Master architect Paul McClean shares his architectural journey from Dublin to Southern California, the complexities of custom home design, and how the events of 2020 have reshaped our relationship with our living spaces.
The Evolution of Modern Living: How the events of 2020 shifted priorities, making homes more central to daily life, remote work, and family dynamics.
Designing for Southern California: Harnessing climate, indoor-outdoor living, natural light, fresh air, and regional site specifics.
The Journey of an Architect: Paul McLean’s early inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright in Dublin and his eventual move to California to shape contemporary residential architecture.
The Complexity of Residential Design: Why custom homes are often more programmatically complex than large commercial structures due to personal scale and diverse human needs.
Site-Specific Architecture: The philosophy that homes must be created “of the land,” starting with unique site constraints and views rather than imposing pre-conceived concepts.
The relationship between humanity and the built environment experienced a profound reckoning during the year 2020. As global events forced individuals into extended isolation within their four walls, the traditional concept of a home underwent an immediate transformation. Dwellings that were once merely spaces for evening recovery suddenly had to double as offices, classrooms, recreation zones, and sanctuaries. For architects and designers, this seismic shift highlighted a long-standing truth: our surroundings directly influence our mental well-being, our health, and our overall quality of life. The challenges of remote work, changing local climates, and restricted mobility brought the strengths and glaring deficiencies of residential architecture sharply into focus.
Master architects like Paul McLean have long understood that exceptional residential design begins well before the first foundation is poured—it starts with a deep, respectful dialogue with the land. Rooted in the modernist tradition championed by pioneers like Frank Lloyd Wright, site-specific architecture demands that a dwelling be born from its environment rather than dropped arbitrarily onto a plot of earth. By leveraging natural light, fluid indoor-outdoor transitions, and intelligent spatial editing, modern homes can foster peace and resilience even within the tight constraints of urban settings like Southern California.
Yet, crafting a truly successful custom home goes far beyond aesthetic appeal or environmental responsiveness. Programmatically, residential architecture is often more intricate than large commercial structures because it must simultaneously accommodate diverse human emotions, intimate family dynamics, and deeply personal routines. Homeowners often embark on this expensive, once-in-a-lifetime journey filled with equal parts excitement and anxiety. Navigating these waters requires an architect to act not only as a visionary designer but as a trusted guide through a complex process. Ultimately, the lessons learned during times of disruption remind us that our living spaces must be adaptable, health-conscious, and deeply connected to nature if they are to successfully sustain us through an uncertain future.
Forge Craft Architecture + Design excels in the development of passive house science, affordable housing policy, and overcoming industry inertia in modern urban development.
The Core Philosophy: Forge Craft was founded on the principle that building design and performance must be equal and inseparable.
Affordable Housing as a Platform for Sustainability: The firm approaches affordable housing not only as a social necessity but as a powerful driver for energy efficiency and long-term building performance.
The Role of Policy and Advocacy: Working closely with nonprofit developers requires looking far beyond the short window of design and construction, leading the team to engage heavily in housing policy and zoning advocacy.
Building Science and Healthy Materials: Through certifications like Certified Passive House and material health initiatives, the firm focuses on creating resilient, moisture-managed, and toxin-free building envelopes.
Overcoming Industry Inertia: Despite advancements in modular construction and mass timber, the real estate and lending markets remain risk-averse, often defaulting to conventional stick-built methods.
Unifying High Performance and Design: Inside the Evolution of Forge Craft Architecture |. | Partners Scott Ginder, Jon Cartwright, and Trey Farmer detail how Forge Craft combines passive house science, policy advocacy, and flexible housing models to redefine affordable and custom design.
Ever feel like the word “affordable housing” is the ultimate oxymoron in modern architecture? You’re not alone.
In the latest episode of Convo By Design, I sat down with Scott Ginder, Jon Cartwright, and Trey Farmer from Austin’s Forge Craft Architecture. Now, usually when architects talk about “building performance,” they mean keeping the rain out and making sure your living room wall doesn’t breathe like an old accordion.
But these guys are actually out here trying to break the system. From designing multi-million dollar custom homes to tackling actual non-profit supportive housing, they’re proving that high-performance building science shouldn’t just be a rich guy’s hobby.
We unpack why stick-built construction is stuck in the Stone Age, how local housing policy is practically designed to give developers a headache, and why Passive House tech might just save us from ourselves. It’s a reality check on where architecture is actually going while some, and you know who you are still copying and pasting plans from 1995.
Catch the full conversation on the podcast now. Hit play, subscribe, and let’s chop it up.
