Architect Will Howard has launched Bricolage, a new architecture practice based in Lewisham, London, founded in September 2025 with a focus on self-build housing, sustainable design, and creative material reuse. The practice takes its name from the French concept of bricolage, which encompasses do-it-yourself projects and the creative reuse of materials and ideas, reflecting an approach that values improvisation, resourcefulness, and repair over excess.

Howard, who previously served as an associate director at dRMM for 11 years, brings extensive experience in housing-led regeneration projects throughout London and the UK, often combining residential and industrial uses. His decision to establish Bricolage followed the completion of his own self-build house in Lewisham, where he took on multiple roles as developer, architect, main contractor, site manager, carpenter, and cabinet-maker. Working on the self-build project four days a week while maintaining part-time employment at dRMM, Howard gained firsthand experience in being accountable for every creative, technical, and financial decision.

The 120-square-meter Castlands Road project in Catford serves as Bricolage's flagship self-build house, with modeling by Ellie Sampson. Howard emphasizes that while self-build is "not for the faint-hearted," he believes it could be a meaningful way to deliver homes at scale. The approach offers genuine viability advantages by removing developer profit, reducing overheads, and allowing direct control over cost and value. Self-builders can capture savings through sweat equity, tax exemptions such as Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Value Added Tax (VAT), and leaner procurement processes.

The philosophical foundation of Bricolage draws from anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss's popularization of the term in the 1960s, as well as the spirit of Dadaism as a response to the absurdity of a world fractured by its own faith in progress and technology. Howard explains that "the instinct to scavenge, reassemble and find meaning in the discarded feels deeply relevant today." He sees parallel global contradictions where the pursuit of endless growth has driven ecological and climatic breakdown, while technology and artificial intelligence are offered as cures to problems they helped create.

Bricolage aims to work with like-minded clients who agree that building with integrity is both essential and rewarding, with particular interest in community-driven retrofit projects. Howard's goals include helping the industry move toward more sustainable and equitable ways of building, playing a small part in addressing deep-rooted issues that go beyond economic cycles and require reform across politics, procurement, and practice.

As a startup, the practice faces significant financial challenges, especially for architects from modest backgrounds supporting young families. Howard acknowledges owing a great deal to his wife, whose support and hard work make the early stages possible, noting that barriers to entry are very real without a financial safety net. To diversify income streams during uncertain project work, he combines smaller domestic projects, consultancy work helping councils on policy and Design Review Panels, teaching one day per week at the University of Reading, and freelance work.

The RUSS project at Church Grove in Lewisham, a community-led self-build by Architype and Shepheard Epstein Hunter, serves as Howard's primary inspiration from recent years. Located at 12 Church Grove, SE13, the project carries forward Lewisham's radical local legacy in self-build housing, from Walter Segal's pioneering schemes in the 1980s to this new generation of community housing. Howard finds the project's reimagining of earlier experiments particularly inspiring, showing how people can take control of how they live while shaping both process and outcome through participation, care, and shared ownership.

Regarding new design techniques, Howard approaches artificial intelligence with cautious curiosity, acknowledging its potential while remaining mindful of environmental and cultural impacts. He uses AI selectively to accelerate parts of the drawing process, particularly for visualizations, but expresses deep discomfort with architects using it for idea generation. He believes AI currently cannot enact the spirit of "doing it yourself" that is fundamental to his work approach, though he recognizes the need to adapt or risk being left behind as AI reshapes creative practice.

Early marketing success has come through word-of-mouth and professional networks built throughout Howard's career. In a recent achievement, Bricolage received third place in the Portobello Promenade Civic Hub competition, a project that embodies the meaningful, low-impact architecture Howard aims to pursue. Looking ahead, the practice focuses on entering more design competitions and building collaborations with like-minded practices to form strong teams for appropriate opportunities.

The practice's approach reflects broader industry discussions about material reuse, circular economy construction, architectural education emphasizing sustainability, and strategies for integrating self-build into community development. Bricolage's website can be found at www.bricolageprojects.co.uk, with direct contact available at will@bricolageprojects.co.uk, as Howard continues to develop this innovative approach to architecture that prioritizes resourcefulness, community engagement, and environmental responsibility in an era of ongoing construction industry challenges.