A new Tone of Voice for an architectural practice

Turning conceptual language into language of substance and simplicity

The client

Bennetts Associates

The challenge

Bennetts Associates is an established architectural practice with offices across the UK. What makes them different to any other firm? They are an employee-owned collegiate practice working in collaboration with clients to create long-lasting architecture of genuine substance. But their copy had a habit of using highly conceptual language. That meant the beauty and appeal of their architecture was getting a little lost. As part of a brand identity review we developed a distinctive voice. The challenge was to achieve simplicity yet retain the thoughtful approach that made them who they were.

The solution

We analysed all Bennetts Associates’ existing writing, from top-level website copy and project sheets to the nitty gritty of bid documents and technical specifications. One thing that stood out was that Bennetts Associates writers weren’t telling the story of their practice, their people and their projects in a way that demonstrated substance, thoughtfulness and the value they placed on collaboration.

So we created five tone of voice principles built around the idea of substance - just like Bennetts Associates’ architecture. That meant every claim needed to be backed up with evidence and conceptual architectural language should be tempered with clear, straightforward writing that was accessible to everyone.

The writing

Using the Substance Story to describe projects

Much of our writing explains our approach to architecture and specific projects. But we need to go beyond just describing the building. The Substance Story will help us express all aspects of our contribution and the effect it had.