01__The Vine House
02__Peckham House
03__The Bothy
04__Cottage Industry House
05__Bow House
06__Compton Farm
SOAK is an architecture and design studio working at the intersection of daily life and craft. Founded and led by Alastair Selven ARB RIBA, the practice creates spaces that are both meaningful and enduring.
The name SOAK refers to a particular atmosphere - something dense, elemental and hard to define. It evokes the quiet intensity of bathing: stillness, warmth, shadow, and the texture of materials against skin. This quality underpins much of the studio’s work, not as a style but as a way of thinking about architecture that prioritises atmosphere, intimacy, and sensory experience.
The practice is shaped by four values: craft, atmosphere, collaboration, and sustainability:
Craft is approached through careful attention to how materials are sourced, detailed and assembled. Each project is developed with sensitivity to context, climate and use, with a focus on clarity, proportion and the relationships between elements.
Atmosphere is considered from the earliest stages of design. We work towards a quiet, hard-to-name quality rather than a style. Light and shadow, enclosure and release are tuned with material weight, surface temperature and sound so that spaces are as much felt as seen.
The studio places a strong emphasis on collaboration. Clients are involved throughout the process, supported by drawings, models, and conversation. We aim to make this experience not only clear and well structured, but enjoyable - something that reflects the spirit of the project and the people behind it.
Sustainability is approached through the use of natural, breathable materials and a restrained, fabric-first methodology. We favour timber, cork, lime and stone over more carbon-intensive alternatives and aim to reduce unnecessary complexity wherever possible. Our goal is to create buildings that are durable, adaptable, and made with care.
SOAK’s work is modest in scale but ambitious in its intent - to create architecture that feels personal, lasting, and quietly transformative.
e. alastair@studiosoak.com
p. 07449527356
Instagram.
SOAK
7-2-17
VANGUARD COURT
LONDON
SE5 8QT
SOAK is an architecture and design studio at the intersection of daily life and craft.