London practice Mcmullan Studio create architecture of all types and scales. Having gained big practice experience in senior-level roles at Heatherwick Studio, HOK and Allies and Morrison, Director Andrew Mcmullan established Mcmullan Studio in 2018. Working on major global projects convinced him that: (1) Design is optimistic; (2) Every challenge has a perfect solution, and (3) The best design revolves and evolves round people. Mcmullan Studio was founded with a culture of creative collaboration so RIBA London asked Andrew a few questions about the importance of working with others and how create the perfect creative alliances.
Collaboration is central to your work. Can you explain why it's important to your creative process?
We're passionate about designing and building resilient, sustainable and inclusive urban environments. This means creating places and spaces that revolve and evolve round the people who engage with them every day. You can only do this by immersing yourself in their lives to understand their ambitions, challenges and needs. Great architecture doesn't impose itself on people. It liberates them. Everything starts and ends with collaboration.
You’re currently working with Allies and Morrison. Can you tell us how this came about?
We're collaborating with Allies and Morrison on a 12 hectare masterplan for the area round Skipton Railway Station in Yorkshire which aims to bring positive opportunities to locals and visitors. My relationship with them goes back 15 years when I worked there on projects including the Stirling Prize nominated Rothschild Bank HQ in London and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Managing partner Jo Bacon continued to take an interest in my career. The Skipton project reflects her progressive approach to fostering architectural culture. It's both inspiring and humbling that someone who's achieved as much as Jo wants to nurture the next generation of architects.
Allies and Morrison is a giant practice, whereas Mcmullan Studio is a small startup. How does your partnership work?
We're besties! We share similar values. For example, we both believe diversity is a necessity, not a nicety, for modern urban environments. And although Allies and Morrison has a 300-strong team, it manages to keep the friendly and nurturing small studio culture. On the flipside, my studio is small but we've got global ambitions. We want to share our vision of optimistic design worldwide. So the Skipton project's an amazing opportunity for us to learn from the expertise of Allies and Morrison. It means we can stretch ourselves creatively but with the support of big practice infrastructure. This minimises the risk for us and the client. What do we bring to the table? Energy, agility, and ingenuity. When you're small, you need to be entrepreneurial to succeed. You only thrive by being resourceful and responsive.
Do you only collaborate with other architects?
No. We think the world's challenges are too big for one mindset to solve. This is no time for silos. We work closely with experts from the widest possible range of disciplines - engineering to botany. We're passionate about bringing different people together. We make our design process as fluid as possible to break down the barriers and hierarchies that often exist in our industry. We encourage everyone to share ideas even if it's not their field of expertise. The world needs to rethink everything - from the economy to the environment. If architecture is going to help create a better future, our industry needs to rethink how it works too.
The studio collaborated on the Gold Medal winning flagship show garden for M&G, Was there much cross-fertilisation at this year's Chelsea Flower Show?
The place was buzzing! We created an urban pocket park with our long-time collaborators the landscape designers, Harris Bugg. Instead of people making a special trip to a big park at weekends, the urban pocket park was designed to be on their doorstep. To make every visit unique, we designed a network of reclaimed steel pipes that weaved round the space, taking visitors on an immersive adventure through the greenery. Green spaces are really important for making modern cities healthier, happier and more sustainable. Working with Harris Bugg confirmed our belief that landscape and buildings need to be designed together. You can't retrofit harmony.
Does your passion for collaboration rub off on clients?
100%. We're very lucky to work with some really creative clients. They come to us because they want more than just a beautiful building. They want to make life better. It's as big and simple as that. A good example is Preston Farm - a former dairy farm in Kent we're repurposing as a rural co-working campus. Our client, The Hatchery, has a very powerful vision for a new rural economy that combines traditional agriculture and crafts with technology and start-up culture. Preston Farm will be a place where farmers, makers, entrepreneurs, freelancers and the local community can work together side by side - inspiring each other to develop new techniques, products and services. It's an exciting vision we believe will transform the economic, social and cultural life of the community for generations to come. Our role as a studio is to turn that big idea into reality in the most innovative and imaginative way possible. To do this, we push ourselves and our clients.
To find out more about Mcmullan Studio, visit their website or follow them on Instagram, and Twitter.
