Our work is founded on the research of a project’s context from a cultural perspective, which encompasses local language, daily habits, locally-available technology and where the interaction of local character develops into patterns that define the identity of a place.

In the past years, EVA Studio has been working on research projects taking on different challenges that nowadays are affecting our cities: from affordable modular housing in London, to the global challenges of human displacement and social integration between the host communities and refugees.

According to UNHCR over 70 millions people were forced to flee their homes and a quarter of the world’s refugees and IDPs are living in camps for an average of 17 years. As refugees live in camps for a generation or more, these settlements can no longer be considered temporary.

Yet there are several refugee camps world-wide that are being transformed by their occupants into real cities and some should even be considered models for self-built practices and self-reliance, a lesson that can be transferred to other contexts.

We are living through the largest wave of human displacement since WWII, with 6.7 million Syrians who make up the highest number of refugees per nation in the world.

Taken from the perspective of the city-wide scale, one need only point to the UNHCR predicted number of 350,000 refugees in Beirut — the highest number per capita in the world — to note how entire metropolises in the Middle East are becoming transformed by conflicts and catastrophic events happening elsewhere.

People and places are at the core of our practice’s ethos.

We see architecture as more than just design.

For us, it is an inclusive process based on collaboration. Through different levels of public engagement, we are able to explore a community’s vision and aspirations and make social places that promote inclusion, equality and urban resilience.

Central to our approach is a community engagement process to address the local needs, priorities and aspirations.

Architects, as process makers, may play a key role in facilitating the conversation between stakeholders of urban development and local communities.

Why placing community engagement at the core of the design process?

Because an effective public engagement can sensibly contribute to ensuring that the community will be positively impacted by the project.

It is essential to understand the local needs, to shape a brief that combines the community and the project’s ambitions.

It could be a force to trigger a positive and locally-empowered change! An effective participatory process can do more than establish community preferences.

EVA studio, including past work with other practices, has experience in designing and delivering projects of all scales and budget in numerous sectors in London, Haiti and Lebanon. EVA Studio delivers quality architecture that embodies the core design concept, buildings that communicate the architectural vision. We strongly believe design has a place in fighting social ills such as poverty, illiteracy, and political and religious persecution. And that responsible design can help improve lives and communities in need. Design plays a major role in strengthening communities, supporting vulnerable areas and empowering people.

Our work extends over a wide range of projects of different scales from public spaces, community infrastructure, schools to housing.

Our studio's work is based upon the observation and research of a project's context from a cultural point of view, which encompasses language, materials and technology craftsmanship and where the interaction of local traits develop into patterns that define the identity of a place.

We see construction supervision as essential to deliver a quality project and to ensure the vision and community’s priorities and aspirations.

Working together with people that are building a project, the majority of which comes from the local community, is key to us. It is not only important as part of the process of triggering a sense of ownership, but also as part of training non-skilled workforce locally.

EVA Studio team is experienced in providing Post-Occupancy Evaluation, which is widely recognised as being central to addressing the gap between the designed intentions and the actual outcomes in use, and pivotal in understanding the wider socioeconomic, environmental and cultural impacts of investment in quality design.

Post-Occupancy Evaluation is not just about user satisfaction but can also include more intangible issues such as identity, sense of belonging and community resilience.

Measuring the impact of a public space is not always straightforward; in order to fully understand a public space project’s outcome and success EVA Studio adopts a specific methodology to run a long-term evaluation, which includes both quantitative and qualitative tools, from the people-moving counts (divided by gender and age) at different time of the day and the week, visual-spatial observation of how the site is used, to questionnaires and interviews. Post-completion dedicated focus groups sessions allow maintaining the community engagement established at the beginning of the process and to continue promoting ownership of the project.