Andrew Catto Architects

Andrew Catto Architects 🏠We have renovated and built everything for residential purposes since 1999
☎️ 020 8785 0077
📍Putney-SW15 2SH

19/06/2026

Basement projects require careful planning and close collaboration. A key part of the process is early coordination with the structural design team to ensure the scheme is safe, buildable, and efficient.

Andrew Catto Architects combines design vision with technical coordination—delivering basements that are both carefully engineered and thoughtfully designed.

12/06/2026

Contract Works (Contractors' All Risks): Covers the physical structure, materials, and works in progress against fire, flood, theft, or vandalism. This is usually taken out in the joint names of the employer (property owner) and the contractor.

Public Liability Insurance: Protects against compensation claims if a third party is injured or their property is damaged during the works (e.g., scaffolding damages a neighbour's car).

Employers' Liability: A legal requirement in the UK if you have any employees, directly employed staff, or unpaid volunteers. It covers claims if someone falls ill or is injured on the building site.

Professional Indemnity Insurance: Essential if your project involves architects, structural engineers, or surveyors, as it covers claims arising from negligent design or poor professional advice.

10/06/2026

Site visits are always an important part of the construction process at Andrew Catto Architects, but catching a delivery in action is the equivalent of getting front-row seats to the show.

While most people get excited about weekends or holidays, we're over here celebrating the arrival of steel, timber, and pallets of materials.

Proof that in architecture, it's often the little things that bring the biggest excitement.

Buildability is one of the most overlooked measures of good design.A drawing can look elegant on paper, but if it cannot...
05/06/2026

Buildability is one of the most overlooked measures of good design.

A drawing can look elegant on paper, but if it cannot be built simply, efficiently, and reliably, it is not truly simple design. Every unnecessary junction, hidden detail, bespoke component, or complex interface introduces risk during construction. Complexity increases the likelihood of errors, delays, cost overruns, and compromises on site.

The best projects are not those with the most intricate details—they are the ones where design intent is achieved through clear thinking, careful coordination, and practical construction methods. Good architecture considers not only how a building looks, but how it will be assembled, maintained, and perform over its lifetime.

Buildable design creates certainty for contractors, better value for clients, and higher-quality outcomes. It reduces waste, improves programme reliability, and protects the original design vision from being diluted through site-based problem solving.

Good design is buildable design.

Performance is design made visible


There’s something timeless about exposed structure, when necessity becomes beauty.In this detail study, the rhythm of t...
29/05/2026

There’s something timeless about exposed structure, when necessity becomes beauty.
In this detail study, the rhythm of the trusses creates more than support; it shapes atmosphere, light, and movement. The structure isn’t concealed or apologised for. It’s celebrated.

That same thinking is guiding our current Flat project on site: using structural requirements not as constraints but as opportunities to define character and space. When resolved carefully, the outcome feels inevitable, as though the architecture and structure were always meant to exist together.

At its best, architecture reveals how a building stands and, in doing so, gives it honesty, depth, and permanence


From sketch to structure.What starts as lines in a 3D model quickly becomes something you can stand inside, and this sta...
19/05/2026

From sketch to structure.

What starts as lines in a 3D model quickly becomes something you can stand inside, and this stage is always one of the most exciting parts of a project.

In the visualisation, the new opening and increased ceiling height already hinted at how dramatically this space would change. Now, on site, with the walls removed and the structure exposed, you can already feel it happening.

Standing in the existing house and looking through the doors into the future extension, the connection between old and new suddenly becomes real. The extra height transforms the experience of the room entirely, bringing in more light, longer views, and a sense of openness that simply wasn’t there before.

Software allows us to test ideas, refine proportions, and help clients see what’s possible long before construction begins. But there’s still nothing quite like the moment a design starts taking physical shape on site. The dust, the steel, the temporary supports. It’s all part of the process that turns concept into architecture.

The 3D model shows the intention.
The build brings the atmosphere.

Andrew’s “other hat,” as he calls it, is helping shape the community through the Putney Society — meeting with our MP to...
14/05/2026

Andrew’s “other hat,” as he calls it, is helping shape the community through the Putney Society — meeting with our MP to discuss the issues that matter most to residents.

08/05/2026

One of our standout projects.

A home that respects the original character while introducing a refined modern twist. A seamless blend of old and new.

We’ve been at Grand Designs Live today. A great opportunity to connect in person with the people behind the products we ...
01/05/2026

We’ve been at Grand Designs Live today.

A great opportunity to connect in person with the people behind the products we specify, including Daikin and NIBE ASHP systems.

We also spoke with SIPs manufacturers as we develop our next product, and listened to Kevin McCloud and guest speakers exploring the future of construction, from biodiversity to going back to our roots. There’s a lot to learn from the past, and we believe timber frame construction is the way forward.

A valuable day combining innovation with proven ideas.

Brick is often seen as a constant, solid, reliable, timeless. But the truth is, it’s one of the most expressive materia...
24/04/2026

Brick is often seen as a constant, solid, reliable, timeless. But the truth is, it’s one of the most expressive materials in architecture.

A simple change in pointing colour can completely transform a façade, sharpening contrast, softening tone, or creating a subtle rhythm across the surface. The choice of brick type, from smooth and uniform to textured and irregular, adds another layer of character and depth.

And when these elements are carefully considered together, brickwork moves beyond construction into craft, even art.

We’re also seeing a growing interest in glazed bricks, bringing richness, reflection, and movement to elevations. Their ability to catch light and shift in tone throughout the day introduces a dynamic quality that traditional finishes can’t always achieve.

Brick isn’t just a background material . It’s a design tool with endless potential.

Address

176 Upper Richmond Road
London
SW152SH

Telephone

+442087850077

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