Foundational Philosophy: Scott Ginder co-founded Forge Craft in 2013 alongside Rommel Sulit on the premise that building design and building performance must be equal partners. The firm intentionally bridges the gap between custom, high-end residential projects and high-density affordable housing.
Capital ‘A’ vs. Lowercase ‘a’ Affordability: Jon Cartwright delineates the difference between subsidized, income-restricted housing (Capital A) which often requires extensive supportive infrastructure, and market-driven housing affordability (lowercase a), which relies on zoning reforms, density bonuses, and policy updates like Austin’s HOME ordinance.
Deep Sustainability & Building Science: Trey Farmer outlines the integration of Passive House standards, certified through his role as a Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC). Forge Craft’s Healthy Home Studio applies advanced building science—such as energy modeling, embodied carbon accounting, and non-toxic material selections—across various construction types ranging from mass timber (CLT) to Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF).
Policy Advocacy in Practice: As Chair of the Austin Housing Coalition, John Cartwright emphasizes that architectural responsibility extends beyond construction into long-term municipal policy, advocating for changes in code, land availability, and density to unlock long-term housing viability.
Navigating Market Inertia: The partners discuss structural barriers to innovation in central Texas, including reliance on traditional stick-built construction, developer risk aversion, and complex urban lot constraints that present challenges to off-site modular prefabricated systems.
Related Links & Resources
Forge Craft Architecture Studio — Explore the official website and portfolio of Forge Craft Architecture, featuring their Healthy Home and Affordable Housing studios.
Foundation Communities — Learn about the Austin-based non-profit developer behind supportive housing projects like Bluebonnet Studios.
Passive House Institute US (Phius) — Discover passive building standards, energy-efficient building science principles, and consultant certifications.
Parsons Healthy Materials Lab — Access research and guidelines on non-toxic, healthy building materials and indoor air quality.
Austin Housing Coalition — Read about policy initiatives, local advocacy, and affordable housing strategies in Central Texas.
Nick McWhirter, Hans Hermann, and the multi-disciplinary team at SHM Architects break down their firm-wide rollout of new AI tools, the indispensable value of university-level design fundamentals, and why physical material libraries remain the ultimate defense against digital replication.
In this episode, I visit with SHM Architects in Dallas, Texas, to examine the real-world friction points shaping the modern design landscape. SHM’s Adrianna Taylor and Clodagh Ryan alongside Design Principals Nick McWhirter and Hans Herrmann discuss the firm’s recent rollout of AI driven tools sparking a candid panel debate on where automation ends and human artistry begins.
The discussion spans from academics—evaluating how post-pandemic students mistake software outputs for actual critical thinking—to the tactile reality of the firm’s analog office environment, where hand drawings and material libraries reign supreme. The team also navigates the metaphysical nature of architecture, addressing how design must tackle modern security and unprecedented regional climate swings—such as Texas’s erratic freeze-thaw cycles—without compromising on beauty and craft.
The AI Rollout — Swapping Production for Creativity: SHM Architects is actively rolling out access to Krea, an AI platform designed to eliminate front-end production “time sucks.” The goal is not to cut overall design hours, but to give billable time back to architects for curation, editorial storytelling, and high-level conceptualizing.
The Creative Backlash and App Bloat: While the firm embraces AI for administrative efficiency and quick visual communication for clients who struggle with spatial rendering, interior design specialists express caution. There is a strong resistance against continuous, automated iteration (“spinning the wheel”) in favor of deliberate, human-led limits.
The “TurboTax” Fallacy in Academics: Moving from an academic background to full-time practice, the panel notes that early-career designers often face a competency gap. Having software that generates a beautiful rendering does not make someone an architect, just as owning TurboTax does not make one a CPA. Grounding talent in analog fundamentals ensures they have the capacity to critically vet AI “hallucinations.”
The Metaphysical vs. Commodity Product: The firm actively resists the culture of “ordering a product and gluing it to a wall” to solve design problems. True bespoke design lies in taking readily available, off-the-shelf components and assembling them in mathematically beautiful, unexpected ways to create an atmospheric, one-of-one reality.
Climate Change Re-Writing Landscape Spec Sheets: On the landscape architecture front, the team faces immediate, harsh realities. Erratic Texas weather—shifting from intense 110°F summer stretches to unprecedented hard freezes—means hardscape stones are popping and plant species that thrived a decade ago are no longer viable. Specifying for durability now requires constant, real-time feedback loops with regional nurseries and stone suppliers.
Overlapping Tech in Vendor Relations: Manufacturer reps are aggressively introducing their own proprietary in-house AI rendering and product-placement modeling programs. However, a professional friction point is emerging: multi-disciplinary design firms prefer to keep those workflows centered within their own agnostic design software rather than using segmented vendor applications.
