As part of a tour around design studios in Belfast’s Portview Trade Centre, we visited the award-winning Architecture studio, McGonigle McGrath. Kieran McGonigle explained to us how they work, what principles they follow and what a typical design process entails for them.
Kieran highlighted two aspects, in particular, sketching and model making, that inform their design process. Sketches are made for exploration, while models are mainly made to communicate to the clients allowing them to better understand the designs.
I’ve asked Kieran how many models they do in a typical project, and to my surprise, he said around 2-5. I expected many more and asked about the quick, throwaway models you sometimes use to explore a particular problem. But then he said that due to their long experience and understanding, sketching is sufficient for the team to explore most of the aspects and problems they encounter in their designs.
The initial mini-model that they make comes much before a proper plan is drawn up. This super small-scale model helps to establish how the architecture sits on the site and is a great way to communicate to clients.
The sketches in the initial exploration are supported by a lot of research on the history of the site, but they also try to understand the people who will use the architecture and work within the budge they have. I followed up on the user-centred design approach and asked Kieran about Co-design with the potential users of their architecture and he said that they have engaged in co-designing, which was a useful but very long process. He concluded that every design process is a collaboration.
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