Matthew McNeil from AJ+C has recently been promoted to senior associate.
He joined the company 10 years ago and has experience in a range of sectors, including residential, student accommodation, sports and recreation, retail and heritage.
In his role, McNeil will assist with project management processes and policy making in addition to his current duties as a project manager.
Architecture & Design spoke to him about why adaptive reuse is such a challenging sector, how socialising with colleagues can help the design process, and why he’d like to design a building in Latin America.
You have experience across several sectors. What is the most challenging sector?
The most challenging sector for me is adaptive reuse – I say that because for me, ‘challenging’ also means rewarding. Adaptive reuse projects require careful consideration of the connections between old and new and how the building was and is to be used. An old building has a particular character and personality, which generally requires a more thoughtful balance and consideration in the architecture...and very close attention to detail.
You've been at AJ+C for over a decade now. What has been the most significant change at the firm?
Over that time, we’ve become much more efficient as a business, as well as in the exchange of design ideas and staff development. However, what’s great is that the strong culture at AJ+C has remained – socialising and lives outside work is encouraged and the exchange of information is so much easier when everyone actually knows each other.
What do you think has been the most significant change in the industry over the past 10 years?
The major change in the industry is speed! Where once drawing involved time to think and explore (but also hours of scratching out, and printing on a dyeline machine), design and documentation has, by necessity, become a lot faster due to CAD. The direct exchange of information by emails is great but it means architects have had to become good self managers (or sink under the flood of endless emails and meeting requests). Yellow trace and drawing boards still exist in our studio. However, they are an essential part of the design process.
What is the biggest issue for architects at the moment?
I believe that the value of architecture services needs to be re-evaluated – architecture is not properly valued for the contribution it makes to the built environment and the quality of people’s lives.
Do you think architects are responding well to the challenges associated with sustainability?
Good architects have always responded to sustainability by passively designing in response to the environment – (orientation, sunshine and shade, materials and form). These are all basic principles of good planning. It's great that sustainability has become mandatory for planning permission. However, as architects, we need to consider ‘design’ as more than simply efficient building services, and facades of louvres.
What is one country you would like to spend some time in and design a building for?
Somewhere warm, perhaps Latin America. I have always found communities that focus around a central square the most interesting. The design of buildings should facilitate the life that happens in and around them and how each building connects with its context. In some ways I would love to live in a European city again. However, I find cold climates require buildings to be lived in, more so than within and around, and therefore they can become rather isolating, and exclusive rather than inclusive.
If you weren't an architect, what would you be doing?
I'd be running a backpackers in the most perfect lifestyle location, surrounded by people with enthusiasm in their eyes and interesting minds!