Applicable Links & Resources
Explore the custom residential portfolio and philosophy of the panel at SHM Architects.
Discover the creative, real-time generation and upscaling toolset used by the firm at Krea AI.
Research the latest advancements in resilient cladding and outdoor engineering via James Hardie and TimberTech.
The Curation of Atmosphere: Protecting Professional Discernment in an Automated Era
The modern architectural studio has become a battleground between the efficiency of the pixel and the truth of the atom. As the leadership team at SHM Architects outlines in this conversation, the rapid integration of artificial intelligence platforms like Krea represents a massive operational inflection point. For a business model that fundamentally sells time as its primary commodity, the allure of outsourcing front-end production, administrative tasks, and rapid client-facing ideation to algorithmic models is undeniable. Yet, beneath the enthusiasm for newfound studio bandwidth lies a deeper, pro-to-pro anxiety regarding the preservation of critical thinking, professional discernment, and historical craft.
The core tension of the automated shift does not rest on whether the technology functions, but on who is operating the prompt. In architectural education and early-career training, a dangerous dependency loop has emerged. When software can instantly bridge the gap between a rudimentary concept and a highly polished, photorealistic rendering, the vital phase of internal struggle is completely bypassed.
True architectural competency is rooted in critical curation—the capacity to dissect a visual output, stress-test it for structural feasibility, and identify algorithmic hallucinations. If a young designer relies on digital generation before mastering the hard, analog mechanics of hand drafting, scale, and detailing, they risk becoming passive consumers of an algorithm’s logic rather than master builders.
This preservation of craft is precisely why forward-thinking firms refuse to abandon the physical sensory experience. Despite the presence of high-end digital modeling tools, the modern design process must remain anchored in a tactile reality. A room lined with physical fabric swatches, hand-sketched elevations, real metal samples, and dynamic stone specimens acts as an essential counterweight to digital abstraction.
Architecture is fundamentally a metaphysical pursuit; it is the curation of human atmosphere, safety, and emotion. You cannot specify an atmospheric experience out of a catalog, nor can you download a product to resolve complex societal challenges or severe climate shifts.
This reality is most acutely visible on the landscape architecture front, where design directly interfaces with a volatile natural ecosystem. In regions like Dallas, extreme climate shifts—moving from punishing triple-digit summer heatwaves to sudden, catastrophic hard freezes—have completely broken traditional specification templates. Materials and plant typologies that were considered bombproof a decade ago are structurally failing and dying today. Resolving these real-world systemic issues requires deep, localized, human-to-human networks between designers, regional nurseries, and structural engineers.
Ultimately, artificial intelligence is merely a sharper medium, not a substitute for architectural intellect. The true value of a prestige design firm does not lie in its ability to generate a thousand rapid iterations at the click of a button. It rests entirely on the seasoned, human intuition required to look at a mountain of digital options, draw a definitive line, and choose the singular, beautiful, and permanent truth.
Healing Over Hardship – While prison architecture is often associated with “locking people up,” modern justice design is pivoting toward rehabilitation, reintegration, and community connection. This episode explores how shifting the physical environment from fortresses to “healing centers” can reduce stress for both inmates and staff, ultimately lowering recidivism rates and serving the best interests of society.
The Purpose of the Typology: Architecture must follow function. If the goal of a facility is rehabilitation rather than pure punishment, the design must reflect that through “soft” materials, natural light, and open programming.
The “Normalization” of Space: Incorporating elements like drywall (as seen in the Rankin Inlet project) instead of concrete, and providing views of nature, helps de-escalate tension and improve the mental health of residents and correctional officers.
Technology as a Barrier-Breaker: Advances in AI and electronic tracking may eventually reduce the need for physical “hard” barriers like barbed wire, allowing facilities to blend more seamlessly into the community.
The “Triage” Model: Modern facilities are increasingly being viewed as stabilization points to address the high rates of mental illness (70% in Canada) and homelessness among the incarcerated population.
Reframing the Narrative: The architects argue for viewing justice facilities through the lens of: “How would I want my loved one treated if they were here?”
Parkin Architects: The firm featured in this episode, specializing in justice, healthcare, and institutional design.
Rankin Inlet Men’s Healing Facility: A landmark project discussed for its use of “soft” architecture and lack of perimeter fencing to foster a healing environment.
The “Normalization” Principle: A concept in correctional philosophy stating that life inside should resemble life outside as much as possible to prepare for reintegration.
Michel Foucault: The philosopher referenced regarding the “Carceral Archipelago” and the similarities between schools, hospitals, and prisons.
