MMAS Architects

23/03/2024 2 Royal Avenue wins a national Civic Trust Award.
The project is a transformative meanwhile project, breathing new life into a B+ listed building that once served as a bank and later a Tesco supermarket in Belfast City Centre. Director Fearghal Murray pictured at the awards ceremony in the Concorde Museum, Manchester with project collaborator, Chris Upson of OGU Architects.

09/02/2024 Glandore Avenue project has been featured in the Ministerial Advisory Group’s (MAG) advisory document on Quality of Residential Spaces
Our Glandore Avenue project has been featured in the Ministerial Advisory Group’s (MAG) advisory document on Quality of Residential Spaces. The document considers the key role of housing in the built environment, making reference to exemplar precedent from around the UK and Ireland to illustrate the importance of design quality in the development of healthy, attractive, and sustainable towns and cities.

05/12/2023 Our collaborative 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast, project has been announced as a 2024 Civic Trust Awards Pro Tem Regional Finalist
The transformation of this historic building into a bustling cultural civic centre has been phenomenal to watch over the past year.

21/11/2023 MMAS appointed architecture industry partner in the ‘Future Island–Island: Green Transition Ecosystems’ research project on Rathlin Island
Led by Ulster University in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast, this Arts and Humanities Research Council funded initiative is one of only four projects in the UK. The project aims to bolster awareness and improve engagement with the pubic towards an intuitive, eco–friendly waste management culture through design.

09/10/2023 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast
Wonderful to see our 2RA Meanwhile Project has been featured on the Architects Journal.

13/06/2023 Adelaide Street achieves best in low–cost design
Last month, our collaborative Adelaide Street project with OGU was named the overall winner of the AJ Small Projects awards for 2023, achieving ‘best in low–cost design’, against 19 other exceptional schemes. The judges (Esther Everett, Pedro Gil and Louis Jobst) said that Adelaide Street was an example of people–centred placemaking and collaboration in what is still a stubbornly car–centric city. With the installation setting a ‘blueprint’ for similar schemes in Northern Ireland and beyond.

30/05/2023 St James’ Community Farm project wins at the RSUA 2023 Design Awards
We’re very proud that our St James’ Community Farm project in inner West Belfast has won the RSUA Living Places Award 2023, along with a regional RIBA Award. We enjoyed working with St James Forum to develop their initial ideas for the farm and to explore what could be delivered with Belfast City Council for real community benefit on a very small budget.

15/05/2023 2 Royal Avenue makes the RIBA Journal’s April Issue front cover
Photograph by Joe Laverty Photography

16/03/2023 Housing Scheme in Co. Fermanagh
Elevation study of recently approved housing scheme in Co. Fermanagh.

15/03/2023 Our collaborative Adelaide Street Project has made it onto The Developer’s 2023 Pineapples Awards Shortlist
Making it onto the shortlist in the Public Space category, this was a rewarding project undertaken with OGU Architects, Belfast City Council and DfI. With also Design ID and Fabrite to thank.

06/03/2023 St. James Farm made the RSUA 2023 Design Awards Shortlist
One of ten projects shortlisted for the RSUA Design Awards in 2023. The projects submitted for this year’s awards were required to have been in use for at least one year, so that the judging panel can better evaluate the sustainability and overall performance of these projects. Click on the image to read more about our project.

03/01/2023 Adelaide Street made the RIBA Journal’s MacEwen Awards 2023 Longlist
Selected as one of six projects under the ‘urban regeneration’ category. The awards longlist showcase a multitude of ways to design and build for the common good.

07/12/2022 Progress on site
Textures beginning to reveal itself nicely with the light on our project in Dungannon.

03/10/2022 Architects’ Journal ‘Irish Issue’ Feature
Our Derry’s Yard, Moy project has been included in AJ’s “outstanding recent and proposed Irish schemes” feature!

09/06/2022 Walking Bus, North Belfast
Garreth in his role with MAG, has been working with Belfast Healthy Cities to introduce Walking Buses to North Belfast schools.

