A b o u t

Interdisciplinary design studio and atelier

STORIK was founded in 2013 as a design and fabrication studio by French automotive design engineer, Laurent Amann. Together with his partner Benzir, a registered British architect, they developed the company in 2018 with the aim to combine their professional skills, experience and expertise in their work.

OUR NAME & LOGO

The White Stork

The company name and logo is an hommage to the white storks of Alsace.

It is Alsacien for stork, phonetically written as STORIK and pronounced ssh-tor-eek in the local dialect.

These majestic white birds are gracious, tenacious and loyal creatures who take part in an annual migration to the same nest for the entire duration of their lives. In the spring season, they fly from Africa to their destination to the Rhineland and eastern Europe following the warm weather across the continent.

They can be seen from far and wide across the vast skies or perched on their nests on the rooftops of houses, churches and castles on the summits of the Vosges mountains and all across the region of Alsace. Our soaring storik symbolises freedom, dedication, endurance, and a love for travel — the very qualities we live and work by to design, create and inspire.

Our Endeavour

What do we do?

We design and we make, and as designers and makers, we have a natural curiosity for materials, composition and process. We have an enthusiasm for all things handmade and our working method involves experimentation, finding balance in form and function, rationality through research and innovation by merging traditional workshop techniques with modern technology.

Our current projects are predominantly with sheet metal work in automotive design, and we are also involved in projects which cross boundaries with architecture, sculpture and product design.

At the heart of every project, we share a spirit of care, curiosity and creative partnership with a commitment to celebrate the process of designing and making — to create functional work which aims to inspire and delight.

Our Approach

We have a collaborative, design-led approach to our work and our services are tailored to each project brief driven by some key principles and aims.

Define a clear and transparent working relationship with our clients and design team.

Develop the project brief, aspirations, approach and strategy for appropriate and inspiring design solutions.

Provide a breakdown of the design process and communicate the different stages of the project.

Discuss initial concepts and detailed designs to refine through collaborative meetings and reviews.

Apply creative thinking and design intelligently with attention to detail.

Deliver successful projects on time and budget.

Our Values

We strive for authenticity, transparency and integrity in everything we do.

The creative process defines everything. We value each step of designing and making, from the very first hand drawn sketches to the last nut and bolt of a fully assembled piece of work. It is our firm belief that by embracing each phase of the design process, we can create beautiful and meaningful work from concept to completion. We believe that the success of any creation is based on the sum of all parts. Caring about the smallest detail is as important as the bigger design solution, and is a fundamental part of recognising the quality of human effort.

We aim to make our projects sustainable, considering environmental, social and economic impacts from the outset. Environmental sustainability is important to our work and approach, from the decisions we make to the strategies we employ throughout the design process. The choice and specification of materiality, the reuse of existing fabric, the use of traditional hand tools in fabrication and the incorporation of alternative technologies in our work are all key considerations. As interdisciplinary practitioners, our work crosses the many areas of design and fabrication and we have a solid understanding of the material world and the relationship between cost and value.

We are active members of our community in a number of ways. We value the wider design community we are part of, and the creative solutions we provide together as a whole. We see the importance of creating collaborative links across disciplines and are actively involved through our mentoring and teaching work. We are consciously promoting good design and craftsmanship through our contributions to design awards panels. We enjoy sharing our knowledge and experiences through our exhibitions and workshop-led courses which aim to inspire craftsmanship and make traditional skills more widely accessible.

“The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there.”

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values ― Robert M. Pirsig

Our People

Find out more about Laurent and Benzir

Our Services