Common Ground | Building for Many
Space for Community
What if places for community were as diverse as the communities they represent?
For us - a community space is one that brings people together with shared interest, for well-being, to enjoy culture, for recreation, to work, to learn and for social interaction. We believe in the transformational potential for architecture and good design to nurture community, irrespective of the final brief. For us community is at the forefront of our thinking as we begin to consider a building that serves many people.
Making good design accessible for many was one of the primary reasons we setup our studio. Our aim is to work with organisations to nurture + support the communities they represent. What a public building becomes for the people it serves is of our utmost concern as we begin to work with your organisation to develop proposals that cater for the collective. It is our passion to work with communities to create spaces that are full of personality and reflect the people who use the buildings that we make.
We feel privileged to work with organisations to support the communities they are passionate about.
Sculpture Courtyard| Creative Arts Studios - York
How do we do it?
We understand that each community’s needs are different and so bespoke design solutions are needed. To give you a sense of how we work to achieve this, we have summarised our process into three steps:
1. Engage
Before we put pen to paper, we take time to understand your organisation and develop the brief with your team, key project stakeholders and end users. This ensures we have clarity on your priorities, the flow of information and your teams decision making process so that we can work with your best interests from commencement to completion. Conducting workshops and consultations as part of a Feasibility Study is key to unlocking the projects full potential and allowing you to confidently steer it's direction.
2. Communicate
We work with your organisation to develop and clearly communicate the project’s vision from an early stage. We document and illustrate the strategic thinking that lies behind the developing design solutions and review these against your organisation’s aims and objectives. We develop rich visual content to help you and wider stakeholders conceptualise and understand the design at key stages. Feedback from our clients has highlighted that this process is instrumental in providing clarity, managing expectations, growing wider public engagement, securing funds and assisting their own project management.
3. Coordinate
Our tailored approach is designed to make the process straightforward and enjoyable for our clients. We provide a single point of contact to you and manage all members of the team throughout the design and construction process. This allows you to focus on key decisions and rely on us to ensure the end result meets your objectives and is of the highest quality.
Community Garden Pavilion | London
Get in Touch
If you think that Mills + McCullough Architects are a good match for your organisation, contact Nick or Stephen to start your journey with us.
Nick Mills | Edinburgh
Stephen McCullough | Aberdeen
Old Schoolhouse | Community Building in Edinburgh
Designing with Community
Designing a successful public building is not always straightforward and it is common for our clients to be battling competing forces that seek to take the project in various directions. That’s where we come in - we work with you and the building users you represent from an early strategic stage to project handover, ensuring that realistic project parameters are developed and realised.
This process is collaborative - you are a vital ingredient through all project stages. Our methodology ensures that this does not become onerous, we want our journey together to be enjoyable. We support and value your time and the need for the project not to overwhelm the other responsibilities you and your team have.
We understand the balance required to manage budget, time and quality. Our process ensures that priorities are established in order to deliver the best possible outcome within the project parameters you set.