London · Est. 2005
Journal · Updated periodically
Notes from the drawing board.
Writing about how we work, what we’re reading, and what we’re learning on site. Slower than a blog, longer than a post, indexed by year.
Essay · May 2026 · 4 min read
The corner of the room.
On the niche, the shelf, and what to put on it.
Phil Coffey · May 2026
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How a window meets a wall.
A window is mostly a junction. Draw the junction first.
One dial, per room.
Why we still wire each room to a single switch.
The pile on the table.
Three or four materials, side by side, for months.
A plant is a piece of architecture.
On living things in rooms drawn by hand.
Why we still draw by hand.
What pencil on tracing paper still does that software can’t.
What we keep the cold out with.
Sheep wool, hemp, and the slow case against PIR.
The cross, and what holds it.
Where four pieces of bronze meet, and how to draw it.
One light, well placed.
What a single fitting can do to a wall after dark.
Houses outlast watches.
Designing for fifty years, not five.