Reimagining the “Hard” Box: The Purpose of Typology
In traditional architectural circles, the “prison” typology has long been defined by its permanence and its posture of punishment. Historically, these structures were designed as “hard boxes”—windowless, concrete monoliths intended to separate the “other” from society. However, as discussed in the latest Convo By Design, architects Richard Hewitt and Robert Boraks are challenging the very foundation of this design philosophy. The fundamental question is no longer just “how do we keep people in?” but rather, “What is the purpose of this place?”
When a facility is designed strictly for punishment, it often fails at its unstated but essential goal: public safety. If 70% of those entering the system suffer from mental illness or substance abuse, a “hard” environment only serves to exacerbate trauma. By shifting the typology toward “Healing Centers,” architects are utilizing evidence-based design to lower the temperature of incarceration. This means replacing oppressive materials with softer finishes and ensuring that the physical layout supports programming like trades training or farming. By defining the purpose as rehabilitation and reintegration, the architecture stops being a cage and starts being a tool for societal health.
The Normalization of Space: Breaking the Fortress Mentality
One of the most striking revelations in modern justice architecture is the “Normalization” principle. This concept suggests that if you treat an individual like an animal in a cage, they will likely behave like one. Conversely, if you provide an environment that mimics the outside world—with natural light, acoustic control, and “normal” windows and doors—stress levels drop significantly for both residents and staff.
Take the Rankin Inlet Men’s Healing Facility as a primary example. Built in the Canadian North, this facility famously lacks a perimeter fence and was constructed using drywall rather than indestructible concrete. The result? A dramatic decrease in destructive behavior and a surge in staff morale. When a space feels like a school or a library rather than a fortress, the stigma of incarceration is reduced. This “soft” approach doesn’t just benefit the incarcerated; it creates a safer work environment for correctional officers, who are the “true lifers” of the facility. By normalizing the space, we prepare individuals for the day they walk back into a grocery store or a community park, ensuring they aren’t entering a world they no longer recognize.
Technology as a Catalyst for Change
As we move further into the 2020s, technology is poised to render the traditional “fortress” prison obsolete. We are entering an era where AI-driven monitoring, facial recognition, and biometric tracking can provide security without the need for literal iron bars. Architects are now looking at a future where a facility can be integrated into the fabric of a city—perhaps even as a mixed-use development—because the “containment” is digital and psychological rather than just physical.
Technology allows for predictive safety measures. AI can analyze movement patterns and biometric data (like heart rate or body temperature) to alert staff to rising tensions before an incident occurs. This shift allows for more “open” environments where individuals can move freely within a secure digital envelope. Furthermore, technology facilitates a “triage” model of justice, where data helps identify mental health needs or housing instability the moment someone enters the system. As Robert Boraks noted, we may reach a point where we ask: Do we even need prisons in their current form? By leveraging technology, we can move away from “warehousing” humans and toward a more precise, data-driven method of social support and community protection.
In an un-siloed world where public spaces face evolving threats, Kirk Rose and Sergio Lechuga detail how intentional design, community trust, and “invisible layers” protect people without building prisons. This is only a part of what makes HMC Architects a people-focused firm and one built for the future. he Convo By Design Icon Registry is presented by Pacific Sales Kitchen & Home.
In this follow-up conversation, I attempt to anchor a deep dive into the changing nature of safety and security in architectural design. Kirk Rose (Healthcare Practice Leader at HMC Architects) and Sergio Lechuga (Director of Interior Design at HMC Architects).
The dialogue builds upon a previous conversation to explore how architects, acting as true futurists who design structures to last 75 to 150 years must proactively engineer spaces for unthinkable modern threats. From emergency room protocols to K-12 campus layouts and civic centers, Kirk and Sergio break down how rigid, intrusive security (like airport-style metal detectors) can erode human experience and mental well-being. Instead, they champion an approach of subtle, “porous” architectural layers and operational human protocols. The trio bridges these heavy commercial insights with residential realities, concluding that real safety relies heavily on human awareness, technological adaptation, and the ultimate luxury: a connected community. And this is just partly why the entire HMC Architects firm are inductees for the month of August, 2026 in Convo By Design Icon Registry presented by Pacific Sales Kitchen & Home.
Architects as Futurists vs. Designers: Josh establishes that while interior designers typically plan for 5-to-25-year cycles (allowing for aesthetic refreshes), architects must project safety, utility, and durability 100+ years into the future.
The Psychology of Security: Walking through metal detectors or staring through barred windows drastically alters a child’s or a patient’s state of mind. Sergio explains how HMC organizes K-12 buildings to act as a natural perimeter courtyard, eliminating the need for aggressive fencing while maintaining clear sightlines and controlled points of access.
