LMNL office [for architecture and landscape] is a Dutch studio which specializes in naturalistic landscapes and the architecture of natural materials. Founded in 2017 by Erica Chladová and Robert van der Pol - Erica (Architect and Landscape Architect) and Robert (Landscape Architect) met while completing their graduate studies at the Technical University Delft.
Our working method relies on experimentation with alternative building materials, technologies, form, and logic. We always seek to reconcile sustainable low-impact strategies with the specific needs and limitations of each project, so that the results are diverse and differ in methodological and technical approach.
LMNL works on commissions, competitions, and research studies that bridge the fields of architecture and landscape. Our work seeks to merge the building and the environment, focusing on the liminal space between inside and outside. Sustainability is a priority for us – all our built projects feature sustainable, biobased, and where possible, circular materials. We renovate and create buildings with natural materials that are fully vapor permeable and promote the best possible indoor air quality. Materials we favor include: wood (mass timber and wood frame), wood fibre insulation, hemp, clay and earth plasters, among others. We prefer to focus less on using mechanical installations in buildings and choose instead to rely on material technology. These materials help create and maintain a comfortable interior atmosphere, through their breathability and regulatory characteristics.
In addition to architecture we design naturalistic landscapes, large and small, which take the changing climate into consideration and respond as needed. Next to our design practice we are developing a garden, design and landscape laboratory named grond|vorm, where we invite colleagues to collaborate and test out ideas while we work to convert a disused monocultural agricultural landscape into a biodiverse culturally relevant landscape.
We believe in designs where the built form and living landscape benefit from and interact seamlessly with one other. Landscape isn’t subordinate to the structure – the structure however, is secondary to its surroundings. Our goal is to design that interaction between architecture and its landscape to create more playful, powerful and liveable places with a look to the future.
