Invisible Studio is an internationally recognised, award-winning architecture practice founded by Dr Piers Taylor. Operating across a wide spectrum of typologies and geographies, we are driven by a deep commitment to architecture that instigates meaningful change—socially, culturally, environmentally, and materially.

Our work is defined not by stylistic consistency but by a consistent pursuit of impact. This is exemplified in projects such as EAST QUAY arts centre in Somerset, a bold collaboration with the Onion Collective CIC that has catalysed social, economic and cultural regeneration in the region. The project was recognised at the highest level when our client won the RIBA Client of the Year Award at the Stirling Prize.

Similarly, our ongoing work at Westonbirt, The National Arboretum explores inclusive design processes by involving marginalised groups in both design and construction, while advancing innovative uses of locally grown timber. This expertise in low-impact timber architecture has been developed over decades, from pioneering work at Hooke Park with the Architectural Association—including the acclaimed Assembly Workshop — to managing our own woodland as a site for architectural experimentation and research.

We have received numerous accolades, including multiple RIBA National Awards and a host of sustainability awards, but we measure success equally by the transformative potential of our projects and the collaborations they nurture.

Our practice is widely celebrated for pushing material and technological boundaries. While timber is central to our material language—evident in projects like Moonshine, Ghost Barn, and Trailer—we have also worked extensively with earth, hemp, and stone. Projects such as the Yoga Studio and Room in a Productive Garden (the latter featuring some of the largest structural glass panes in the world outside Apple’s headquarters) explore radical hybrids of traditional and advanced materials. These works are not just exercises in form-making but propositions for more sustainable, intelligent and joyful ways to build.

Dr Piers Taylor, the founder of Invisible Studio, is a Chartered Architect and a thought leader in experimental architecture and design education. He was the inaugural Studio Master of the Design + Make programme at the Architectural Association, is a former Design Fellow at the University of Cambridge, an external examiner at the Arts University Bournemouth, and holds a PhD exploring empowerment through making in architecture. He is Professor of Knowledge Exchange in Architecture at the University of the West of England and Convenor of the acclaimed Studio in the Woods, an influential annual forum for hands-on architectural inquiry.

At Invisible Studio, we have deliberately reimagined what an architecture practice can be. We work fluidly across research, education, design and construction, operating internationally and hyper-locally. Our self-built studio in a working woodland—which we manage as an active forest enterprise—is not just a workspace but a statement of intent: a site for testing ideas, materials and methods outside conventional practice.

We believe that architecture is not simply about objects or aesthetics, but about the process—one rooted in collaboration, ethics, and resourcefulness. Our buildings often emerge from what is locally available, valuing material provenance, embodied energy, and social context as much as technical precision. We reject the notion of design as a superficial luxury, offering instead a model of architectural production grounded in intelligence, ingenuity, and environmental responsibility.

Our work challenges the dominant paradigms of architectural production. We are hands-on: designing, fabricating, and often building our own projects. We believe in low-tech solutions, passive performance strategies, and in the power of making as a form of critical inquiry. Our collaborations with the world’s leading timber engineers and craftspeople—including longstanding work with Charley Brentnall—demonstrate our belief in deep, sustained relationships across disciplines.

Invisible Studio aspires to set a benchmark for a new kind of progressive architectural practice: agile, ethical, experimental, and fearless. We aim to produce work that is rigorous, exceptional, and of consequence—architecture that not only responds to the world as it is, but helps to reimagine it as it might be.

“Architecture must always be about experimenting with ideas, and moving them on – testing them and improving on them. When I’m asked which of my buildings is a favourite, I must always answer: the next one. I think Piers is also driven to make the next one really count.

Glenn Murcutt

Current/Past Invisible Studio collaborators include:

Charley Brentnall, Kate Darby, Lucien Castaing Taylor & the Sensory Ethnography Laboratory, Verena Paravel, Georgie Grant, Akos Juhasz, Neringa Stonyte, David Robinson, Alan Matthews, Tara Breen, Nozomi Nakabayashi, Holly Briggs, Steven George, Bernardo Mori, Alfie Dring, Liz Matthews, Sue Phillips, Piers Taylor, Grant Associates, Gianni Botsford, Mike Wells, Bill Gething, Imogen Taylor, Cuffer Matthews, Bernard Twist, Simon Schofield, Niki Turner, Hannah Durham, Caitlin Izard, Buro Happold, LT Studio, Greengauge, Onion Collective, Johanna Gibbons/JLG Landscape Architects, Gemma Wheeler, Nick Perchard, James Symon, Architectural Association, Louise Wray, Giovanni Meta, James Eagle, David Connor, Carpenter Oak, The Dartington Estate, Westonbirt Arboretum, AA Design & Make, The University of Reading, Mole Architects, Charles Holland, Diemante Auksoriute, Xylotek, Pearce Plus and others.

Please note that generally, we cannot take on projects that are small in scale, unless there is an experimental or research aspect, and we do not generally take on domestic alterations or additions. If you are interested in discussing a project with us, please contact us via email. We are an independent organisation and have no commercial or other links with the BBC or any broadcasts that feature Piers Taylor and regret we cannot answer direct questions regarding any television appearances by Piers Taylor, nor answer general ‘advice’ enquiries. Many thanks for your understanding. 

Piers Taylor is represented by Knight Ayton Management – please contact them for broadcasting and speaking enquiries HERE.