SoomeenHahm Design

About SoomeenHahm Design

SoomeenHahm Design Ltd is a London-based design studio working at the intersection of computational design research and built practice. Founded by Soomeen Hahm and registered in England and Wales, the studio investigates what it calls the computational paradigm in architecture - examining how computing power, emerging technology and human intuition interact, and how that relationship reshapes both the design industry and the physical environment.

The studio's defining characteristic is its deliberate position between academia and commercial practice. Much of the team holds teaching or research posts at institutions including SCI-Arc, the Architectural Association, UCL Bartlett and the University of Liverpool, and the research questions raised in those settings feed directly into the studio's project work.

Services and Capabilities

• Conceptual design - the studio positions itself as a specialist in conceptual design solutions rather than a conventional full-service practice
• Architectural and urban design - projects spanning building and city scale
• Product and object design - small-scale work including furniture and fabricated objects
• Design research - funded and academic research on computational and fabrication methods
• Consultation and workshops - delivered through the studio's SD Platform arm
• Exhibition and installation work

Technologies and Methods

Augmented Reality and Human Augmentation

The studio's most distinctive research strand explores using AR and wearable systems to help human builders execute complex, precise, digitally generated geometry by hand. Rather than replacing the craftsperson with a robot, this approach augments them - projecting digital guidance into the physical workspace so that forms which would normally demand CNC fabrication can be assembled directly by people.

Robotic Fabrication

Alongside augmented human construction, the team works on robotic fabrication processes and AR-assisted robotic workflows, an area covered by ongoing doctoral research within the studio.

Algorithmic and Generative Design

Core competencies include generative and algorithmic design through computer coding, multi-agent systems, digital simulation, behavioural patterns drawn from natural systems, and interactive or responsive environments. The studio also publishes its own digital toolset through SD Platform, distributed via Food4Rhino for the Grasshopper and Rhino ecosystem.

SD Platform

SD Platform is the studio's education and knowledge-sharing arm, running workshops, short courses, consultation and an open toolset library. It extends the practice's reach well beyond its own project list, making the studio a reference point for designers learning computational workflows.

Industries Served

• Architecture and the built environment
• Architectural education and academic research
• Product and furniture design
• Digital fabrication and construction technology

Market Position

SoomeenHahm Design occupies a niche that few practices attempt: a small studio whose output is as much intellectual as constructed. Its influence travels through teaching, published research, workshops and freely distributed tools as well as through projects. For firms exploring AR-assisted construction, robotic fabrication or algorithmic design, it is one of the more visible independent research practices working in this space.

Team

The studio operates as a compact core team of designers and researchers, led by founder Soomeen Hahm - previously a senior designer at Zaha Hadid Architects - alongside associates and research staff based between London and Los Angeles. Its small size is intentional, keeping the work close to the research that drives it.

Contact and Location

The studio is based on Leather Lane in Clerkenwell, central London, an area long associated with design and making, and works with clients and collaborators internationally.