ARdMackel Architects are a chartered architectural practice located in Belfast established by Ciaran Mackel who has worked for many years with other architects in Belfast, Dublin and London.
ARdMackel has an expanding portfolio of community, education and residential projects, and has a history of producing exceptional levels of quality and craftsmanship, receiving several regional and national awards.
The practice director, Ciaran Mackel is a founding member of the Forum for Alternative Belfast [FAB] and all team members complement the practice work with research on urban issues in the city. We collaborate with artists and fellow professionals allowing us to test ideas and afford us opportunities to further deepen our knowledge of the broader urban context for our work. A self‐critical approach is important within the practice and we aim to develop site specific, user sensitive and historically informed solutions; we draw from the deep well of European Architecture that contains strands of Modernism, Rationalism and Expressionism.
ARdMackel is committed to quality design in all aspects of architecture and the experience of it, seeking to bring together buildings, landscapes and their user. As a practice we accept our responsibility to protect our built heritage and environment and seek to enhance it through the insertion of modern buildings within the given context.
Our approach to each building project is to explore the brief by using a range of design methods including sketching, physical modelling and digital techniques. We search for appropriateness and character in our architecture. It is our search for the real and for the particular. We have a track record of providing a personal service that fully engages with the client to deliver design of both quality and value.
Director
Ciaran Mackel
ARdMackel is an architecture, urbanism and research studio founded by ciaran mackel. The team has a portfolio of community-cultural and residential projects, and the studio has gained numerous design awards, particularly for the Irish language community in Belfast.
Mackel was formerly Associate Senior Lecturer in Architecture at the Ulster University, Belfast and has been visiting critic to ENSA School of Architecture, Nantes, and Plymouth School of Architecture. He has lectured in Edinburgh, Dublin, Genoa, Berlin, Naples, and Pretoria.
Ciaran was a founder member of PLACE, developed in with Belfast City Council to provide a city centre Architecture and Built Environment Centre. He was also founder member of Forum for Alternative Belfast. Ciaran currently serves on the Boards of organisations including, The Gaeltacht Quarter, Forbairt Feirste, the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation and is architect advisor to the Ministerial Advisory Group in the DfC.
Part II Architectural Assistant
John Catterson
John holds a master’s degree in Architecture in which he focused his research on the role architecture should play in facilitating the growth of the Irish language in Belfast. He explored that if given permanence in its ‘built form’, the language can continue to flourish in the city and create a network of reconnections between the peripheral neighbourhoods of the city. He is an artist, designer, Gaelic footballer and has a keen interest in the Irish language. He resides in the village of Mayobridge in Co. Down.
Part II Architectural Assistant
Cathal Mc Kenna
Having recently attained his master’s degree, Cathal exhibited the prospect of Zero Emission Neighbourhoods' primarily in Belfast city centre. Through identifying declining/vacant buildings’, he explored their architectural reuse potential, in applying enhanced design retrofit strategies. He was also involved in the ouput of the 'AOC' sustainability manual & workshops, that communicated Zero Emission strategies to regional stakeholders and businesses.
Part II Architectural Assistant
Aedan Mackel
Aedán holds a masters in both Architecture and Environmental Planning. He is currently undertaking funded PhD research for the University of Ulster, examining current desegregation policy in Belfast. His dissertation (RIBA award 2022 nomination) was a critique of the Neo-liberal policy framework adopted by local administrations in managing sustainable town centre growth. Aedán is also an artist and musician, and resides in the village of Moira.
Part I Architectural Assistant
Connor Curley
Connor is studying for his Masters degree in Architecture at the University of Sheffield, while currently working remotely for the practice. He has a deep interest in community work & housing, which has been fostered and furthered by his work at ARd, feeding into his academic work. Outside of architecture, he is a actively keen climber & kayaker, and can usually be found spending his weekends in the Sheffields peak district.
Part I Architectural Assistant
Courtney Rice
Courtney is currently undertaking her Masters degree and intends to explore ‘The Rights to the City’ through her academic research. She aims to have a particular focus on public buildings that once served the community, and how they can once again serve. She also enjoys cold water swimming, experiencing new cultures, and resides in West Belfast.