Welcome to Mae

Creativity-led. Community-led. Drawing on the DNA of the neighbourhood, we create welcoming places for people.
We design policy as well as buildings. Inspired by our founder’s work at CABE, our thinking advances best practice.
We manage complexity. With carefully crafted architecture, we turn challenging sites into buildings with a distinct identity.

Sands End Arts and Community Centre completes Project Update

Our Sands End Arts and Community Centre project for LB Hammersmith & Fulham is now complete. The new centre is a flexible space for the community and will facilitate art exhibitions and community events with an ancillary café and children’s day nursery.

A member of the residents delivery group for the centre describes it as: “A meeting place, a hub of activity across languages, cultures and economic background, a venue for creative expression, a flexible space which encourages the community to be flexible in its use. Perhaps most importantly, it will be what the broader Sands End community want it to be; today and for decades to come.”

September 2020 View Project

Mæ appointed as masterplan architect for Meridian Water Project Update

Mæ has been appointed by London Borough of Enfield as masterplan architect for Meridian Water. The £6bn, 20-year regeneration programme will bring 10,000 homes alongside a truly mixed-use community and thousands of jobs to Enfield. As the Borough declares a climate emergency our goal is to make Meridian Water the UK’s most sustainable development and help realise their commitment to making the authority carbon neural by 2030.

April 2020 Read more

John Morden Centre shortlisted for NLA Awards 2020 Project Update

Our later living scheme John Morden Centre has been shortlisted for the New London Architecture Awards 2020 in the Caring category, which recognises projects that are designed to improve the health and wellbeing of Londoners.

Supported by the Mayor of London, NLA’s annual awards seek projects of the highest design quality which make a positive contribution to their surroundings and life in the capital.

The winners will be announced in November.

September 2020 Read more

'From City to Room, A manifesto for better living' talk at the London Society Practice News

As part of a series of events connected to our new publication 'From City to Room, A manifesto for better living', we gave a talk hosted by the London Society at Studio Egret West.

Decades of underprovision, combined with unprecedented population growth mean that buildings have to work more efficiently than ever before, both in terms of their uses and the resources they use. The pressures of climate change also mean sustainability is no longer an add-on but the starting point for any discussion about how, where and what we build. 

So how do we overcome these challenges. How can we ensure that more is also better? And what can we do to give people the homes, buildings, neighbourhoods and cities they need?

The talk explored the integrated thinking that we believe is necessary to solving today’s urban, social and environmental challenges.

February 2020 Read more

Chimes completes Project Update

Chimes, our later living project in Westminster for retirement specialists Pegasus Life, has now completed. The landmark retirement home opposite Channel 4’s HQ provides 36 assisted living flats on six floors together with a communal kitchen, storage areas, wellness centre/spa, guest accommodation, and apartments for staff.

“This project marks an important moment for all those who share the ambition to create a long-term change in how people see retirement living. This will be a place to enjoy life and to ensure that not a second of that life is wasted.” (Roger Black, Pegasus Life)

September 2020 View Project

Mæ's Unit 5 at London Metropolitan University School of Art, Architecture and Design 2020 Summer Show Research News

London Metropolitan University's School of Art, Architecture and Design summer degree show is taking place online this year.

Titled 'Liveness', the online event celebrates the work and successes of students, and the culture of the school which has thrived in new ways while its buildings remain closed during the Covid-19 emergency.

Mæ's Unit 5 postgraduate module has published a portfolio showcasing the research that students on the course have carried out over the course of their studies.

This year’s Unit 5 programme considered the implication construction methods and materials have on the landscape, exploring the tectonics of timber construction to form tactile and expressive collective housing, buildings with civic gravitas and urban gardens.

July 2020 Read more

Alex Ely takes part in Melbourne School of Design's online event 'From Here; For Now' Research News

'From Here; for Now' is an international programme of talks in collaboration with Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne.

The talk was streamed live to a global audience as part of 'Space that can be occupied, where some things can be done'. Alex Ely discussed our research publication 'From City to Room: a manifesto for better living', representing the importance of integrated thinking in solving today's urban, social and environmental challenges.

June 2020 Read more

Good Quality Homes for all Londoners Research News

Today the Mayor of London has published 'Good Quality Housing for all Londoners' Supplementary Planning Guidance.

Written by Mæ with the team at the GLA and our consultants, the suite of four guidance documents embeds quality at the centre of housing delivery.

Mæ Founding Director and Mayor’s Design Advocate Alex Ely presented the guidance at GLA's 'Designing a City for All Londoners', which sought to recognise the role of design in improving development and delivering quality of life in a growing city. It celebrated the Good Growth by Design programme and the progress that has been made across a range of priority areas including the circular economy, child-friendly cities and high streets.

March 2020 Read more

Mæ selected for the masterplan of Derbent, Russia's oldest city Practice News

The competition is for the remasterplan of Derbent in Russia, Dagestan's second largest city and one of the oldest cities in Russia.

Our multi-disciplinary and international team has been selected from 144 applications, and our winning strategy is aimed at building in resilience; addressing a lack of housing, education and cultural infrastructure and creating economic opportunity.

Based on the guiding principle of a vibrant city, we have developed a forward looking vision for Derbent which respects the unique identity and qualities of the city.

Derbent is located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, at the foothills of the Tabasaran Mountains of the Greater Caucasus. The historic city centre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its citadel, ancient town, and fortress buildings.

November 2019 Read more