Rob works from his desk at the rear of the Tape Design premises on Ulverston’s King Street while the front is stocked with a selection of well-made, Scandinavian-influenced homeware and accessories, including some by local designers.

The couple, who are both from Cumbria and who met at university in Manchester, came up with the shop idea after deciding to move back to Rob’s home town of Ulverston and launch his architect’s business.

“I wanted to work from here,” he says. “I always thought about having a shop because I thought it would be fun - and why not combine an office and a shop?”

He and Ruth have found that the shop, which they opened last September, is doing the job of encouraging people to come in and talk to Rob about their plans for projects such as home extensions. Stocking it with accessories and homeware that he and Ruth like also gives prospective clients an idea of Rob’s style.

“It’s an approachable way to come and speak to an architect - it’s not intimidating,” he says. “The stuff in here isn’t for everybody but if somebody doesn’t like what I sell, they probably wouldn’t like what I design.”

Rob, 30, went to school in Ulverston and Barrow and studied architecture at Newcastle and Manchester. He worked for local building companies during his holidays and says having practical experience and knowledge of construction helps inform his designs.

He was offered some contract work at Harrods in London through a friend and ended up staying for nearly three years, first as an assistant project manager before being promoted to project manager. Working in the architects’ department, Rob oversaw large-scale shopfitting projects while liaising with retailers and designers.

His bosses at the famous store also supported him through his final year of architect’s studies, after which he was fully qualified. Ruth had moved to London with him but the pair found they missed the North and decided to move home to Cumbria.

“I liked my job but I missed designing things,” says Rob. “I wanted to go back to architecture.”

In the meantime, Rob had been looking for a building project which would be an investment opportunity for his dad Paul. They found a former ironmonger’s shop on King Street and Rob designed a scheme to convert it to three flats and the shop premises which is now home to Tape Design.

Ruth, 26, grew up in St John’s in the Vale near Keswick on her parents’ smallholding. After school in Keswick she went to Manchester to study history of art and design. Since graduating she’s worked in admin roles and is now helping to develop the Tape Design shop and e-commerce business.

She says some of the items they stock were inspired by their own purchases or were things they would appreciate owning: “It’s a lot of Danish stuff and it’s stuff we would like. It’s a lot of very simple things.”

Ruth has taken a course in pottery and now has a potter’s wheel and an offer to use a kiln which will enable her to make ceramics for the shop. They also stock some of Rob’s designs including concrete planters, a wooden desk, turned wooden bowls and plates and laser-cut items including light fittings and decorative miniature houses and letters.

Cumbrian products include steel bird feeders and letter racks made in the silhouette of UK peaks by Julia Jacobs Designs, topographical screen prints by Ben Pawel from Burgh by Sands and prints by Hannah Postlethwaite, who was at college with Rob and is from the Furness area.

Rob wanted an approachable name for the business, rather than following the usual architect’s custom of using the partners’ surnames. The name Tape is an abbreviation of his university nickname of tapir. He’s used the distinctive-looking animal in his business logo.

Rob’s business plans include designing his own furniture, working with a dedicated building team, developing a flourishing e-commerce site for Tape Design products and widening his portfolio of design projects to include shopfitting.

In the meantime, he appreciates being back in his hometown - where people are welcoming - and wants to maintain the same approach in his business: “We want to keep it friendly and approachable.”

* This article first appeared in Cumbria Life.