PEARCE+ is an architecture and design-build practice based in Herefordshire and the South West, working across the UK and internationally.
We design buildings, landscapes, installations and public spaces, bringing together architecture, making, environmental responsibility and participation. Our work ranges from permanent buildings and public projects to temporary structures and experimental prototypes.
Every project begins by assembling the right team. We collaborate closely with clients, communities, architects, engineers, craftspeople and fabricators, bringing different forms of knowledge into the design process.
Making is central to how we work. By testing ideas through materials, prototypes and construction, we develop designs that are imaginative, practical and closely connected to their place. We favour local and reclaimed resources, thoughtful use of materials and construction methods that respond to the environmental and social context of each project.
From restaurants built for extreme climates and public landscapes made from locally sourced timber to community spaces and wildlife infrastructure, our work is united by a commitment to collaboration, resourcefulness and the belief that design can create meaningful relationships between people, materials and place.
Featured Projects
Wildlife Tower Honeygar Farm, Somerset Wildlife Trust
Wildlife Tower 01 is a multi-species habitat structure designed and built by PEARCE+ for Somerset Wildlife Trust at Honeygar Farm, a former dairy farm undergoing extensive peatland and wetland restoration in the Avalon Marshes, Somerset.
The Playscape Westonbirt
The playscape at the National Arboretum Westonbirt is a play landscape designed for all ages, encouraging open-ended exploration, movement, and imagination. Constructed from timber sourced directly from the arboretum, the project highlights the natural beauty of its materials, with exposed bark, knots, and irregular edges that enhance the connection between play and the surrounding landscape.
Owen Hughes Pearce is the founding director of PEARCE+, which he established in 2019. He is also a Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, focusing on sustainable architecture for an alternative future, community-led making, and design for remote contexts. His practice spans design, teaching, participation, and making, with a guiding principle that every project begins by assembling the right team.
At PEARCE+, Owen curates a collective of architects, makers, and engineers selected for each project’s unique needs, forging a close-knit and collaborative approach. The studio has gained a reputation for challenging convention—both in ideas and process—and for reimagining how we build and involve communities. Committed to a plurality of voices, PEARCE+ believes that good architecture demands a radical mindset, underpinned by the conviction that there is always more to learn.
Collaborators include: Somerset Wildlife Trust, Forestry England, Enmill Winery, Invisible Studio, Lean Structures, RAW:Almond, Contains Art, Hastings Commons, Jericho Road, Root Connections, Onion Collective CIC, Public Map Project, Shahé Gregorian, Black Horse Workshop, Wild Ways Project
AWARDS
RIBA South West Building of the Year - East Quay
National Pro Team Civic Trust Award, 2023 - Building a Martian House
Regional Pro Tem Civic Trust Award, 2026 - RAW:Almond
Architects Journal, Small Project Shortlist, 2026 - Dog Walkers Pavilion