08/03/2022 Adelaide Street, Belfast
Our Linen Lanterns are now up and running in Adelaide Street. Don’t forget to look up!

14/01/2022 House extension, Hillsborough
Progress on site for one of our projects in Hillsborough.

12/10/2021 Malone Exchange
A capture of our recently completed project, Malone Exchange. Click on the image to read more about the project.

02/09/2021 Reflections from a small Belfast studio
Our article in the July/ August RIAI Journal, ‘Architecture Ireland’, which was a special edition focusing on Belfast. Our thoughts on the specific constraints and opportunities for an emerging band of small practices here. Talking about how collaboration with other small practices, such as our colleagues in OGU Architects and Dún–na–dTuar, has helped us progress and get involved in more public work. Read more at: https://www.riai.ie/discover–architecture/architecture–ireland–digital/issue-318

28/08/2021 St James’ Farm, Bog Meadows
Our beloved St James’ Farm in full summer action. Bring on harvest season! Click on the image to read more about the project.

07/04/2021 The RIBA Journal
In the latest issue of The RIBA Journal, MMAS have been included in the Future Winners section where Directors Fearghal Murray and Garreth McMahon discuss their journey into practice and their approach to work. Read more at: https://www.ribaj.com/culture/future–winners–mmas–architects–northern-ireland

16/02/2021 House, Whitecross
Our project, House at Whitecross, featured in the front cover of the RSUA magazine, Living Design. Click on the image to read more about the project.

15/12/2020 Ormeau Parklet, Belfast
Great to see our collaborative project with OGU Architects, Ormeau Parklet, has been featured as the front cover of the RSUA magazine, Perspective. The Ormeau Parklet was also awarded the Healthy Cities Award and longlisted for the RIBA McEwen Award. Click on the image to read more about the project.

14/12/2020 Town & City Centre Covid Recovery Strategy
Our Covid Recovery Strategy for Derry City and Strabane District Council has been reported on the BBC and various local newspapers. Find out more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk–northern–ireland–foyle–west-55299441

11/12/2020 Healthy Cities Award
The Ormeau Parklet has won a healthy cities award. Great teamwork from all involved. The awards recognise the work undertaken by organisations across Belfast to improve the health and wellbeing of its citizens.

27/07/2020 Artist’s Studio, Waterloo Gardens
Siteworks are underway for an artists studio in North Belfast. The new painting studio will be lighted via three asymmetrical northlights in the roof. The roof structure is comprised of exposed trusses made up of thin steel angles, referring to the filigree quality of Victorian structures. An open plan space lies below and is oriented around a freestanding circular hearth and stove. To read more about the scheme, click on the image above.

23/07/2020 House, Dungannon
Breaking ground in Dungannon. The new build dwelling has been designed to be integrated into an existing cluster of agricultural buildings and enhance the everyday experience of rural family life. Click on the image above to read more about the project.

08/05/2020 Irish Language Daycare
Delayed due to lockdown: This Irish language daycare in West Belfast was due to be on–site this summer. Designed with the principles of the Reggio Emilia approach in mind, the daycare is inserted into the existing shell of a long–empty commercial unit. Made on a shoe–string budget, all new partitions and bespoke furniture is to be fabricated on–site with birch ply and reclaimed materials.

01/05/2020 The Diamond, Moy
Construction continues for our project within the conservation area of The Diamond, Moy (whilst adhering to social distancing measures). The scheme includes the sensitive conservation/ restoration of a terrace within the listed square. Many original features of the building are to be kept including room proportions, the staircase and fireplace.

28/04/2020 Ask an Architect 2020
If some downtime in lockdown has got you thinking about a building project (big or small) and you would like some inspiration, we can help you out. Once again, MMAS are participating in ‘Ask an Architect’, an annual event run by @royalsocietyulsterarchitects. You can book a free 1 hour online consultation with us in exchange for a £40 donation to the @friends_of_the_cancer_centre in partnership with the Jill Todd Trust. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mmas–ask–an–architect–2020–tickets-92341553071

02/12/2019 The Diamond, Moy
Commenced on site: A pair of ICF dwellings clad in charred timber on a neglected backland site accessed via a listed archway on the Diamond in the centre of Moy, Co. Tyrone. Click on the image above to read more about the project.

