Senior Chartered Architectural Technologist

Mark is a Senior Chartered Architectural Technologist and Certified Passive House Designer at Cowan Architects,  with 30 years’ experience in sustainable construction, as both builder and designer.

After drifting into woodworking to fund a (failed) career in music, he became a site carpenter and contractor. His interest in sustainable architecture came through attending a course at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales, which inspired him to design and build a pioneering timber ‘eco-house’ in the West of Ireland, of which the Times newspaper commented, “…ahead of [its] time”. On completion of the house, the lessons learned became the inspiration for studying Architectural Technology as a mature student and retuning to the UK.

As an Architectural Technologist, he has worked with leading Passivhaus architects, applying PH fabric-first principles to projects in timber, steel, concrete-frame and wide-cavity masonry.

Projects as a Passivhaus Designer include Net-zero Passivhaus housing including developments of 50 and 86 units, an 11-storey tower block retrofitted to Passivhaus EnerPHIT standard, and the first Passivhaus EnerPHIT school in the UK.

Inspired by biological processes performing engineering functions, he pioneered the use of reedbed wastewater treatment systems in Ireland, and has trained with leading exponents of green roofs and ecosystem services. His designs have been exhibited at the Science Museum and Burning Man Festival, and he has won awards from CIAT and CIOB.