CoombsJones is a design studio creating considered, imaginative projects connecting people and place.
What people say : “An excellent toolkit that is really helping shape communities… a big exemplar of what we should be doing. What’s fantastic about this document is also the way it is presented, the photos are lovely and someone’s got a real talent in the way they have illustrated it.” Brecon Beacons National Park Authority
CoombsJones was established by Matthew Jones and Steve Coombs in 2012. Our studio has extensive experience working across the fields of sociallyengaged place-making, architecture, urban design and place planning. We work directly with communities, local authorities and public clients to encourage collaboration and participation in considering the built environment and its future. Through our practice and research we are at the forefront of creative place planning in Wales. We work with public clients and community groups to develop creative tools and techniques to reveal the potential of place and engage local people in considering the future of their communities. We like to think, analyse, organise and design at a strategic scale- the scale of settlement and landscape- while maintaining a crafted and rigorous approach to design and detail. We take a ‘hands-on’ approach, working through making, models, hand drawing, prototypes, and building things ourselves. The work of the studio has been recognised for its innovation and quality. We were selected for inclusion in the Architecture Foundation’s ‘New Architects 3’, the definitive guide to the best British architects to have set up practice since 2005. We regularly speak about our work at conferences and public events.
w: www.coombsjones.com e: info@coombsjones.com t: 07740145400 tw: @coombsjones LLP No. OC370432
“The design solution produced by CoombsJones was artistic, creative and beautifully crafted. They completely understood the client brief and took it further giving us more than we could have imagined. They worked fantastically well with the design team, site constraints and budget.”
Coombs Jones
Royal Society of Architects in Wales “We have engaged Matthew on a number of occasions where his skills, experience and inclusive approach have been key success factors. Communication, creativity and genuine engagement with the public and communities were crucial for each of the projects. We recognise the professional, creative, inventive and fluid approach employed, reflecting shifting practice boundaries and the nature of contemporary creative engagement techniques.” Design Commission for Wales
Who we’ve worked with : Design Commission for Wales Brecon Beacons NPA Hands On Bristol The Ardagh Community Trust Conwy County Borough Council Ynysybwl Regeneration Partnership CALL (Cultural Action Llandudno) Persimmon Homes
Studio Response Ruthin Craft Centre University of the West of England Ruthin Town Council Cardiff University Hay Together Southmead Development Trust Royal Society of Architects in Wales
Transforming towns:
People, Place & Purpose
We have a specialism in creative projects in small towns and are at the forefront of place planning in Wales.
Value the existing
Transform
Repair, reuse, de-clutter
Reconnect
Ruthin : Market Town of the Future
Shape My Brecon Beacons
Ynysybwl
Shape My Town
Placing the Market Town
Gibbonsdown, Barry
Client: Ruthin Town Council/Beacon for Wales (2011-ongoing) This community-led project aims to create a framework for the development of the town over the next decade. The plan, founded on extensive public engagement, draws together projects from the DiY to more significant public realm projects, presented as a coherent strategy, framework and future vision. Five years on from its launch we are appraising its success to inform an updated strategy.
Client: Brecon Beacons National Park Authority/Welsh Government (2016) This toolkit enables town & community councils, local residents and community groups to produce a Place Plan in the Brecon Beacons National Park. It offers step-by-step advice on the process of producing and consulting on a plan and explains how it can be delivered as Supplementary Planning Guidance. Finalist, RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence & RTPI Cymru Awards 2017.
Client: Ynysybwl Regeneration Partnership (2016-7) Working alongside the regeneration partnership we facilitated a communityled evidence building workshop exploring landscape, built environment and community before collating a report exploring the future of the village. This was an instrumental part of a subsequent successful Lottery funding bid to develop several of the proposals emerging from the workshop.
Collaborators: Design Commission for Wales (2014-ongoing) Shape My Town is a practical toolkit to inspire local people to play a part in shaping their built environment. Shape My Town aims to give people the tools and inspiration to explore their place, identify what makes it unique and to plan for its future. The toolkit aims to raise aspirations and to provide positive tips and useful information, encouraging people to demand more from their place.
PhD by Design, Welsh School of Architecture (2019-17) CoombsJones is founded on a research based approach to design supported by academic teaching. Matthew’s PhD thesis developed a place-specific and designled approach to rural towns based on an in-depth mapping of place. The research used design to explore the potential of architecture, urban design and landscape to reinforce and strengthen town fabrics to create distinctive, resilient towns.
Client: Persimmon Homes/Vale of Glamorgan Council (2017-ongoing) Working with Studio Response, this Section 106 funded public art commission aims to give a voice and process to the communities of Gibbonsdown to consider the future of their neighbourhood. Through creative practice, we are building evidence for change before co-creating artworks that respond to these findings and enhance community wellbeing.