24/10/2019 Welcome to Sailortown
Our commended entry to this year’s RSUA ‘CityPlay’ Design Competition, in collaboration with Household arts and Sailortown Regeneration Group. Our proposal was for a demountable timber post and beam structure wrapped in net, with community designed & built insertions. A dynamic, organic play and exploration architecture – that can be appropriated as gallery, dancefloor or stage –to re–establish play and act as signifier and catalyst for the re–emerging Sailortown neighbourhood.

07/10/2019 Moy, Tyrone
Planning approved for a new build house outside of Moy, Co Tyrone. A formal, square–plan villa with a central top–lit stair is juxtaposed by a long, single–storey element which refers to a stable block.

09/09/2019 House, Dungannon
Planning has been granted for a new dwelling in Dungannon. It has been designed to be integrated within an existing cluster of vernacular, Irish farmsteads. Monopitches demark the hierarchy of spaces within in the plan whilst also addressing the falling topography of the site. Click on the image above to follow a link to the project.

22/08/2019 Reimagine…Tallaght: Melt the Walls Competition
Delighted to be awarded 2nd place in a competition organised for the reinvigoration and activation of a public square in Tallaght, Dublin, organised and run by the Irish Architetcure Foundation, SDCC Arts Office, and Tallaght Community Arts. Informed by community input and participatory research compiled by IAF, we proposed to fill the square with movable chairs in 3 typologies. Each type has individual merit (chair, stool etc.) but can be combined and assembled into many different forms and uses.

12/08/2019 House, Jonesborough
Planning granted for a new build house in Jonesborough, Armagh. The rhythm of an existing line of trees and axis of hedgerows / fieldlines is carried through and reflected in the house via a colonnade. This becomes a means of engaging with outside spaces and animating the elevation.

08/08/2019 Progress on site, Whitecross
Images showing progress on site for our project in Whitecross. The sun always seems to be shining in this part of the island (or at least for our site visits anyway).

31/07/2019 House, Rostrevor
A planning application has been submitted for a new build dwelling in Rostrevor. Material and form reference the immediate context of the site, a collection of coastal exposed–aggregate concrete walls and cluster of bungalows and two storey, historic terraces.

17/06/2019 Architectural Review
Great to see a glimpse of Gaelscoil Éanna included in The Islands of Ireland edition of Architectural Review, which we designed back–in–the–day while working with Ard Ciaran Mackel. We’re still very proud of that little building & how it challenged the orthodoxy of poor quality temporary learning spaces while reflecting the values & ambition of the people it served.

06/06/2019 Reggio Reflections
Some sketches from our recent study trip Reggio Emilia, Italy examining childcare buildings. We presented our observations as speakers at the Early Years conference in Derry last week discussing the values of ‘atelier’; ‘remida’ and ‘piazza’ spaces acting as key drivers to the teaching environment and the interpretation of these philosophies to our current child care projects.

15/05/2019 Site visit, Whitecross
What a day for a site visit to our project in Whitecross. Click on the image to follow the link to this project.

13/05/2019 House, Moy
A proposed view for an ongoing project in Moy.

18/04/2019 House, Whitecross
A new dwelling in Whitecross has started on site. The living space is raised above the slope of the site and has views towards the Mournes and surrounding Ring of Gullion.

04/04/2019 House, Glenavy
We are looking forward to breaking ground at site next week for a new–build residential project near Lisburn. The dwelling is arranged under 3 hip–roofs and will focus views to the landscape beyond.

28/03/2019 House, Edendork
A planning application has been submitted for a residential project in County Tyrone. The design aims to integrate the new dwelling into an established cluster of vernacular Irish ruins and farmsteads.

