Erbar Mattes is a London-based architecture practice founded by Demian Erbar and Holger Mattes in 2015.
 
Our practice is dedicated to creating elegant projects that are firmly rooted in context, aiming to enhance and rebalance the essential qualities of a place, shaping purpose- and characterful buildings that are unique and truly belong.
 
Erbar Mattes has gained a reputation for its multi-faceted, sensitive and carefully crafted work and been recognised through international publications and awards.
 
We are delighted that our practice was the Architect of the Year winner at the British Homes Awards 2023. Also in 2023, our retrofit of a listed former East-London pub, Blockmakers Arms, won Home Transformation of the Year at the British Homes Awards, a RIBA London Award and was a Gold winner at the international Erich Mendelsohn Awards for Brick Architecture. It has also been one of twenty houses on the longlist for the RIBA's House of the Year 2023. In 2022 Erbar Mattes was one of ten Architectural Record New York Design Vanguard winners, selected from emerging talent around the world.

 

 

 

 

We are passionate about creating more truly affordable homes in low-carbon / low-energy design and are actively investigating new materials and methods of construction. An innovative custom-build timber frame house with ground source heat pump and heat recovery ventilation system has recently been completed in Wimbledonand we have launched a research project exploring natural stone as lower-carbon alternative to clay brickwork.

 

 

What we can do for you
 
Our practice follows a well-structured process based on the Royal Institute of British Architects' Plan of Work for UK projects. We provide a responsive and personal architectural service from concept to completion, competitively priced with a focus on cost-effectiveness and value for money (show more).

 

-	Client brief development and appraisals
-	Site and urban design appraisals
-	Capacity and feasibility studies
-	Architectural design
-	Interior design, fit-out and bespoke joinery design
-	Planning and Listed Building Consent applications
-	Community and other stakeholder consultations
-	Technical design, tender and construction information
-	Low-energy and low-embodied-carbon detailing, including Passivhaus
-	Cost estimate and procurement support
-	Building Control submittals
-	Site / handover inspections and contract administration
-	Post occupancy evaluation

Erbar Mattes works across a wide range of scales and budgets and we offer prospective clients a free initial consultation to understand their needs.

 

Our hands-on collaborative approach to resolving challenges and delivering exceptional value has helped us build lasting client relationships.

 

Over the years we have gained extensive knowledge obtaining planning approval within conservation areas and for listed buildings in England. Our practice has developed a restrained and sympathetic architectural language that mediates between modern and historic contexts, successfully addressing these particular planning conditions.

 

All projects are developed with 3D building information modeling software (BIM) to create a digital twin of the building, allowing us to share virtual walk-through models, explore options, resolve complex spatial questions, and produce well-coordinated construction information.

 

We collaborate with a network of experienced consultants for planning and construction reports. This allows us to provide early guidance to our clients on the necessary requirements, enabling them to budget effectively.

 

 

 

 

Team
 
Erbar Mattes' co-founders, architects Demian Erbar and Holger Mattes, are shaping and managing all projects from concept to completion. Together they bring 40 years of experience in leading the design and construction of highly acclaimed buildings in the United Kingdom and abroad. These include a hotel for the Capella Hotel Group and Hermès, the purpose-built public art galleries The Hepworth Wakefield in Yorkshire and Turner Contemporary in Margate, and the housing-led regeneration projects Agar Grove in Camden and Brentford Lock West II in Hounslow, which have been exceptionally transformative for their communities.

 

Demian Erbar
Director
 

 
Demian was born in Argentina and studied architecture in Germany, Italy and the UK, graduating from the RWTH Aachen in 2006.
 
Prior to establishing Erbar Mattes in 2015, Demian worked at David Chipperfield Architects in London leading the design and delivery of high profile residential, hospitality, and cultural projects, including the interior design of the Stirling Prize nominated The Hepworth Wakefield gallery (pictured below) and a studio for the artist Antony Gormley in Norfolk.
 
Demian is a registered architect in the UK (ARB) and a chartered member of the RIBA. Alongside practice, Demian has been a guest critic and lecturer at a number of Architecture schools in Germany and the UK. He is currently a lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast and runs an undergraduate design studio at Kingston School of Art, London.
 

Holger Mattes
Director
 

 
Born in Germany, Holger studied architecture at the Technical Universities in Aachen, Delft, and Berlin, graduating in 2002. He gained professional experience in Germany and The Netherlands, qualifying as an architect in 2005.
 
Holger moved to London in 2007 to join David Chipperfield Architects where he was an Associate from 2009 until 2013. He was the project architect of the acclaimed Turner Contemporary art gallery located on the seafront in Margate which has attracted nearly 4 million visitors and been highly transformative for the local community. (pictured below)
He further led a number of high profile residential and hospitality schemes in the UK, US, and the Middle East. These include a new build hotel for the Capella Hotel Group and Hermès, and a residential development for Spink Property.
 
Prior to establishing Erbar Mattes in 2015, he collaborated with Mae Architects where he oversaw the technical design of the largest Passivhaus regeneration scheme in the UK for Camden Council, Agar Grove, and designed the RIBA award winning housing development Brentford Lock West II (pictured below), creating 157 high quality homes.
 
Holger is registered as architect in the UK (ARB) and The Netherlands, and a chartered member of the RIBA. Alongside practice, he taught architecture as assistant professor at the Technical University Aachen, the University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury, and has been a design critic at the Bartlett, UCL, London Metropolitan University, and the Welsh School of Architecture.

