Who we are
Our (quiet) rebellion is to create better buildings.
Amazing spaces that change the way you live.
To create spaces that make the neighbours jealous, you’ll need talent, flair, and some A7-magic in your corner!
Ask André what he does for a living, and he’ll say, “I draw pictures of houses.” Pretty accurate, since he’s been doing it since he was 7!
His first house design featured in Tony Hart’s gallery, and now after decades in the business, you’d struggle to drive more than a minute around the island without him saying “I did that one, ooh, and that one!”
André is, by his own definition, an obsessive (The team nod in agreement) He’s relentless in pursuing design, fine tuning it like an old transistor radio, and no idea is too wild – just ask the client who got a Millennium Falcon-inspired extension!
He believes his work makes a difference to people's lives - and judging by the number of times he’s made clients cry happy tears, we tend to agree.
Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! (He even has a countdown app on his phone)
He runs, he surfs, and, most importantly, he draws!
You’ll always find Jody with a pen in his hand, sketching house designs then using his trusty sharpies to bring them to life.
His philosophy: the pen is mightier than the mouse. For our Jody, sketching by hand lets him go wild with ideas and feel the design in a way software just can’t match. (He puts the Art into Architecture!)
Giving lost tourists directions. If you’re wandering around with a map and a confused expression, Jody’s your guy.
Sophie is our Interiors Queen, with an uncanny knack for combining colours and materials that just work. Even her childhood bright orange bedroom was a win!
She’s always ahead of the curve when it comes to interior trends and can recognise a door handle or wallpaper designer from a mile away.
With a background in kitchen and bathroom design, Sophie’s a maven at space planning and flow — plus, she has access to some seriously good trade accounts!
She saved her pocket money, bought a goldfish and kept it in her Wendy house.
Ged is the Spock to André’s Captain Kirk – calm, focused, logical (but thankfully without the Vulcan Death Grip!)
Like Spock and Kirk, these two go way back. Ged was A7s first employee, riding to work on his blue BMX, armed with tracing paper and a Rotring pen.
Ged’s our go-to for large scale development projects. Why? Cos he’s a walking database of building regulations and practices. He's the man for advice on all things technical, from road widths and fire safety code to more obscure questions like, “What does goat taste like?”
He has more stamps in his passport than Phileas Fogg.
Seafarer, explorer, adventurer - Sam never shies away from a challenge, whether it’s converting a WWII bunker, installing a swimming pool in the basement, or restoring a 15th-century farmhouse.
He knows his way around building regulations almost as well as he navigates the English Channel, and he’s our go-to for exploring options no one else has considered.
If you want a good design made great, Sam’s your man!
Most worn item in his wardrobe? A lifejacket.
If Katniss Everdeen* lived in Guernsey and designed houses for a living, she’d be called Lisa Gray.
Lisa joined the team fresh from school, and it was her dedication to archery (plus her kick-ass portfolio) that made her stand out.
Her superpower? A structured, thoughtful approach to work – she’ll not start drawing until all the t’s are crossed, and the i’s dotted! And thank goodness for that! It’s how she turns André’s mad scribbles into drawings that look like houses you could actually live in!
* The arrow-slinging heroine from The Hunger Games
the Island Games logo, our Lisa won three silvers in archery.
Paige knows the words to every song and sings them loudly in the office. Luckily, we don’t mind because she has a very nice voice. When she’s not singing (actually, even while she’s singing—she’s always singing) she’s busy transforming abstract sketches into functional designs.
Now as a fully-fledged technician, she’s tackling more complex residential projects and handling contract admin...all while serenading the office!
We have never seen Paige without sunglasses perched on her head.
Hannah makes the best frothy coffee in the world. Fact!
She also takes charge of EVERYTHING needed to make A7’s world go round; like payroll, invoicing, team management and making sure the toilet roll is always facing the right way.
As Practice Manager Hannah wears many hats, but her special talent is knowing the name of everyone who walks through the A7 door. Skillz.
Ex-ballerina Hannah LOVES a silent disco.
Jess is officially the bendiest person at A7, as well as the most positive, which is handy because her job role requires ‘excellent interpersonal skills’.
Jess is the key liaison between the studio, clients, suppliers and the planning department – that’s a lot of plates to spin! (But as a part-time yoga teacher, she’s pretty good at keeping everything balanced!)
Savasana (the lying down one) – as a mum of three kids, we can’t blame her.
Anya drew her first house on her mum’s office wall, now she gets paid to draw them!
As an apprentice architectural technician, Anya supports the team with technical drawings, 3D modelling, and project planning. Her background in furniture design means she’s fab at understanding space, proportions, and how objects fit into environments.
Anya is obsessed with pigs, but weirdly has never watched Babe.
Libby is our energiser bunny. Whether she’s collating drawings, producing social media content, or creating 3D drawings, she’s always smiling.
After working as a kitchen designer, Libby arrived at A7 with a strong understanding of how to work with creative minds – she loves collaborating on projects and throwing new ideas into the mix.
The shredder. Libby can’t stand clutter, so don’t leave any plans lying around!
He’s cute, 17.7 inches high, (a little bit smelly) and tons of fun. He remains unpaid, and his role is a bit of a mystery, but he keeps turning up and that’s OK with us.
attending every meeting, (excitedly) greeting the postman and following the team to the toilet.
These are the kinds of clients we do our best work for:
Who have interesting problems
We love coming up with new solutions to new problems (aka ideas that make the Planning Dept blink and rub their eyes) If you have an odd, awkward space, or weird building restrictions, bring it on!
Who have a smidgen of vision
‘Yes, but what if….’ is our favourite phrase. And our favourite clients get this. We work best with people who want to build great things, who contribute great ideas, challenge us and laugh at our naff jokes.
Who see us as partners
Our clients hire us to bring our design and build skills to the table; to give them our best advice and our best work. Collaboration is our favourite C word! (On the flip side we’re not very good with big-heads or fearful types.)
Are you our person?
We’ve been doing this architectural thing for a while now, and we’ve learnt a few important things along the way:
Never settle for OK, OK?
There’s always a smarter idea, sharper design, a better material or a new way to do things. Our job is to find it.
Build relationships, not invoices
We don’t hide our knowledge behind a contract or fee quote. Want some free advice? Call us.
Empathy, then innovation
To create spaces that feel like home, you need to care. About the client, their lifestyle, and how good design can make make lives better.
