Over the last year there were a couple of non-residential, commercial projects that I thought “Yes, I could have done that one”.
In much the same way that an actor sees the roles that he could have done better [than the chosen actor]; the architect sees the buildings that he could have also done better.
These projects have been relatively small in scale and almost residential in their context. It should be remembered that architects are trained to analyse the brief and requirements for a whole range of building types; through college and working you are working on a variety of different buildings. Whilst in business I have worked on:
• Health centres
• Hospices
• Sports centres
• Offices
• Restaurants
• Shops
As well residential housing estates, one-off houses and extensions/refurbishments/restorations.
Even the Australian master of residential architecture undertook the occasional ‘right’ non-residential project (see the Museum of Local History and Tourism Office below):
Image from Kempsey.nsw.gov.au
Closer to home colleague Paul McNally of PMNArchitecture and The Passive House Architecture Company has made the transition from residential to commercial with several projects including Ireland’s first custom-designed Certified Passivhaus Pharmacy:
Image from The Passive House Architecture Company
And it is in a similar direction combining architecture and Passivhaus that I could also go (as a registered and Chartered RIBA and RIAI architect, Assigned Designer and Certifier under SI9 and Certified European Passivhaus (Passive House) Designer with the Passive House Institute.
So, if you’re thinking commercial/retail in 2015 and looking for an architect in the West of Ireland why not CONTACT US…