At the start of 2002 we changed our name. During the past five years, we expanded the scope of what we do, and no longer fitted in the box described by the name 'Pacific Architecture'.

Our geographical range expanded beyond the Pacific. And the range of what we do - from workplace strategy to international procurement - expanded outside the traditional bounds of the word 'architecture'. We embarked on a long process involving our staff, clients, and friends, to select a new name. In this search, we were guided by the words of our marketing consultant Justin Roff-Marsh, who said: 'A name is an empty vessel - it's what you do that fills it with meaning.' We arrived at the name Assaí

When we asked a group of our key clients what we did best, one of them said:

'What you do is elicit from people the knowledge and processes that they already have, and order them, so they can understand them, and work with them. What you need is a name that means 'bring forth into order'.

We never could find a word that meant 'bring forth into order' - but we did come up with an image, of a the unfolding of a palm leaf, as it develops under the influence of its hidden genetic code. In trialling our initial letterhead ideas, David Week searched for an image of a palm leaf, and found one from a hundred-year-old wallpaper design.

In looking for that elusive name, we went through words related to 'essence', and its root 'esse': to be. In that search, we came across the word assaí, the name of a South American palm.

We related that back to our image of an unfolding leaf.

The eminent anthropologist Clifford Geertz once wrote that good understandings of culture are characterised by 'thick descriptions' - stories of the dense interconnections that exist between cultural meanings. Here is a 'thick description' of some meanings of the word: Assaí.

The assaí palm is an important source of heart of palm. We like this connection, because we're always seeking the heart of the matter, in the work that we do.

We like it too, because we seek to work with heart, as well as with mind and hand.

In Italian, the word assaí means 'sufficient'. We see this as the essence of both economy and sustainability - to do just what is sufficient, but no more.

Finally, the word assaí shares the same root as the word 'asset' - an asset was originally considered as whatever was sufficient to satisfy one's creditors. We like this connection, because we have chosen as the focus of our work the physical assets of culture - its buildings, landscape, infrastructure, and technologies.

If working with culture has taught us anything, it is this:

No firm stands alone. Projects get built through social networks of firms, clients, consultants, funders, suppliers and educators.