Heart MATTER OF THE

By MICHAEL COLLINS

I’m not sure about my creative capacity back during my childhood, but in school growing up in Belfast in the 1980s and early 90s my favourite subjects were art, geography, history and technology. Outside of school I always enjoyed drawing and was fascinated by how cities and factories worked.

I can remember the moment when I first found out what an architect actually was. It was looking at my own house whilst in the back seat of our car when I enquired to my parents about who drew the instructions for the builders, and I remember thinking that must be such an interesting job. It was only later that it became a serious consideration as it seemed to encompass all of those subjects that I found most interesting.

I studied at Edinburgh College of Art, ETSAB Barcelona, and laterally Cambridge. I worked at a range of practices in Edinburgh, Santiago and Melbourne before a role as associate at Stirling Prize winning firm Niall McLaughlin Architects. I was fortunate to work on a really interesting range of projects, from award-winning social housing to private coastal homes, art centres, a distillery, a rugby museum in Limerick, and laterally a new theatre and drama school for LAMDA in Hammersmith.

I always felt that there were really pressing questions that weren’t necessarily being answered by the profession at all levels. Notably, how to design really great quality, sustainable but yet affordable homes, and how to create very special everyday buildings using a modest budget.

I wanted to demonstrate that special spaces and buildings can emerge from any budget, site or brief no matter how restricted and banal. I also saw a real lack of guidance for clients that are interested in sustainability, both lowering energy costs, but also their environmental impact. We have become sustainable accredited architects and certified passivhaus designers, and offer this to both private residential clients, but also local authorities. We are the only practice within Hertfordshire that offers both of these accreditations. I think the combination of a highly crafted approach to design, experience of listed buildings and our sustainability expertise sets us apart.

There’s a three-pronged approach to our design ethos. Specificity: we like each project to be a genuine outcome of the site, our clients and avoid pre-conceived or off-the-shelf designs. Sustainability: we believe in making the most out of existing buildings and situations before tearing down and starting anew. Innovation: we try and embody ideas that have a bigger resonance in every project, this can be a small detail or a more fundamental design concept. Whether it is a private or commercial client, we find that a close and engaged working relationship is essential. It is perhaps obvious, but it is important to genuinely listen first and really understand what the priorities of a project should be for the client. Where appropriate, it is important to challenge our clients also, particularly when there are more beneficial ways to achieve their objectives. We in turn enjoy being challenged as the architects and find that even when timescales are tight the best architecture comes out of lots of evolution rather than a quick sign-off. We find that it becomes quite a significant relationship, particularly on residential projects often over years.

If I had to pick out three projects that showcase what we are about, they would be: The Lookout, a very low cost but sustainable retrofit of a former garage and flat house christened the ugly duckling by its well heeled Victorian neighbours. The project created a tardis like spacious sequence of internal spaces, and won the RIBA HAA awards in 2020; The Wyck: a low energy conversion of a listed former stable block on the Wyck Estate into a new modern recording studio, living accommodation and facilities for a new winery. This project was recently completed and really showcases how a sensitive listed building can balance a new use, retain its older features but yet be designed in a progressive and modern way; Chia Hitchin: this involved radically converting a Grade II listed building in the middle of Hitchin into a much loved café that showcased the building's 300-year-old features against strikingly new additions.

There are some really interesting influences for unique architecture in Hertfordshire, its rural heritage and link to timber construction, but also its role in the formation of urban London. The mix of historic towns, but also new town development and examples of midlate 20th century architecture is fascinating.

I am originally from Northern Ireland, and Scotland, so I perhaps see the context of Hertfordshire differently, it is a very different landscape to those that I grew up with. I see inspiration around every corner, whether travelling across Hitchin to our offices, visiting other towns or when travelling through rural areas. We are working on designs for the foyer of the Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin, a new restaurant for the catering School at North Hertfordshire college, a passivhaus in Scotland and in Hertfordshire, some housing on a number of sites within the historic centres of Soham, some lovely new residential projects across Hitchin, Letchworth but also on the Norfolk Coast. The practice was started by myself in an organic manner from the kitchen table, and over the last three years I have been fortunate to have been joined by some very talented colleagues. We all have diverse educational and cultural backgrounds that I find really inspiring to be part of, and something which I feel can only enrich our output. We aren’t however driven by growth of the practice, more the quality of its output and expertise on certain project types. michaelcollinsarchitects.com