Welcome to Mae

Alex Ely (Mæ) alongsideTom Gibb and Anna Monaghan (Haverstock), and taking part in the RIBA's Building Stories series, which celebrates RIBA Award-winning buildings.

Hosted by Hero Bennett (Max Fordhams), the panel will be sharing the story behind Guildford Crematorium and Sands End Arts & Community Centre - followed by a live interactive Q&A session.

Sands End Arts & Community Centre by Mæ - Located on the northwest corner of Fulham’s South Park, this project is a collaborative development comprising several new connected pavilions arranged around the existing disused Clancarty Lodge, a popular landmark that was refurbished as an exhibition space as part of the same project. The project won a 2022 RIBA London Award, London Building of the Year Award and National Award.

Guildford Crematorium by Haverstock - The new-build crematorium was designed in close collaboration with Guildford Borough Council and their design team, and the thoroughness of this process is evident in the way that the functions of the building have been carefully orchestrated to manage the journey of mourners and to ensure that the functional aspects of the site do not intrude on the experience of visitors. The project won a 2022 RIBA South East Award, South East Building of the Year Award and National Award.

Episode Nineteen of A is for Architecture’s second season is a conversation between host Ambrose Gillick and Mæ’s founding director, Alex Ely, talking about his practice’s recent book, Towards a Resilient Architecture, published by Quart in 2022. Mæ’s work has an increasing focus on sustainability integrated into the whole life of the scheme.

We have been selected as one of 13 practices onto the prestigious Mayor of London's Architecture + Urbanism Framework panel Lot 8 'Housing and Mixed Use'. The panel is available for partners who require services related to the design and delivery of housing and housing-led mixed-use developments and retro-fits. We are pleased to be able to serve on projects being brought forward by the public sector and its partners to support the Mayor’s plans to deliver new homes across London.

Mæ want to play a part in educating the next generation of architects, so we have established a week-long work placement programme for Year 12 students. We connect with local schools within the communities we are working within, and multiple students join us for a hands-on week of learning, researching and creating.

This year we have had the pleasure of working with 8 young people from the Haverstock School in Camden and The Warren School in Barking and Dagenham. Working with our architectural team, they researched their own neighbourhoods and through sketching, photography and model-making they designed their own community pavilions for local residents. All the students presented their work to us, the wider design team and our clients, and their work was exceptional.

It is vitally important to change the face of the built environment industry, encouraging a new diverse generation of architects. We encourage our students to stay in touch with us through further work placements, project co-design events and mentoring.