Michael founded the Michael Laurie Architects (MLA) architectural practice in 2005, after a career, working on a wide variety of large and small-scale projects in the Private, Commercial and Public Sectors, gaining invaluable experience in three of Edinburgh’s highly regarded architectural offices.
In 2005, at the age of 40, the time was right for a new challenge.
“It was no coincidence that the decision to set up as a Sole Practitioner was made when our second child, Matthew started school. This new venture was a radical departure from managing a large architectural office in Leith. The purpose was primarily to get back to “hands on” architectural work and to achieve a manageable “work life” balance in a family with two professional parents.
Early architectural commissions that followed were primarily residential alterations and extensions. Directly engaging with clients was deeply satisfying and the relatively short timescale from initial concept sketches to completion on site, restored enthusiasm and passion for the creative architectural process. At this time the practice evolved in a changing digital world which was moving towards web and cloud-based information exchange.
In 2008 MLA was invited to prepare design proposals for a previous public sector client, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS). The seeds of this client relationship were planted in in 2002.
The practice has now been established for 20 years based in the Southside of Edinburgh, with a Team as far afield as Glasgow, Fife, East Lothian, Perthshire and the Scottish Borders. Our workload has greatly expanded, and our reputation has grown particularly with the body of Justice Sector clients.
The range of skills we can offer includes Architecture, Space Planning, Heritage Consultancy, Covid 19 Planning, Passivhaus, 3D Visualisation to CDM Principal Designer & NEC 4 Project Manager.