Botsford Gianni

What makes our buildings and projects both original and notable is, we think, the absence of a statement, the lack of an ego, the way they fit into their culture, the economy and attention to detail of their design.

They reflect the GBA ethos of working closely with a client to make sure that the project fits into its surroundings and tallies with the client's needs and desires: if an art gallery, the contents must be visible; if a house, the rooms must be liveable; if a school, it must be enjoyable as an environment; if a whole village, it should be where people would want to live.GBA's success is built on its individuality.

It is not a mammoth practice in which teams of draftsmen work and execute someone else's bidding. It is a small, private firm - extremely flexible - able to design and supervise construction anywhere in the world: from the prize-winning Light House in Notting Hill to the Lubetkin Prize winner for Casa KiKe in Costa Rica, from a whole village in the hills of Taiwan to ingenious solutions for a New York skyscraper, a museum in Estonia or a telephone center in Haiti.