Who we are

We are a practice of architects who share the value and ambition of creating the world we want to live in. We deliver buildings, urban research, urban strategies, masterplans, participatory design and consultation. We are ARB registered and an RIBA Chartered Practice.

We aim to be approachable and to be open about ourselves and our business. Charlie Palmer founded Incremental Urbanism in 2020 bringing together insights into how new approaches that value design, time and a people focussed approach could tackle the climate crisis, economic challenges, and make buildings and places more liveable.

Our team brings together skills as architects, urban designers and researchers, and have particular experience relating to retrofit, housing, cultural infrastructure, high street regeneration, healthy neighbourhoods, public engagement and place evolution.

How we work

We are a studio of architects that work in a manner that we hope will shape better buildings, stronger collaborations, and inclusive environments - honest, accessible and representative.

Our big goal is to create good urbanism - places where people have control over their health and where inclusive buildings and places are designed to make it easy for people to incorporate sustainable living into their every day lives.

We realise that this is only achieved through strong collaborations, listening, and being authentic to both people and the context. We also realise we are in a climate, cost of living, and biodiversity crisis and we are keen to take every small or big step in making positive change.

Our buildings are made to have lasting impact: configured for current needs, and designed to be reconfigured, to extend their social, environmental and heritage value. They are put together with care and economy, and refined through detail and craft.

Our studio is a place of creativity, where everyone has agency and responsibility is shared. We are bound by mutual warmth, respect and curiosity.

Every one of our projects, however big or small, is an increment in a larger journey - supporting ongoing changes, identifying new changes, or sparking others to create change.

Charlie Palmer

Charlie Palmer is director and founder of Incremental Urbanism, starting the practice in 2020. Charlie brings careful consideration, positivity and aspiration to everything he does.

Charlie is a UK qualified architect, he has worked for some of London’s most highly regarded practices including Hawkins/ Brown and S333 Architecture and Urbanism. He also spent two years working closely with Norman Foster at his foundation in Madrid, where he was a project architect for the Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission, which won a UN Habitat Award.

In 2022 Charlie won the RIBA Rising Star award, a prestigious honour presented to architects that are making a difference in architecture and the built environment.

Charlie teaches at Oxford Brookes University, as well as researching social innovation and live projects. He is part of the RIBA Educational Development Group and is a member of the Construction Industry Cycling Commission. This multi-disciplinary panel of leading construction professionals provides a clear, constructive and consistent voice on improvements required to better save lives of cyclists.

Our Teaching

We run an undergraduate teaching unit at Oxford Brookes University. The unit works with live clients to engage students of architecture with real world challenges. Our aim is to better train the next generation of architects to be able to better address the big challenges of their generation and become Change Makers.

Check out the student work on instagram: @unit_a_obu

Special Thanks

At Incremental Urbanism we recognise that creating great buildings and places is a collaborative endeavour. Successes are born out of teamwork not individuals. We therefore want to say a very large but humble thank you to past employees, clients, stakeholders, collaborators and end users that have contributed to the IU journey over years. We simply wouldn’t be where we are today without their passion, experience and support.

Thank you.

Hannah Sloggett
Wendy Hart
Niki Sole

Luka Honobe
Jason Skelton
Barbara Poczatek

Samuel Carew
Ruth Cuenca