Irish LA-based architect Paul McClean spilled the beans on the challenges of designing spectacular homes for the rich and famous all over the world …
Design Week Dublin, held in May at Anantara The Marker, celebrates Dublin’s amazing design community, and the Irish designers who have had a global impact. During DWD, renowned LA-based Irish architect Paul McClean flew to Dublin for a special Design Talk with interviewer, architect Amanda Bone. Fans, peers, members of the design community and students gathered to hear a fascinating account of how this Dublin architect became LA’s most sought-after residential designer. As Paul spoke, images of stunning projects flashed up on screen, bringing to life the sheer scale and immense scope of his work. Rigorous, elegant and impeccably detailed, his houses are the embodiment of liveable modernism.
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A former student of architecture at DIT, Paul grew up in Coolock in Dublin. He liked drawing but “had no access to architecture.” After graduating, Paul worked for a number of practices in Ireland, including Grafton Architects, before moving to LA and in 2000 establishing his practice McClean Design, which has grown into one of the leading contemporary luxury residential design practices in the US.
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Photograpy; Roger Davies.
Paul has designed homes for many of LA’s most famous residents, many of whom are extremely wealthy. The houses are expansive, to put it mildly: “The average would be 10-15,000 sq feet, but many are much bigger.” A current project is a gigantic 100,000 sq feet. No matter the size, his design ethos is the same. The work reflects his signature style, connecting to the beauty of the surrounding natural environment by erasing the separation of indoor and outdoor spaces, making use of glazing systems to maximise views and creating light-filled contemporary spaces that flow.
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Paul described the turning point for the practice in 2012, when “five or six of our projects sold for ridiculous money, which meant we were on the map.” Positive word of mouth also galvanised a potential wealthy client base who appreciated Paul’s vision and expertise in dealing with the challenges of LA’s terrain, sensitive climate and strict building and planning controls, and for his ability to create value, but for his genuine curiosity and desire to make beautiful houses for his clients. “It’s an intimate process,” he said. “It’s like designing the perfect underpants for someone. We need to know in detail how people live, how they spend their time at home, what makes them happy at home. We are good at coaxing information out of people to achieve that clarity that’s so important in getting things right.”
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Design Week Dublin’s Wine & Design Dinner.
One also suspects that Paul makes this process mutually rewarding. He is great company, refreshingly candid, unpretentious and humorous, traits that might be advantageous in the face of outlandish LA-style requirements from clients. He has delivered suspended swimming pools, “intimate” banqueting halls, basement games rooms, gyms, cinemas and garages for multiple sports cars.
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McClean Design is committed to environmentally sustainable design practices in the sensitive landscape of Southern California, climate change, fires and hurricanes notwithstanding. “I am always conscious that buildings should be made to last. It is terrible to see them destroyed because of poor construction, but it’s not acceptable for them to be torn down and replaced on a whim – it’s so wasteful. It’s important to build for longevity, to be able to return to a project after 20 years and make changes to the existing building, rather than demolish and replace.”
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While his clients are often rich and the homes they want mostly spectacular and glamourous, Paul’s passion for what he does is rooted in the integrity of the design and construction process. “I am a big fan of sketching. My happy place is on site, problem solving.” He approaches each project by “accentuating what’s good about the site” and working towards achieving visual and acoustic serenity using “spatial editing”, with reflection pools to bounce light about, bridges to transition from one space to another (“makes people pay attention”), landscaping and water features to shield noise and create privacy.
Paul’s work features in a recent book Contemporary Living by McClean Design (Rizzoli), which explores 16 ultra-modern residences completed over the past five years. From a remodelled San Francisco classical mansion to waterfront houses and serene oases with vistas extending from the mountains to the ocean, it’s both insight into another world and inspiration for us all.
For details of Design Week Dublin, in partnership with Range Rover, see www.designweekdublin.com.
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Click into the gallery to see some of the guests in attendance.
Photographer: Conor Healy, Picture It Pix; @pictureitpix
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