People · Podcast guest
Sophie McCarthy
Why should we (still) make Physical Models? Ft. Sophie and Max from Atomik Architecture
Sophie McCarthy is Design Director at Atomik Architecture, an East London studio. Modelmaking and sketching are central to her design process.
- Current role
- Director
- Practice
- Atomik Architecture
- Location
- London, UK
Conversation
The thinking behind the work.
Episode 0206 · Architecture Social
Why should we (still) make Physical Models? Ft. Sophie and Max from Atomik Architecture
It's now 2024 and for the last year the Architecture profession has been propelled into a new dawn of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual World Building and more realistic than ever computer graphic imagery.
Explore episode moments
Use the timestamps below to find each moment in the full episode.
- 05:00 · Atomik Architecture projects and studio context · Audio only
- 10:00 · Details, interfaces and what models reveal · Audio only
- 15:00 · Materials, weight and making things real · Audio only
- 20:00 · Shadow gaps, setting out and client understanding · Audio only
- 25:00 · Real photography, physical context and virtual limits · Audio only
- 30:00 · 3D printing, optioneering and model-making methods · Audio only
Selected work
Selected work.
Holland Park, London, United Kingdom
Thorpe Lodge
A three-phase restoration and extension that returns a Grade II-listed Holland Park villa to school and community use.
Explore the project ↗Almaty, Kazakhstan · 2015
Artpoint Pavilion
A steel-framed, painted-plywood festival pavilion created as an adaptable cultural focus in central Almaty.
Explore the project ↗Almaty, Kazakhstan
The American Space
A multi-purpose Almaty hub combining robotics, digital fabrication and conference facilities for creative exchange.
Explore the project ↗Other public work
30 Golden Square ↗
A 31,000 sq m Soho office renovation coordinated by Atomik through the novated design team and contractor supply chain.
25 Berkeley Square ↗
A Mayfair office and retail scheme coordinated through contractor proposals, technical design and supply-chain packages.
About
The story so far.
The person behind the work.
Sophie McCarthy is Design Director at Atomik Architecture, the East London practice she joined in 2020. She shapes and reviews the studio's architectural and interior output across all project stages, keeping schemes grounded in context, brief and budget while holding a clear line on design quality (BArch Hons, DipArch, MArch, RIBA).
A graduate of the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Sophie began her career on cultural and heritage projects in Scotland before moving to London in 2007. She has worked on international schemes with Aedas and Woods Bagot and co-founded the practice Kirkwood McCarthy in 2013, giving her experience across both large and small studios and as a practice founder. Sketching and modelmaking remain central to her process as tools for exploring materiality, light and space.
Sophie joined the Architecture Social Podcast alongside colleague Max Fraser to discuss why physical models still earn their place in architectural practice in the age of AI, VR and photorealistic rendering.
Watch or listen to the full conversation in the Architecture Social CPD: Why Architects Still Make Physical Models, ft. Atomik Architecture.
The practice
Atomik Architecture
London architecture studio with a passion for design and delivery.
Architecture practice · Greater London
Expertise
What I bring.
- Current role
- Director
- Practice
- Atomik Architecture
- Location
- London, UK
- On the podcast
- 1 episode · 2024
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