WHY US?
Award-Winning Northern Ireland Architects
We are a relatively new design-led practice, with vast experience pre-Marshall McCann Architects, working on many multi-million pound, award winning projects.
Our first project won ‘House of the Year Ireland, 2019’ followed by a consecutive win in 2021. In 2022 we won a RIBA Regional Award & an RSUA Design Award.
As a young practice, we are hungry and keen; our prices are somewhat reflective of our eagerness to build a reputation whilst providing a high standard of service. We are friendly, happy-go-lucky and enjoy our work.
We are passionate about architecture and design because we believe that quality architecture can transform your lives and businesses. Our approach is ‘Designing a better future together’.
On the surface, this seems to refer to environmental, sustainable & healthy buildings; but that is only a small part of it. Everyone knows that to be successful in business, you need a business plan, but who does a life plan?
When designing a building, we want to help design people’s lives; how they live and work; creating better lives; designing a better future, together. How you live, where you live, and the environment in which you live, has such a huge impact on the quality of your life.
The quality of space and light affects your mood and effectiveness: good architecture helps create an enjoyable place to live and work. We design with social interactions and quality of space at the heart of the process along with passive house principles. Contact us here, if you want to learn more.
Design Ethos
Our aim is to disrupt how architecture is approached and help take quality architecture mainstream; thereby transforming lives. We are systemizing the ‘architecture process’, reducing your costs and freeing us up to spend more time on being creative and approaching spaces and problems differently.
Marshall McCann Architects are the first Passive House Architects in Northern Ireland NI to design, build and live in a Passive House; practising what we speak.
Martin’s own house won the ‘FMB Energy Efficiency Award UK’. We are creative problem solvers who strive to create robust solutions; challenging problems economically, environmentally and socially.
We are committed to working closely with you, collaborating in the design of your building with end-users in mind to deliver better, cost efficient designs, with low running costs. We aim to deliver the highest value to you, taking into consideration design principles; such as placemaking, innovation, efficiency, sustainability and elegance.
Design
Elegance and function must be the starting points for any project, whilst utilizing the site’s natural topography and orientation, encapsulating any important features. Studies have shown poor quality lighting and poor designs can have negative effects on both mental and physical health.
It is imperative that the building is designed around the site, so the building functions in harmony with its surroundings, taking advantage of natural daylight and views. Nature has huge positive psychological effects on us. Our buildings connect you to nature, creating a sense of openness and oneness, designing restful spaces for restful minds.
Sustainable Design
As Passive House Architects in Northern Ireland NI Marshall McCann Architects actively strive to source and implement the latest understandings on sustainable design; eco buildings, green buildings, passive house, NZeb and zero carbon. Many believe building an energy efficient building is very expensive: the contrary can be true. Building by traditional methods can lose you money, due to increased running costs. Marshall McCann Architects will guide you through cost effective construction, taking into consideration your preferred construction methods.
We at Marshall McCann Architects are experienced to realise that between 20-50% of heat loss from the fabric of the building is through ‘thermal bridging’ (junctions in the external skin of the building) ie window reveals etc, and we have the ability to calculate the heat loss through each junction, enabling us to simulate different details, helping us to design better details, minimising your heat loss, reducing your heating costs, with very little extra cost to the construction.
We have designed buildings that have little electricity or heating bills, whilst still having all the latest technical and electrical gadgets, with only a small increase to the building costs.
To be truly sustainable, the building must not just meet the environmental needs, but also meet your requirements; be adaptable and capable of meeting your potential future requirements.
Together we will help build a greener, sustainable future.
Efficiency
We realise that an important aspect of your building design is its efficiency; efficiency in the layout and flow of the building, efficiency in the space allocation, efficiency in building costs, and efficiency in the running costs.
This all needs to be done without compromising your brief; ensuring that the building is fit for purpose. We use our technical expertise, experience and design skills to create innovative architecture that draws inspiration from its surroundings; positively enriching and contributing to the quality of the area, whilst meeting the functional, economic and aesthetic requirements of your brief.
