Research-led design · Nairobi, Kenya
We design the surface between material and climate.
Cosmos is a design studio working at the meeting point of computational design, material experimentation and digital fabrication. We build façade systems and bespoke retail environments — and we do the research first.
01 — The studio
A practice built on testing, not on taste.
Cosmos began in 2019 as a research collaboration between an architect and a fabrication engineer, both of whom had spent years watching good drawings fail at the point of manufacture. The studio was set up to close that gap: we prototype at full scale, we keep the failures, and we let the material tell us what the building wants to be.
Our work sits in two places. The first is the building envelope — screens, shading systems and cladding assemblies developed through parametric modelling and then printed, pressed or woven. The second is the interior: retail environments where a single fabricated element carries the whole identity of a brand, from the shelving to the door handle.
We are based in Nairobi, which shapes the work more than any software does. Local bamboo, reclaimed timber, volcanic stone and recycled polymer are all within reach. So is a climate that punishes anything designed for a European winter — high UV, driving seasonal rain, dust. Every system we ship has been through a wet season on a roof before it goes near a client.
- Founded
- 2019, Nairobi
- Studio
- Kilimani, off Argwings Kodhek Rd
- Team
- 9 — architects, computational designers, fabricators
- Facilities
- Large-format 3D printing, CNC, material lab
- Collaborations
- University of Nairobi · FabLab Nairobi · Bamboo Trust EA
- Languages
- English · Kiswahili · Français
02 — What we offer
Four ways we work with clients.
Most projects start as one of these and grow into two or three. We are happy to be brought in at concept stage, or to take a stalled scheme and re-engineer it for manufacture.
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01
Façade & envelope systems
Parametric screen and shading assemblies developed from environmental data — sun angles, prevailing wind, rainfall — then resolved into panels that a local fabricator can actually produce. We deliver the geometry, the fixing detail and the first full-scale mock-up.
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02
Bespoke retail environments
Interiors where one fabricated system does the work of five: display, lighting, structure and wayfinding in a single language. We design the fixture, prototype it, and hand the client a production file set their joiner or printer can run without us.
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03
Material research & prototyping
Commissioned research into a specific material question — how far a bamboo composite can span, how a printed lattice behaves under load, how a recycled polymer ages in Nairobi sun. Output is a tested sample set plus a written specification, not a mood board.
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04
Design strategy & brand identity
For founders building a physical space from scratch: positioning, spatial identity, material palette and the fabrication route to get there. We work alongside your brand designer rather than replacing them — the identity has to survive contact with the material.
03 — Process
Five stages, and we don't skip the slow one.
Stage three is where most studios cut corners and where most projects fail on site. We keep it, and we budget for it.
Listening & site reading
Two weeks of conversation, site visits and measurement. We record sun paths, prevailing wind, existing services and how people actually move through the space — before a single model is opened.
Research & computational study
Parametric models are built to test the brief against real constraints. We run dozens of variants and keep the ones that survive contact with the data, not the ones that photograph best.
Material experimentation
Physical samples at 1:1. Bamboo strand boards, printed lattices, pressed stone composites — tested for strength, water uptake and colour stability under UV. This stage takes four to eight weeks and it is not optional.
Fabrication & mock-up
We produce a full-scale section of the system in our Kilimani workshop, install it outdoors, and leave it through a wet season where the schedule allows. Fixings, tolerances and finishes get resolved here, not on site.
Delivery & handover
Production files, a fabrication manual, and supervision through installation. We stay reachable for the first year — most of what we learn about a system comes from watching it live.
04 — Selected work
Projects, studies and failures.
Drag to explore →
05 — Contact
Tell us what you're building.
We take on four to six projects a year and we read every enquiry ourselves. If your brief is still rough, send it rough — the first conversation is usually the most useful part.