26/03/2019 Ask an Architect
We efficiently and cost–effectively enhance the quality of everyday life and strengthen the distinctiveness of place. MMAS are once again participating in RSUA’s annual charity event ‘Ask an Architect’. Book a free 1–hour consultation with us in exchange for a £40 donation made to the Friends of the Cancer Centre in partnership with the Jill Todd Trust and make a difference. Appointments can be made at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mmas–ask–an–architect–2019–tickets-56909923112

25/03/2019 Early Years, Clogher
Planning granted for an Early Years centre in Clogher. The programme of the new centre includes a variety of day–care and after–school facilities for young children. Training and office space for Early Years Staff will be included in one of two Grade B1 listed buildings on the former Clogher Workhouse site. The design has been developed in collaboration with Studio MLA, Boston.

28/09/2017 Selected as an RIBA Practice Role Model
The nine practices featured have been selected to illustrate the different characteristics of a role model organisation and to provoke a profession–wide debate about what it means to be a successful RIBA Chartered Practice. https://www.architecture.com/practicerolemodels

20/09/2017 House, East Down
Planning submitted for a new dwelling in rural county Down. A collection of new spaces and forms cluster around a converted barn and step across the rocky hillside. Go to project >

28/07/2017 Winners of the RIBA ‘Beyond Borders’ Competition
Our project entitled; ‘Interface to Place: A Process of Transforming a ‘Peace Wall’, was developed in collaboration with a group of young women who live at an interface. Our initial proposal was designed to be situated at any interface structure in Northern Ireland, adapting a section of wall to create public space straddling the divide between neighbourhoods. Models, drawings and video footage document the process as new ideas emerged via a series of design workshops. The work is currently on ex

29/06/2017 St James Farm
Working with St James Forum, West Belfast to develop their urban community farm, to include a new community workshop, multi–use space, external covered space and animal sheds. Submitted to planning. Above: central garden, pens and growing beds opening from workshop space, animal sheds and covered communal space. Below: the farm gates slide open to welcome passers by from the Bog Meadows.

26/06/2017 Yoga Studio, Raphael
Design development sketch for a yoga studio and therapy space on a farm near the Loughshore in south County Antrim.

22/06/2017 Housing, Shore Road
Planning granted for a new apartment building on the Shore Road, North Belfast. 1:200 site massing model showing how the new block terminates the existing missing cormer of the urban block, adding much needed density and activity to part of the city damaged by roads infrastructure.

20/06/2017 Housing, South Belfast
Planning granted for 64 new dwellings as part of a new streetscape of terraced houses, apartments, public spaces and shared surface streets in Dunmurray, South Belfast. Site plan shown with part of an elevation of the new apartment buildings, with columnade and public space stepping down between the new buildings, overlooked by living spaces and external loggia of each apartment. Go to project >

04/05/2017 House, Whitecross
In development: Perspective view of the approach into the living spaces and kitchen of a new dwelling in County Armagh. To gain views toward the Mournes and surrounding Ring Of Gullion, living is raised above the sloping ground and the space is splayed in plan and section.

13/04/2017 Extension Cave Hill, North Belfast
Completion reached on an extension and garage conversion to a detached villa in North Belfast. Space was at a premium and the garden was unstable, backfilled land. The solution was to adapt the garage as aditional living space, while extending a corner window from the existing house to claim new views to the docks and Castlereagh Hills on the far side of the city.

10/02/2017 New Dwelling, County Armagh
Design development stages for a new dwelling on an elevated hillside in County Armagh.

12/01/2017 Housing, Shore Road
Planning submission for a new apartment building in North Belfast. Our intention was to repair of one of early twentieth century Belfast’s suburban frontages, that over the past fifty years has been eroded and isolated by roads infrastructure. Our approach was led by the belief that the immediate location is in urgent need of a certain density and strong frontage to ensure the remaining blocks survival.