Architectural Collaborators
 
Sketches, architectural drawings, images and three-dimensional models enable us to test and carefully calibrate the quality of space, light, proportions and materials. This design-led process is supported by highly talented architects, architectural assistants, image and model makers, as required. We are extremely grateful to our current and past collaborators who have contributed to shaping Erbar Mattes' body of work:

 

Igor Almeida
Maria Amador
Megan Ellis
Philippine Radat
Elin Soderberg
Alex Tucker

 

We have established connections with other excellent architects around the world who can support us delivering designs abroad. Our network extends to countries such as Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Argentina, Mexico, and the United States.

 

Our wider team comprises experienced external consultants who deal with a variety of specialist tasks, such as structure, civil and building services engineering, cost control, energy and carbon analysis, heritage assessments, ecological and arboricultural reports.

 

 

 

 

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Private Houses

 

Housing / Commercial / Other Projects

 

Get in touch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our clients say...

 

Blockmakers Arms
 
"Erbar Mattes ... supported the delivery of every detail. ... We love this house as it functions and looks now."

 

Noblefield Heights
 
"Erbar Mattes carried out this brief with great precision and very thorough drawings. They went beyond our expectations by having the vision to recreate our living room area and kitchen into a beautiful bright space that has been the centrepiece of our home and a joy to be in."

 

Plykea
 
"We’ve lost count of how many times customers say "oh wow, you actually make it here!?" and have a walk around and say "hi" to the team and see things in motion. ... Our goal, which Erbar Mattes has successfully delivered, is for the whole space to function as one big showroom rather than its component parts."

 

Hill House
 
"Thanks for all you have done to get us through the planning hoops again!"

 

 

Awards

 

RIBA House of the Year 2023 – longlisted

British Homes Awards 2023
Architect of the Year – Winner
Home Transformation of the Year – Winner

Erich Mendelsohn Award 2023 for Brick Architecture – Winner Gold

RIBA London Award 2023 – Winner

Manser Medal 2022 – Finalist

Architectural Review House Awards 2022 – Finalist

Architectural Record New York,
Design Vanguard 2022 – Winner

BD Architect of the Year Awards 2022 – Finalist

BDA Brick Awards 2022 – Finalist

Architects' Journal Retrofit Awards 2022 – Finalist

Haringey Design Awards 2018 – Winner

Dezeen Hotlist 2017

BD Architect of the Year Award 2017 – Finalist

Don’t Move, Improve! 2017 Special Prize – Winner

RIBAJ Microarchitecture Award 2015 – Finalist

 

 

A sense of permanence and identity
 
"The former pub ‘Blockmakers Arms’ in London ... has been transformed by the architects into an outstanding example of reconstruction ... The project expresses how reconstruction works: not with a loud, grand gesture, but in a very sensitive way."
 
Erich Mendelsohn Award 2023 Gold winner - Jury Statement

 

 

 

 

Press & Publications

 

Wallpaper, 9 April 2024, by Jonathan Bell
Timber-framed Wimbledon house is a minimalist, low-energy affair

 

Channel 4 TV, 26 February 2024
George Clarke's Remarkable Renovations Series 3 Ep1

 

Callwey Verlag, 16 October 2023, by Jens Kallfelz
Die besten Einfamilienhäuser aus Backstein /
The best single-family brick houses

 

db deutsche bauzeitung, 14 September 2023
Ausgezeichnet - Erich-Mendelsohn-Preis 2023 für Backstein Architektur

 

Dezeen, 10 August 2023
RIBA names top 20 British homes of 2023

 

RIBAJ - The RIBA Journal, 12 May 2023
RIBA London Regional Award 2023 - Blockmakers Arms, Hackney

 

Architects' Journal, 15 March 2023
First Look: Erbar Mattes completes space for kitchen-maker at Here East

 

The Architectural Review, December 2022
Blockmakers Arms in London, UK by Erbar Mattes

 

Baunetz Wissen, June 2022
Umbau eines Wohnhauses in London

 

Architectural Record, New York, 1 June 2022, by Chris Foges
Design Vanguard 2022: Erbar Mattes

 

Baumeister, 11 April 2022
Blockmakers Arms: Früher Brauerei, heute Familienwohnen

 

db deutsche bauzeitung, 10 March 2022
Wohnhaus in London

 

Dezeen, 27 February 2022
Erbar Mattes strips back and extends flats in former London pub

 

Architecture Today, 23 February 2022
The Blockmakers Arms: Erbar Mattes Architects has skilfully remodelled a former pub in north London to create a home for an expanding family

 

Architects' Journal, 15 February 2022
Erbar Mattes Architects extends former pub into five-bed duplex

 

Architects' Journal, 16 December 2021
AJ Retrofit Awards 2022 shortlist: Houses and Housing (House £500k and over)

 

The Modern House Journal
How to convert a period home – five architecture studios share their advice

 

TEC21 – Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Zürich, 18 September 2017, No.36, by Colin Fournier
Grenzenloser Mikrokosmos

 

Dezeen, 16 October 2016
Erbar Mattes adds pale brick extension to Edwardian house in north London

 

 

A limitless microcosm (TEC21, September 2017)
 
"In this seminal house, a whole array of apparently modest but actually very powerful and effective design strategies are at play, at many different levels. Their cumulative “gestalt” impact, although subliminal at first, is felt immediately."
 
Colin Fournier, Emeritus Professor, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London

 

 

Channel 4 TV, George Clarke's Remarkable Renovations Series 3 Ep1, 26 February 2024

 

"A fabulous debut for the series."