Before joining PLG in September 2025, most of my experience was within large-scale private residential architecture. I worked on countryside homes, listed buildings, estate properties and high-end residential alterations.
The projects were varied, but they all followed a fairly traditional architectural route. You worked closely with the client, developed the design and guided them through the process from start to finish.
In previous residential projects, the focus was often on aesthetics, planning and how a client wanted a space to feel. Here, every design decision is much more closely connected to how someone physically moves through and uses that environment day to day. That was something I found genuinely appealing before making the move.
At the same time, accessible architecture felt like a completely new challenge. While I had loosely worked around adaptations before, I had never worked at this level of detail or complexity.
A Completely Different Pace
The transition into accessible architecture was a big adjustment at first.
One of the biggest differences was the pace of projects. In residential architecture, projects can often move steadily over long periods of time. At PLG, there is often a greater sense of urgency because the projects are directly linked to how clients live day to day.
The other major difference is the number of people involved.
You are no longer simply working with one client or family. You are working alongside occupational therapists, case managers, deputies, care teams and specialist suppliers, all contributing towards the same outcome.
Initially, that felt very different.
Previously, I would often lead conversations around layout, design direction and how spaces should function. In accessible architecture, the process becomes far more collaborative. Clinical teams and specialists help inform the requirements from the beginning, allowing the architectural design to respond more effectively to the client’s needs.
What I realised quite quickly is that accessible architecture is not about simply adding equipment into a space. It is about designing the space itself to work better from the outset.
That completely changes how you think about design.
Rethinking “Good Design”
Since joining PLG, my understanding of good design has changed significantly.
Accessible design is not about making a property feel clinical or obviously adapted. In many ways, the strongest projects are the ones where accessibility is fully integrated into the design so naturally that the property simply feels comfortable and functional to live in.
A lot of that comes down to detail.
You have to think differently about circulation space, layouts and how people move through a property. Things I would previously have approached almost automatically now need to be reconsidered from first principles.
Wet rooms are a good example. So are kitchens and fitted furniture layouts. Dimensions and spacing that once felt generous in standard residential design may no longer work once mobility aids, carers or specialist equipment are involved.
Even relatively small level changes externally can become major considerations. A couple of steps at the front of a property may not sound significant initially, but the ramp required to overcome that change in level can quickly become substantial. That changes how you assess access, external space and suitability from the very beginning.
It has genuinely changed the way I look at properties altogether.
Designing Around Real Lives
One of the biggest things I have learned is how important the initial client brief really is.
Understanding how the client lives, how the family interacts with the space and what day-to-day routines look like becomes essential to creating the right solution.
The projects we work on are not only about the individual client. They are also about creating environments that work more effectively for the wider family and support network around them.
That is something that becomes very clear when you start working in this sector.
For me, one of the moments that reinforced that most clearly was attending my first handover.
It was not a large project, but seeing how much more comfortably the space functioned for the client and family made the long-term impact of the work much more tangible to me.
Learning Every Day
One thing that has stood out since joining PLG is how much there is to learn within this sector.
Accessible architecture is incredibly detailed, and every client’s needs are different. No project follows exactly the same route, which means you are constantly developing your understanding through each new case and each new interaction with wider teams.
Working alongside property finders, occupational therapists and the wider PLG team has also given me a much better understanding of the amount of work involved before a project even reaches the design stage.
There is a huge amount of assessment, coordination and legwork involved in identifying a potentially suitable property before architectural work even begins.
That wider collaboration is something I have really enjoyed being part of.
Since joining PLG, my role has also developed significantly. Having now found my feet within the sector, I have been able to draw more on previous experience while continuing to build my understanding of accessible design through live projects and site experience. More recently, that has led to stepping into a Senior Team Leader role alongside my Project Architect position, supporting two architectural teams across a wider variety of projects.
The transition has been a bit of a rollercoaster at times, but one thing I have enjoyed is becoming more involved in collaboration across the wider team and seeing projects develop from different perspectives. It has also been rewarding to feel that the experience I have built so far is already adding value and helping support others within the department.
Looking back to when I first joined the sector, I definitely would not have expected things to progress this quickly.
Looking Ahead
The move into accessible architecture has been one of the biggest changes in my career so far, but it has also been one of the most rewarding.
It has completely changed how I think about design, how people interact with spaces and what good architecture really means in practice.
Every project continues to develop the way I think about spatial planning, client interaction and how accessible environments function in practice once people begin living in them
Alongside that, I am looking forward to continuing to develop processes that help projects run more efficiently, support collaboration across teams and ultimately improve how people experience projects internally as well as externally.
But ultimately, that is what makes this area of architecture so interesting. No two projects are the same, which means the learning never really stops.