02/01/2017 Recruitment
We are recruiting. We require a part 2 or recent part 3 architect with at least two years practical experience to help us develop some exciting new projects, and take others through detail design and construction stages. Applicants should have excellent design and presentation skills and the ability to work independently and manage own workload. Must also have very good physical and digital modelling abilities and a working knowledge of current planning and building control regulations.

20/12/2016 Extension Cave Hill, North Belfast
On–site photograph from an extension / garage conversion project in North Belfast, docks and Castlereagh Hills beyond new cast in–situ concrete column and existing brick pier. Existing brick chinmey seen through new roof window.

15/12/2016 House, East Down
Design development sketches for a new farmhouse on a hillside in east County Down

25/11/2016 Housing, Wellesley
Elevation detail, on–going design for an apartment building in South Belfast

09/11/2016 ‘The Nature of Public Space Along the Lower Falls’
Presentation ‘The nature of Public Space along the Lower Falls’ at West Belfast Partnership and Healthy Cities Belfast seminar.

30/10/2016 Houses, Carrickbroad
Planning granted for a pair of rural family dwellings near The Gap Of The North

20/10/2016 Extension and restoration of farmhouse in Cork
Work begins at our farmhouse extension in Cork. Existing distinctive structures exposed & secured as part of a sensitive reconfiguration of the farmstead.

06/10/2016 House, Magherafelt
Planning submitted for a new rural dwelling in Magherfelt, County Derry.

25/09/2016 Farmhouse, County Armagh
Planning permission granted for a new farmhouse in County Armagh.

01/08/2016 House, Dromintee
Planning permission granted for a new house at the foot of Slieve Gullion.

28/07/2016 Extension Cave Hill, North Belfast
Preparing construction drawings and tender for a extension to a house on the lower slopes of Cavehill, North Belfast. An existing kitchen is opened up to the converted garage to transform the living spaces and orientate family life toward the garden and views over the city and docks.

26/06/2016 St James Farm
Working with St James Forum, West Belfast to develop plans for their urban farm, to include a new community workshop, communal space and animal sheds.

13/05/2016 Cottage Extension, Dublin
Planning granted for an extension to a nineteenth century terraced cottage in Rathfarnham, Dublin. The new brick forms are softened through the use of a thin coat of lime–based slurry render and rounded brick reveals and corners. A new dormer to the attic room is clad in diagonally laid small slates reclaimed from the demolished return roof.

15/02/2016 House, Magherafelt
Early design stages for an new rural home near Magherafelt.

03/12/2015 Cottage Extension, Dublin
Early design stages for an extension to a historic terraced cottage in South Dublin. Examples of distinctive architectural elements photographed during our initial visit.

18/11/2015 Extension and restoration of farmhouse in Cork
Planning application submitted for a farmhouse extension and refurbishment in County Cork

05/10/2015 Farmhouse, County Armagh
Planning application submitted for a new dwelling in County Armagh

20/08/2015 Extension and restoration of farmhouse in Cork
Site visit north County Cork. Ad hoc roughly cast in–situ concrete augments existing elements of this farmstead in County Cork, helping to adapt it to changing capacity and farming practices over the decades. We have recently been appointed to adapt the main farmhouse and cluster of outbuildings to house a growing family.

27/07/2015 Electrician’s Office, Coalisland
Planning permission granted for industrial offices in Coalisland, County Tyrone.

20/07/2015 Townhouses, North Belfast– Site Visit
Reconfigured ‘rear return’ creates 1st floor garden (in streetscape with only rear yards) overlooking living space.

15/07/2015 Extension and restoration of farmhouse in Cork
Early sketchbook thoughts

04/06/2015 House in Greece
Foundations completed (in collaboration with Theo Dales)

12/05/2015 Townhouses, North Belfast
Site visit, photograph showing dining space with void to terrace window above

28/04/2015 Housing South Belfast
Planning submitted for 87 dwellings with associated streetscapes and public spaces on the site of a former flax spinning mill.

05/02/2015 Electrician’s Office, Coalisland
Structural and spatial study model

29/01/2015 Farmhouse, County Armagh
Initial site work begins on surrounding land.