12 INSIGHTS
White Ink Architects PRACTICE PROFILE
James Parker spoke to a Belfast practice founded at the start of the 21st century, which expanded to specialise in “difficult” mixed use schemes, and is now the first in Northern Ireland to be completely employee owned
W
hite Ink Architects was founded in Belfast in 2001 by three architects, Sean Tunney, Claude Maguire and Joan McCoy. Initially called Maguire Tunney McCoy, it was
rebranded as White Ink in 2003. The firm began as a partnership, but converted into a limited company in 2005, and took the plunge to full employee ownership earlier this year. Tunney, Maguire and McCoy remain directors, but the company is now owned by a trust that holds shares on behalf of the employees, without individual risk being placed on them. This new ownership structure also benefits clients by further motivating staff, “as every employee has a vested interest in the success of the practice.” says McCoy. As well as sharing in the financial success of the business, staff “get to influence its future.”
The three founding partners had all come from studios working on multi-million-pound projects, and McCoy admits it was “quite a change to be working on smaller projects initially,” although the scale of jobs quickly grew. The first UK project White Ink was commissioned to design was an office fit-out in Manchester in 2005, and its reach has grown steadily across the country. From taking on its first admin assistant in 2003, the Belfast office now houses 32 staff, including over 20 architects.
Ethos
A key part of the practice’s ethos is to “bridge the gap between design and delivery” – i.e. “to be interested in both, where architecture realised is the aim – not simply designs on paper.” McCoy says that one of the firm’s points of difference is that it is “genuinely interested in construction and getting things built.” In addition, she says, White Ink “see every problem as a design problem – with a solution to be designed – whether it is planning a layout or working out a procurement strategy.” Another important phrase that runs through the firm is ‘people
first,’ considering everyone’s needs, from within the practice through to clients and external collaborators, contractors and building users. White Ink claim their designs are inherently informed by this, such as in residential projects, where “every single apartment is considered related to the needs of the occupants who will live in it for the next 70-100 years.”
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK Growing
As the practice grew, responsibility was delegated to individual team members, which now include an office manager, business support manager (covering finance, practice and IT), and a freelance IT consultant. Different team members hold responsibilities including Quality, Environment and Sustainability, Principal Designer, Specification and Marketing. Alongside the three directors are five associates, but aside from
this, the management structure is “quite flat,” says McCoy, as well as being meritocratic. “Anyone can be a project lead – if they show aptitude, responsibility, and talent.” As projects have increased in size, the practice has naturally had to formalise roles and responsibilities within project teams – including defining the project lead and specific responsibilities. While their key expertise is in “complex and difficult” mixed use urban developments, they have also carried out refurbishments, industrial work, and university schemes.
Brentford Lock West Phase 2, delivered by White Ink Architects, concept design architect: Mae © Simon Kennedy
ADF DECEMBER 2021
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