The Fallibility of the Metal Detector: Kirk highlights a counterintuitive healthcare trend: many public hospitals are actively removing physical metal detectors. Because weapons can be bypassed or thrown over gates, facilities rely instead on roving security, trained staff, and strict internal “back-of-house” zoning accessible only by keycard.
The “Aleatory Space” & Community Trust: Drawing on an architectural concept of un-owned public property (aleatory space), the guests argue that the true front line of residential security isn’t just an automated floodlight or a ring camera—it is genuine rapport and old-fashioned communication between neighbors.
High-Tech Human Interventions: Kirk shares sophisticated backend systems used in modern maternal wards, such as infrared infant abduction systems paired with “delayed egress” alarms. These systems demonstrate that effective security is always a blend of automated tech and rapid human operational protocol.
Security as the New Ultimate Luxury: Pre-pandemic design focused heavily on air, water, and sound quality. Today, Josh and the guests observe a market evolution where invisible, seamless security infrastructure has officially shifted from an afterthought to a core luxury expectation.
Featured Architecture Firm: Learn more about regional planning, K-12 innovations, and evidence-based environment modeling at HMC Architects.
A conversation with Bill Baldwin of HartmanBaldwin on how shifting cultural values and environmental challenges are reshaping the way we build and live.
A Continued Shift Toward Purposeful Design The conversation explored how the pandemic served as a pivotal moment of clarity, leading to a profound shift in how people view their homes. Bill noted that clients are now designing with a greater sense of purpose and intent, moving away from surface level trends and toward spaces that truly reflect how they want to live. This “new intentionality” is seeing a focus on long term needs, such as aging in place and creating multi-generational living environments.
The Evolution of the Kitchen as Mission Control The concept of the kitchen has evolved from a simple functional area into the high tech, multi-functional hub of the home. Bill and the host discussed how the kitchen now functions as a “mission control” center, where multiple activities from professional work to family social life converge. This has led to more complex infrastructure needs and a desire for specialized elements like secondary working kitchens and advanced appliance suites that reflect specific lifestyle interests.
Preservation and Resilience in the Face of Environmental Challenges Reflecting on recent events like the wildfires in California, the discussion turned to the challenges of preserving historical architecture while meeting modern safety and environmental standards. Bill emphasized that while we have the technical knowledge to build more resilient structures, the challenge lies in adapting existing communities and historical properties to these new realities without losing their character.
The Philosophy of Design Build A key part of the conversation centered on the “design build” philosophy, which aims to create synergy between the disparate talents of architects, interior designers, and builders. By working in unison from the project’s inception, this integrated approach ensures that the final result is greater than the sum of its parts, with the invisible infrastructure and the respect for craftsmanship elevating the overall experience of the home.
The Future of Innovation and Adaptive Reuse The episode wrapped up with a look at future innovations, including the potential for prefabricated and modular homes to address housing needs. The idea of “adaptive reuse,” moving and repurposing existing functional structures instead of demolishing them, was also discussed as a potentially more sustainable way forward for the industry, reflecting a broader trend toward more conscious and resourceful building practices.
My recent conversation with Bill Baldwin of HartmanBaldwin was a profound look at how our industry is evolving in response to the massive cultural shifts of the last few years. One of the most striking points Bill made was how the pandemic acted as a “moment of clarity” for so many people. It stripped away the surface level distractions and forced us all to really look at how we were living in our homes.
What has emerged is what Bill calls a “new intentionality” in design. People are no longer just looking for the latest aesthetic trend. They are looking for spaces that serve a deep, functional purpose in their lives. We’re seeing a significant rise in projects focused on multi generational living and aging in place. It’s no longer about just having a beautiful house; it’s about having a home that is a resilient, supportive environment for all stages of life.
We also dug into the idea of the kitchen as “mission control.” The days of the kitchen being a hidden room for food prep are long gone. Today, it’s the high tech hub of the entire home’s infrastructure. This means we have to think much more deeply about what Bill refers to as the “invisible infrastructure”; the plumbing, electrical, and data needs that allow these spaces to function at such a high level.
One of the most sobering parts of our talk was discussing environmental resilience. Living through the California wildfires has fundamentally changed the conversation around preservation and building standards. We have the technology to build more resilient homes, but as Bill pointed out, the real challenge is how we integrate these necessary changes into our existing communities and historic neighborhoods without losing the soul and character that make them special. It’s a complex, ongoing balance that requires the kind of integrated, design build thinking that Bill has championed for decades.
