The first is a brief that respects the material. A room designed around Italian marble, French beech or hand-cast brass must earn those materials at the level of detail — the way a joint lands, the way a hinge sits, the way a light falls on grain. We turn down briefs where the material is decoration rather than structure.
The second is a client who wants the same room in year ten as in year one. We are not a photograph studio. If the brief asks for a look that will read stale in eighteen months, we ask the harder question first — and often walk the client back into a longer-lasting version of the same instinct.
The third is a project the workshop can hold end to end. Some work belongs to other studios, and we say so plainly. What we take, we take responsibility for — from the first sketch through the last coat of polish.