Meaning, beauty and belonging
We work with the deep structure of places and cultures. Our practice explores how identity, landscape and story shape one another, then gives form to that relationship through design, strategy and spatial thinking. We are interested in coherence, in how things join, in how places and organisations come to recognise what they already are.
APPROACH
Fontis works with both systems and symbols. We look at the underlying logic of spaces, then clarify how that logic should be expressed through culture and environment.
We observe carefully, distil what matters, frame direction, express with precision and stay attentive as things evolve over time, allowing projects to grow rather than to be delivered.
We begin by asking what gives something its character.
We end by asking what future it is capable of carrying.
We are drawn to work that strengthens identity, restores relationship with meaning, and builds long-term social and cultural capital. Our interest lies in renewal rather than extraction, in depth rather than noise, in beauty as a public good rather than a luxury.
DOMAINS
Cultural identity and expression
Names, symbols, narratives and visual worlds
Identity systems, editorial expression, interpretation and exhibitions
Places, landscapes and living systems
Spatial frameworks, estates, public realm and environmental visioning
Landscape strategy, heritage settings, wayfinding and stewardship
Research, interpretation and futures practice
Historical inquiry, speculative work and cultural sense-making
Experimental infrastructures and future civic imaginaries
MODES
Applied
Bringing projects into the world through delivery and implementation.
Curatorial
Working with the past, interpretation, heritage, archives and memory.
Speculative
Working with the future, prototyping, modelling and testing civic ideas.
COMPASS
Three principles guide how decisions are made in the practice:
We seek understanding
We read context carefully, human, ecological and historical. We resist shallow interpretation.
We seek coherence
We align narrative, strategy and form. We avoid fragmentation and performance for its own sake.
We seek renewal
We work for outcomes that leave places, cultures and environments stronger than before.
Fontis is led by George Eglese. His work sits at the intersection of identity, ecology, heritage and social systems, with a particular interest in how meaning is carried through landscape and built form. The practice operates collaboratively with ecologists, designers, historians, researchers and communities.
George Eglese, Founder
CLIENTS
Harrogate Town Council
Harrogate Film Society
Harrogate Civic Society
Harrogate Town Plan
Royal Hall Restoration Trust
North Yorkshire Council
Barbour
Neós Delta
Long Lands Community
Knaresborough Civic Society
Friends of the Earth
We Have The Power
WHO WE WORK WITH
We work with partners who are serious about culture, landscape and the long term. These include:
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Civic and local authorities
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Cultural and heritage institutions
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Environmental and land-based organisations
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Community-led initiatives
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Aligned private clients