without bias.

People

Amy Glover, Architect and Engagement Lead
Catherine Sargent, Research and Development Manager
Hikaru Nissanke, Director
Jenny Hill, Associate
Jon Lopez, Director
Paol Kemp, Architect
Zeena Ismail, Architectural Assistant

Recruitment

If you are interested in working with OMMX, please email your CV and abridged portfolio to: jobs@officemmx.com

Clients

A Practice for Everyday Life
British Library
CAMPO
COP 26
Clerkenwell Design Week
Create London
Design Museum
English Heritage
FRAC Centre
Greater London Authority
IKEA
Lendlease
London Festival of Architecture ’15
Martin Parr
Marian Goodman Gallery
Media 10
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
Naked House
Rohsska Museum
Royal Academy of Arts
Salvador Dali Museum Florida
Science Museum Group
Superflux
The Youth Hostels Association
Toast
V&A
V&A Dundee
Wellcome Collection
Youth Hostels Association