After honing his craft in London, Craig returned to his roots in Lincolnshire to deliver that same exceptional level of service and design excellence locally.

Chartered Architect Craig Smith

Behind the name

Craig grew up in Humberston, a small village near Grimsby and Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire.

He began his career locally, managing building sites for a house builder before working with Hodson Architects.

Craig was the first in the family to attend University, studying architecture at the University of Nottingham and Kingston School of Art.

A formative period followed, working alongside a Swiss Carpenter on meticulously crafted projects in London for clients including Claudia Schiffer and Damien Hirst.

Bespoke landscaping by Adam Frost. Modern country house with timber overhangs and bespoke handmade bricks.

Award-winning

Craig qualified as an Architect whilst working with prominent practice Stanton Williams in London. This esteemed company was a previous winner of the UK’s most prestigious award for architecture; the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize.
Here he contributed to award-winning projects at the Royal Opera House and Canary Wharf.

At Allan Joyce Architects in Nottingham, Craig managed the construction phase of a zero carbon building in Southwell for the charity Reach. The project was highly commended at national level in the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Awards for the best purpose built accommodation in the United Kingdom, having previously won the East Midlands regional award.

For Craig’s unwavering commitment to design quality in Lincolnshire, he was shortlisted as a ‘Rising Star’ by the RIBA Journal. He remains the only Architect in Lincolnshire to ever be included in these prestigious awards.

Read more about Craig's awards here →

Exceptional experience

Over the course of his 15 year career, Craig has worked at all scales; from bespoke pieces of furniture through to buildings and masterplans across the arts, conservation, retail, public spaces and homes.

He has personally designed and project managed buildings with values of up to £3million. He has led teams on projects of £20million and worked as part of them for projects of £150million.

Most recently before establishing his own company, alongside project managing an award-winning building for the charity Reach, Craig successfully designed and secured planning permission for the transformation of over 10,000 sqft of existing agricultural barns to create a multi-generational family home in the Nottinghamshire countryside. Currently under construction, it is one of the largest private developments in the East Midlands.

Other notable past projects include a painting studio for a Turner-Prize winning artist in Devon, the creation of a distillery within a railway arch for Jensen’s Gin in London, zero carbon housing in Edinburgh for Edinburgh City Council and a significant new-build 7 bedroom home incorporating a swimming pool in Rutland.
Craig also played a crucial role in enhancing public spaces for the London Borough of Haringey, a two classroom extension in Stamford, designing retail stores in New York & Devon for Damien Hirst’s Other Criteria brand and contributing to the Western Growth Corridor project in Lincoln for Lincoln City Council.

Planning permission expertise

Craig has a proven track record of securing planning permission for challenging sites, often where previous Architects have failed. These have included Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB’s), Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s), Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings.

He is also one of a select few architects in the UK experienced in securing planning permission for Paragraph 84 homes (previously known as Paragraph 80, 79 and 55). These are exceptional new residences in open countryside that require an outstanding level of design quality to gain consent.

Our Values

We are dedicated to creating architecture that is both timeless and enduring; buildings which stand the test of time by design, quality and value.

The sourcing of ethical and natural materials is critical in ensuring a sustainable future for all. We strongly support British manufacturing and wherever possible, source local materials and those made within the United Kingdom.

Craig is also passionate about the social value of education and the enrichment it brings to his work.
Alongside practice he is an Assistant Professor at The University of Nottingham which is one of the UK’s leading schools of architecture. Here he teaches on the BArch (Hons) architecture and MEng environmental engineering programmes.

Craig has also previously taught architecture at Sheffield and Lincoln Universities and mentored students through University College London’s (UCL) pioneering ‘Accelerate’ programme, which supports young people from under-represented backgrounds in their journey towards higher education in the built environment.

Craig Smith Architect sketch. Residential extension, open plan with bi-fold doors.

Current projects

Our work is diverse and includes a sustainable retrofit of an existing building at Walesby Forest in Robin Hood Country and working with the owners of a 17-acre historic estate in Derbyshire, featuring a magnificent Grade II Listed country house dating back to the 11th Century. We are also designing several bespoke extensions and new homes for private clients across Lincolnshire.

As a young practice established in 2024, there is much to look forward to as these designs come to life. We invite you to read our online journal and connect with us on social media, where we share our latest news, design developments and insights on architecture.

Read our Journal here →