Thea McMillan, B Arch, MA
Design Director

Thea’s design considers how spaces can improve people’s lives. Her involvement for the last three years in the design and building of their own wheelchair accessible home has led to a greater interest in the relationship between design and use. She is currently researching children and their use of space: understanding how space is used informs the practice’s design process. Having co-led first year architecture at the University of Edinburgh for seven years, she values the ability to question, to listen and exploration through models.

As a parent, for the last 6 years she has been involved in the process to design Edinburgh’s new Royal Hospital for Sick Children, where she was co-chair for the consultation and engagement group, and instigated a programme of architectural engagement workshops with children hospital users and their siblings. She also contributed to the overall design process as a parent with experience of hospital everyday life, bringing an understanding of how the built environment can support this. Her aims are through communication and engagement to make architecture accessible to all.

Ian McMillan, B Arch, Dip Arch, M Arch, ARB, RIAS, RIBA
Architect Director

Ian is a qualified architect with over 20 years experience. He is a member of RIAS, RIBA and ARB and has exceptional experience and skills in both design and project delivery. Studying at the Mackintosh School he finished in 1993 with a first class honours degree, he then moved to London to work for Michael Wilford and partners.

Here he qualified as an architect in 1996 and worked on large scale arts projects such as The Lowry in Salford. After a brief spell working for Terry Farrell he moving to Berlin in 2000 to work for international reknown architectural practices David Chipperfield and then Sauerbruch Hutton. Here he worked on the Ministry for the Environment in Dessau, which set the benchmark for sustainable buildings.

Returning to Edinburgh in 2003, Ian became an associate architect in a small practice and helped to establish it, successfully developing it to over thirty architects, where he co-shared the design responsibly, as well as project delivery. In 2007 he moved to work on more high profile and complex projects such as the innovative addition to the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

“Good design is critical to any project irrespective of size and scale. It can offer added value through flexibility, adaptability, as well an efficient use of the budget, material resources and its energy consumption. It can also be extraordinary, offering us delight and a sense of well-being.”