About

CURA Design brings together people from different backgrounds with the same idea.

Robert Bedner - Owner Cura Design

Roberts professional foundation is grounded in over twenty five years of professional experience including contributing to projects in New York, London, Paris, and Oslo for internationally recognized practitioners in architecture and art including two Pritzker Prize winning practices : Sverre Fehn (Norway), Renzo Piano (Paris), and Artist Vito Acconci (New York City).

The design practice was renamed from Research + Design to Cura Design in 2020. Cura can be translated in Portuguese and Spanish as "the process of making or becoming sound or healthy again". Cura Design endeavours to reconnect, and to value the natural world through a design process that heals the natural world and heals and enhances the built environment and our well-being.

In 2009 the office won a "High Commendation" for the national Alan King Award and Plymouths Abercrombie Award in 2011 for Best Minor Development (New Street Residential Extension). In 2017 the office won Best Community Project and People of Plymouth Award (Stiltskin Children’s Theatre) as well as Best Community Project (Union Corner). In addition, the practice was Winner (in conjunction with Hand Drawn homes) of the RIBA sponsored Plymouth West End Ideas Competition.

Teaching experience includes Plymouth University 2011 to 2012 as a Module Leader. Robert has served on the Southwest Design Review Panel since 2017 and is a Trustee for the Architects Benevolent Society.

Cura have presented at: Living Futures Biophilic Summit 2025, Build It 2025, Construction Week 2025 at Londons Excel Centre,The Biophilic Design Conference in 2024 at the Barbican London, Plymouth Universitys “Grey to Green” 2021. Featured on Future Plymouth 2030 “Nature based Solutions and integrating Nature into our buildings”. Cura have also been featured at Homebuilding and Renovating Show London 2021 to 2024,Greenbuild Expo, the Expert Advice Centre Grand Designs Live, and BBC Radio Devon. Cura has written extensively for the Journal of Biophilic Design and was featured on the JBD Podcast February 22, 2022. Cura Designs working area spans from London to the southwest UK with projects abroad as far as Taiwan.

Complementing his design practice, for the last 12 years, Robert has cultivated practices with folk singing (The Great Sea Choir - upcoming EP release 12/25) and devotional singing and meditation as well as interests in spiritual practices based in Brazil. Robert maintains a small Instagram account of poems - thoughts_of_construction.

Contributers and Collaborators for Current and Past projects:

Crystal Hopwood, Ludovic Bacon, Giulia Scaramuzzi, Julie Lndemarre, Andreas Nann, Ebony Dodgen, Ben Tapscott,Izzy Bascoy, Conal Stubbs,Jesus Garcia Perojie, Matic Kuer, Simone Plassard, Anrea Ghenzi, Fanni Weihmuller,Cecily Lane bedner,Xu Sunxiaoxing, Studio JB, Structurehaus Structural Engineers, Wyrd Tree

Cura Design (formerly Research + Design) have been in practice for over 14 years and completed over 150 projects working on projects throughout the Southwest UK and London and abroad. Cura Design are a Chartered Practice registered at the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (London, UK). Our working area includes the southwest of the UK up to and including London though we have also completed projects as far afield as New York City and Taiwan. For larger projects and developments, a "rush service" is available as well as a Deferred Fee and Uplift Fee arrangements for planning and outline planning applications.

In 2009 the office won both a "High Commendation" from the national Alan King Award and Plymouths Abercrombie Award in 2011 for Best Minor Development (New Street Residential Extension). In 2017 the office won Best Community Project and People of Plymouth Award (Stiltskin Childrens Theatre) as well as Best Community Project (Union Corner). In addition the practice was Winner (in conjuction with Hand Drawn homes and Peter Warm Consultants) of the RIBA sponsored Plymouth West End Ideas Competition in 2015. We take on all manner of projects though also have a keen interest in biophilic design and permaculture - these are both sustainable types of design that have a love of nature at heart and endeavour to protect and enhance the plants and biodiversity on the site. Biophilic design can also endeavour to increase "the green plot ratio" (ie. increase the amount of plants and local wildlife on the site as part of the design process to what was on the site prior to the project.)

Cura Design provides architectural design and research services for residential, commercial, healthcare and cultural projects with our relationship to nature as the core design value, the driver and generator for creating a new type of built environment.

Cura Design are currently working on residential and healthcare and cultural projects in Worton - Wiltshire (AONB), Kilve - Somerset (next to Quontock AONB), Gerrards Cross -South Bucks and Newton Ferrers(waterfront) - Devon, Topsham , Devon, Okehampton Cornwall, and Plymouth City Centre. Cura Designs projects range from research services and workshops for large healthcare providers to collaborating with self builders and Clients that like to get involved in the design.

Vacancies

As a small office, we are always interested in hearing from talented and motivated students and architects who work well under their own initiative and are looking for a practice they can commit to. In addition, we have partnered with other architectural practices and developers for specific projects. We work on PCs and Macs and predominantly use Autocad, Adobe Creative Suite, Sketchup and 3D Rendering Software. We are currently only hiring freelancers and consultants (though this may change in the near future). Ideally condidates should be located in the Southwest UK though also we do work with people in London and abroad for specific projects.

If you are potentially interested in joining the practice please send us a hard copy letter, CV and portfolio.

We keep portfolios on file for 6 months and will contact you should an appropriate vacancy arise. We regret that we are not able to respond to all applications.

Please submit a hard copy of your CV and portfolio to Cura Design 6 Dale Road Plymouth PL4 6PE Attention: Office Manager.

A note about Paragraph 84e and Paragraph 139 houses

Its clear that Biophilic Design can play a large role in the raising of design standards and producing residential designs of exceptional quality. The Government recently published its latest iteration of the NPPF in July 2021 and the provisions within paragraph 79 of the former NPPF 2019 are now contained in paragraph 80 of the NPPF 2021:

“Planning policies and decisions should avoid the development of isolated homes in the countryside unless one or more of the following circumstances apply:

"The design is of exceptional quality, in that it:
- is truly outstanding, reflecting the highest standards in architecture, and would help to raise standards of design more generally in rural areas; and
- would significantly enhance its immediate setting, and be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area.

— NPPF, paragraph 80 (criterion e) (2021)