14 INSIGHTS
2020. Emma was instrumental in developing the practice’s BIM protocol and the project was one of the first BIM Level 2 buildings delivered in Northern Ireland.
Other standout examples are Peter Greenwood, who joined in
2014, and established the practice’s Environmental Management system. He has worked on the RIBA award winning Brentford Lock West, Queen Mary University London retrofit and newbuild and North Wharf Gardens Paddington mixed use hotel and education schemes. Last but not least, Sarah McGonigle developed White Ink’s quality management system and applied a “wealth of technical and statutory knowledge” to both project delivery and the Construction Industry Forum NI.
Commissions
The practice says it has a strongly proactive approach to commissions: “It is important not simply to take things as read, but to look at the wider context – as there are often ways to obtain more value or to unlock opportunities that the client may not have seen.”
Queen’s University Belfast staff accommodation © Donal McCann Photography
Culture To help maintain office culture during the pandemic, staff held daily Teams ‘tea breaks’, as well as a virtual Christmas party in 2020. Since returning to the office, the directors are consulting staff to retain a mix between home and office working. When it comes to working on projects beyond Northern Ireland, despite being in Belfast, McCoy says that they “often find we can arrive in London earlier than someone located outside central London!” She reports that clients across the UK believe the practice has “a different attitude” to other firms; characterised by a sense of resourcefulness in particular. Having worked with generally lower budgets, and much lower budgets than London schemes, they have “learned to be extremely creative to produce great design on a small budget,” and we bring these lessons to our larger projects. There is a resulting ‘can do,’ collaborative and practical attitude, she says.
Rather than going the management buy-out or external buyer
route, the new employee ownership model means that future directors of the practice “will be determined by leadership skills and talent – not ability to access funds.” says McCoy. This method also “allows them to secure the ethos and culture of the practice” – something that cannot be guaranteed with an external sale, where a buyer “might introduce a different culture or seek to take the practice in a direction that is not supported by the employees.” The firm is proud to have a workforce that is 40% female, and has recently added a Wellbeing team who are working with a clinical psychologist. This recently started by addressing physical wellbeing as well as a student ‘lunch n’ learn’ programme “which aims to introduce them to all aspects of work in practice in a structured way.” Emma Wright, who joined in 2013, is an example of the practice’s success in nurturing recruits, having won Belfast Telegraph’s Young Architect of the Year in 2019. She worked on the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, which was awarded RIBA Journal Best on Show Readers’ Choice
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The practice counts among its key skills peer reviews of other designs, for example if a client is considering buying a site with planning permission, the practice will identify opportunities to add value to an existing design. This allows clients to make informed decisions about site value based on realistic outcomes. Recent projects that showcase the practice’s range of strengths include a staff accommodation scheme at Queen’s University Belfast, which showed how they could create “beautiful, modern family friendly homes” in a conservation area. The brick facade details were carefully considered to create a “modern reference” to adjacent Victorian buildings, and the buildings were carefully planned to optimise natural light into the living areas in each apartment and create sunny courtyard garden spaces to the south. Brentford Lock West, London saw the practice of “adding value” to an existing design, “while ensuring that the architecture was not diluted,” says McCoy. Initially the firm employed its knowledge to review the existing Stage 4 planning approved design to assist a contractor bidding for the contract. White Ink “completely rationalised the structural design of the basement and reconfigured apartment layouts to improve efficiency and to achieve a viable, buildable and compliant design solution, while retaining all aspects of the original design intent/brief and the specified quality of materials and finish.” The ‘Block E’ element picked up the RIBA London Award 2018, and phase two, Keelson Gardens, was shortlisted for the RIBA’s inaugural Neave Brown Award for Housing in 2019, as well as winning the RIBA London Award 2019 and RIBA National Award 2019.
Goals
The practice’s short-term goals, in addition to embracing a ‘hybrid’ home/work balance, are to “increase employee engagement under the new ownership structure.” This will, says McCoy, “help us retain and improve our client and people focus,” with the longer term goal being to use the fact that employees now directly benefit to “drive improvement.” They are also tackling the current wider issues, including “putting structures in place” so staff are able to take the role of Principal Designer under the Building Safety Bill, with a goal to make the firm “leaders” in this post-Grenfell area. McCoy adds that they are also investing in training to “ensure that our team can lead the sustainability agenda to minimise our impact on the planet.”
ADF DECEMBER 2021
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