People · Podcast guest
Sophie McCarthy
Director · Atomik Architecture
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
- On the podcast
- 1 episode · 2024
The story so far
The path behind Sophie's 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.
Episode 0206 · Architecture Social · 53:01
Why should we (still) make Physical Models? Ft. Sophie and Max from Atomik Architecture
With AI, virtual environments and increasingly realistic visualisation changing architecture, where does that leave the physical model?
Inside the conversation
6 moments to start with- 01
00:00 · Why physical models still matter
- 02
05:00 · Atomik Architecture projects and studio context
- 03
10:00 · Details, interfaces and what models reveal
- 04
15:00 · Materials, weight and making things real
- 05
20:00 · Shadow gaps, setting out and client understanding
- 06
25:00 · Real photography, physical context and virtual limits
Profile in brief
The work and context behind Sophie's conversation.
- Current role
- Director
- Practice
- Atomik Architecture
- Location
- London, UK
Continue exploring
Meet the practice behind the work.
London architecture studio with a passion for design and delivery.
- Greater London
- Residential
- Commercial
- Retrofit
Podcast · moments that play
Start where the idea starts.
- 05:00Sophie McCarthy · Audio onlyListen from 05:00 in the full episode.
Atomik Architecture projects and studio context
- 10:00Sophie McCarthy · Audio onlyListen from 10:00 in the full episode.
Details, interfaces and what models reveal
- 15:00Sophie McCarthy · Audio onlyListen from 15:00 in the full episode.
Materials, weight and making things real
- 20:00Sophie McCarthy · Audio onlyListen from 20:00 in the full episode.
Shadow gaps, setting out and client understanding
- 25:00Sophie McCarthy · Audio onlyListen from 25:00 in the full episode.
Real photography, physical context and virtual limits
- 30:00Sophie McCarthy · Audio onlyListen from 30:00 in the full episode.
3D printing, optioneering and model-making methods
Selected work from Atomik Architecture
Three projects, one connected practice.
A closer look at the practice’s work
Thorpe Lodge
A three-phase restoration and extension that returns a Grade II-listed Holland Park villa to school and community use.
View project →Artpoint Pavilion
A steel-framed, painted-plywood festival pavilion created as an adaptable cultural focus in central Almaty.
View project →The American Space
A multi-purpose Almaty hub combining robotics, digital fabrication and conference facilities for creative exchange.
View project →