You may notice a change this month — not just in the expansion of Spring, but in what we’re sharing going forward. With the intent to expand the ways in which People, Place, and Planet can all thrive, we’re making a shift toward adding other voices from our Conscious community to yours, and bringing wider attention to the pillars of our Conscious design work.

I look forward to hearing how this renewed focus resonates with you. 

Drew Pedrick, AIA, Founder and CVO, MCTIGUE

People-Conscious at LA Climate Week

LA Climate Week is actually a year-round movement centered around driving systemic change and shaping culture by uniting voices. During the week of April 8 - 15, people, organizations, and industries across LA who believe in a thriving, equitable climate future gathered for a slew of speakers and events, including SidePorch’s day of discussion in Santa Monica.

This year, I was asked to lead a discussion on “Decision-Making & Community Voice,” with a tongue-twisting focus on “cross-sector coordination among disparate organizations.” In other words, successfully leading fractionalized teams: something MCTIGUE has a lot of experience with. 

My takeaway from the discussion was that all of this remains complicated. Forethought, planning, and awareness of everyone’s differing needs and goals is paramount. But if you stay with the hard work, look for and build on the commonality instead of differences, everyone will benefit.

Place-Conscious for the Silver Tsunami

Our aging community is currently re-examining how they want to live healthily and happily in their remaining years. For many that means selling their home and downsizing, or, possibly, turning to communal living. “The resident emerging in 2026 does not view senior living as a last resort,” Provider magazine reports. “Instead, it is a carefully chosen lifestyle emphasizing independence, wellness, connectivity, and meaningful engagement.” This is what we’ve been seeing, too.

It’s why we’re excited to have just completed the concept phase for an assisted living project in Fairfiled County, CT.  The design is hospitality-oriented with a level of quality consistent with the regional population, including: 

• Facilities set back from the road and set into the existing natural forested environment
• Designed with local/regional materials, responding to both the natural and the community contexts
• Site placement to maximize views, light, and air, while minimizing land development costs
• Centralized utilities to increase operational and utility efficiencies
• Solar power
• Potential for grey water use for irrigation
• Potential for geothermal for heating/cooling
• Floor plans designed for aging, accessibility and memory care
• Onsite amenities include health and wellness (pool, spa, gym, training, etc.)
• Staffing for accessible care on-floor and on-property
• Outdoor amenities include community terraces, dining and recreational areas, a full-site walking trail
• Ample parking, including drop-off / pick-up of personal vehicles, van-pools and more

Planet-Conscious in Miami

Blue carbon ecosystems — those found beneath the waterline on every coast — may be one of our most “underappreciated carbon allies,” which is one of the many reasons our practice specializes in Blue Architecture. At this edge of land and sea, where dry ground is more often wet, streets can flood, and water even becomes the main transportation route, Blue Architecture accommodates rising waters, more frequent flooding and larger storm surges. 

A recent example of similar work has appeared in Miami at Bayshore Park, where at 19.4-acre golf course was repurposed into community greenspace including tennis courts, a playground, butterfly garden, water play area, walking paths, and preservation of a 100 year-old banyan tree. Everything in the park is designed to either absorb water or prevent runoff from polluting surrounding water systems — using as many locally sourced materials as possible. 

Seeing & Sharing Consciously: Meaningful Travel Encounters

Katrine Goldstein’s article for Norm Architects, "Making Room for Meaningful Encounters,” already had us thinking, but especially so after the travel troubles that plagued our airports in March. Even when travel doesn't go as smoothly as we've become accustomed to it being, her question lingers: “If the practical needs of travel are increasingly handled by technology, what becomes the purpose of the physical encounter? What do we design for when guests no longer need assistance, only experience?”

That's exactly the kind of thinking we apply to every place on which we collaborate, from individual homes to care facilities to cruise terminals. Because we believe architecture is about experience, encounter, interaction  —  today and decades from today. 

The Practice of Conscious Architecture: Productive Passions Podcast

Last month I sat down with Christy Tagye, host of the Productive Passions podcast, to share some lessons from decades of leadership in the field. The conversation had a special emphasis on relationships, and how they matter more to us at MCTIGUE than transactions. We also covered how structure actually protects creativity, and where transparency strengthens partnerships. 

For practical insight into how MCTIGUE builds meaningfully and sustainably, take a listen.

The Impact of Conscious Architecture 

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