We’re celebrating 25 years of creativity and collaboration at our Glasgow studio! As part of the festivities, we’ve caught up with David Carr for a quickfire Q&A session:

Name:
David Michael Carr.

When did you join the Glasgow studio?
November 2021.

What is your role within our Creative Collective?
I am a Part II Architectural Assistant in the process of getting my Part III qualification.

What are you working on at the moment?
A number of office fit-outs for the NHS, a large scale speculative healthcare project and a number of urban design projects around Scotland.

What inspires you most in your work?
Knowing that in some small way, my work with A-S:L is helping steward the industry in this country, toward an eventual carbon neutral future (hopefully).

What’s your favourite project you’ve worked on at A-S:L?
Westhaugh Traveller’s Site Transformation. This project:
– Gave me the opportunity to implement Passivhaus principles in the design and material selection.
– Allowed me to work on a project with a user base with very specific cultural needs.
– Was an informative process that helped me progress my technical knowledge and develop multiple aspects of my skillset.

Which Glasgow studio project, from the last 25 years, would you most like to visit and why?
Roseisle Distillery, because I need a drink. But in all seriousness, it was the ambition of this project to achieve BREEAM Excellent Standard for a substantial industrial building which drew me to the project. It’s also intriguing to see the number of techniques employed to conserve energy and optimise resources, such as through the use of a water-reclamation plant, heat recovery systems and using leftover grain as biomass fuel.

What’s the most unusual thing you have on your desk?
An alphabet key so I can decipher certain members of staff’s handwriting.

What’s your favourite memory so far of working at A-S:L?
Participating in a public engagement event along the Saltcoats coast in North Ayrshire, on a clear day with the isle of Arran directly in front of me.

Where’s your favourite place to go for lunch near the Glasgow studio?
Paesano! or Metro if I can’t be bothered to walk that far.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from a colleague?
“If you’re writing to someone and you know their name then sign off ‘yours sincerely’, if you don’t then sign off ‘yours faithfully’” – Graham Ross