Karres en Brands is a design agency driven by ambition, curiosity, and craft. We are aware that challenges such as climate change, mobility issues, and shifting demographics require smart, nuanced solutions. After all, a plan is only flexible and sustainable if its spatial quality can fully adapt to changes in the terms of reference or the design. That is why we ensure our plans have a robust underlying structure that provides plenty of scope for both natural and human processes.
We proactively engage in the product and understand the crucial importance of supporting each step in the process. Our plans are therefore developed in close dialogue with our client and stakeholders in society. Our role is also never unequivocal but based on finding a bespoke approach and striking a balance between direction and participation. Drawing on our experience, dynamism, and craftsmanship, we are passionate builders who help to drive the success of a plan on the basis of solid contracting.
A successful plan starts with a clear idea that is given the chance to grow during the process. We look for the question behind the task at hand, in order to develop a coherent message that gets to the heart of the matter. This forms the vision that we focus on until the job is done. Our projects are not only based on strong spatial concepts, but are also feasible and carefully detailed. Design can reveal hidden qualities in the landscape, which is why our projects add new layers to a place and give it a timeless, recognizable identity. Reinterpreting a place’s history can often lead to an exciting transformation. We are constantly broadening our horizons to find suitable, innovative responses to today’s challenges.
As a cross-disciplinary network organization, our agency collaborates with architects, artists, sociologists, ecologists, technicians, and others. With an eye for results, our designs develop in a cyclical manner. Our work is characterized by the way it finds a balance between common sense, intuition, and maximum creativity. Bringing together a group of intrinsically motivated, ambitious people across a range of disciplines, our agency’s inquisitive, forward-thinking team works together to find new answers to current issues together.