Oxfordshire Limited Edition – July 2019

June 2019 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition| 95

‘Thedesignismostly

basedontheclient,so

there’salotoflistening.

Whatevertheycome

upwithgetsturned

aroundalittlebit,just

toseeifthere’sanother

wayofdoingwhat

theywant.Thatthen

turnsintoacreative

fewweekswhenwe

exchangeideas’

thatappreciateourmodeloftotalchange
ortransformation.”
Thiscanbeanythingfrommakinga
traditionalcottagecontemporarytodesigning
aspiralstaircaseleadingtoawinecellarfor
ahouseinKingwoodCommon.Another
memorableprojectwasaddingwaterproof
claddingpurelyfordecoration.
“WedidanextensioninWallingford
whereweusedRainscreentimbercladding
thatwasactuallyjustdecorative,”explains
Anna.“Itwenteverywhere,evenontheroof,
althoughthemembraneunderneathwas
actuallywaterproof.Weavoidedthetilesthat
wouldhavebeentraditional.
“It’sbespokethinking,thoughitisalittle
bitchallengingtomakesuresomethingis
pretty,butalsowell-designedandworks.”
BeforeestablishingMarbleAir,Anna,who
isoriginallyfromPoland,co-rananother
company,butwithherownverydistinctideas
onbuildingdesign,shefeltshe’dbebetteroff
goingitalone.
“IlovewhatIdoandIwantedtofocus

onwhatIwantedtodoasanarchitect,”

shesays.“Obviouslyarchitectureisn’tjust

prettydrawings.Somearchitectswhodo

bespokedesigndon’tfocusonproject

managementandmakingsureeverybodyhas

enoughinformation.Iveryquicklygrewto

understandtheimportanceofthat.

“Thebuilderactuallydeliverswhatyou’ve

designed–it’sallintheirhands.We’ve

startedrecommendingourownbuilders

andcompaniesthatwe’vetriedandtested.

There’salwaysafirsttimebut,forthelast

twoyears,I’vecollaboratedwithseveral

andIknow,dependingontheclient,who

torecommend.”

Earlyonintheprocess,Annasits

downwithclientstofindoutexactly

whattheywant.Fromthere,theproject

growsorganically.

“Theonlyrestrictionisthebudget,”she

says.“Thedesignismostlybasedonthe

client,sothere’salotoflistening.Whatever

theycomeupwithgetsturnedarounda

littlebit,justtoseeifthere’sanotherwayof

doingwhattheywant.Thatthenturnsintoa

creativefewweekswhenweexchangeideas.

Wethenmakeitconcrete.”

ThoughtechnicallybasedinOxford,

MarbleAirdoesn’thaveapermanentoffice,

onlyonethat’sbarelyused.Instead,Anna

andherteamwork“remotely”,oftenfrom

homeoralocalcafé.Insomeways,thisisan

advantage.“Itgivesmefreedom,”saysAnna.

“Mylifeusedtobedifferent,goingto

workatnineandfinishingatsix-thirty.NowI

canfitinasneakyhorseridinglesson,butI’m

alwaystherefortheclient.

“Withresidentialprojectsit’seasytomeet

uponweekends.Youhavetomakeyourself

available,butyou’remorerelaxedaboutit.

Italsotranslatesintheserviceyouprovideif

you’realwaysthere.”

Anna’sstyleiseclectic.Shelovesmixing

oldandnew,oftenaddinga‘twist’to

heritageproperties.Amongherinfluences

isherbackground.“IgrewupinPolandsoI

supposeIcarryalittlebitofthatbaggage,”

shelaughs.“There’salotofconcreteand

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