Welcome to Mæ

The RIBA London Housing Special Interest Group (SIG) launches with its first event “Celebrating the London Housing Design Guide” on Wednesday, November 25, 6 PM - 8:30 PM.

The evening of talks will celebrate the development and impact of the London Housing Design Guide (LHDG) on the capital and further afield in the Netherlands, where it inspired new legislation. Mæ Director Alex Ely will be speaking alongside Jo McCafferty, Richa Mukhia, and Fenna Wagenaar.

The London Housing Design Guide (LHDG) which was launched in 2010 was commissioned by the office of the Mayor of London and the London Development Agency (LDA).

Over the last 16 years the Guide has had a huge impact on a generation of new homes in the capital. It was a moment in London’s recent history which recast the way housing was regulated and designed, with huge effect on London’s building stock, and to a certain extent housing standards throughout the UK.

The evening of talks will celebrate the development and impact of the guide on the capital and further afield in the Netherlands where it inspired new legislation.

Mæ's work will feature in the ‘Future Healthy Homes’ exhibition at the Bartlett School of Architecture launching Thursday 29 October 2026 and open until Thursday 19 November 2026.

The exhibition forms part of the Healthy Homes for All Festival. Healthy Homes for All is an interactive festival exploring housing, health and homelessness presented by the Bartlett School of Architecture and the Faculty of Population Health Sciences, UCL, supported by UCLH Arts.

The exhibition takes an innovative approach to understanding the relationship between the UK’s housing crisis and healthcare inequalities, proposing transformative solutions for affordable homes for all.

Alex Ely will be joining an industry expert panel for a Q&A and panel discussion following the film screening of 'The People’s Emergency Briefing' at Regenerative Design 2026.

Opening on 1st October 2026 and running throughout October, Regenerative Design 2026 brings together leading voices to explore the ideas, innovations and challenges shaping regenerative design.

The Q&A and panel discussion, chaired by Jay Morton, President-elect of the RIBA, on the 28th October at 18.30 will follow a screening of The People’s Emergency Briefing, a 50-minute public information film hosted by naturalist Chris Packham that presents evidence on the UK’s climate and nature crisis, drawing from a live Westminster briefing held for politicians in November 2025.

The event partner is UK Architects Declare.

Director Alex Ely will be speaking at the Royal College of Art's 'Radical Practice' programme. The intense 3-week sprint programme is aimed at helping students create their own radical practice and dive deep into how architecture works in the real world. Alex's lecture on Friday 18th September will focus on putting principles to the test and explore the subject of running a practice and uplifting human spirits for the long-term.

Mæ Architect Anna Tebble has become a certified Passivhaus designer. Passivhaus is the fastest growing energy performance standard in the world. It takes a ‘fabric first’ approach to energy performance and human comfort, which can cut heating bills in homes by as much as 90 per cent compared to conventional design. Anna is part of our Mæ Zero programme promoting passivhaus principles across all our projects.

Director Alex Ely will be giving a talk about the links between modernism and tradition in the work of Mæ for Docomomo UK on 8th April 2025 19.00-21.00 at the Alan Baxter Associates Gallery, 75 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EL.

At the fascinating intersection of modernist innovation and historical continuity, Mæ's architectural practice weaves a compelling narrative of urban evolution. Drawing inspiration from Frederick Gibberd's revolutionary new town paradigms, the ground breaking spatial compositions in postwar social housing, the humanist approaches of Alvar Aalto and the social consciousness of Bruno Taut, this discourse explores the delicate balance between progress and heritage. At its heart, this exploration reveals how Mæ is forging a new path in sustainable and socially responsible design. Their work demonstrates how architecture can simultaneously honour its modernist inheritance while addressing our most pressing contemporary concerns: environmental sustainability, social equity, and cultural enrichment.

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