Welcome to Mae

Mæ Founder Director Alex Ely has been appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport as Chair of the Museum of the Home.

The Museum of the Home reveals stories of home life, past, present and future. Its vision is to inspire everyone to explore the meaning of home through our exhibitions, displays, programming and online content. No other museum in the country specialises in this particular aspect of our national heritage.

Since re-opening in 2021, following an £18.8m refurbishment, Museum of the Home is realising its vision to encourage and challenge different ways of thinking about domestic life today with stories that reveal and rethink the ways we live, to help us live better together.

The Museum's main funder is the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The Museum of the Home is a specialist museum, located in Hoxton, London. It has outstanding collections, and engaging displays covering 400 years of the history of the UK home, and is set in beautiful buildings and gardens. It enjoys a reputation for high-quality learning and engagement programmes and is known as one of London’s most friendly and welcoming museums.

Director Alex Ely will be giving a talk about the links between modernism and tradition in the work of Mæ for Docomomo UK on 8th April 2025 19.00-21.00 at the Alan Baxter Associates Gallery, 75 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EL.

At the fascinating intersection of modernist innovation and historical continuity, Mæ's architectural practice weaves a compelling narrative of urban evolution. Drawing inspiration from Frederick Gibberd's revolutionary new town paradigms, the ground breaking spatial compositions in postwar social housing, the humanist approaches of Alvar Aalto and the social consciousness of Bruno Taut, this discourse explores the delicate balance between progress and heritage. At its heart, this exploration reveals how Mæ is forging a new path in sustainable and socially responsible design. Their work demonstrates how architecture can simultaneously honour its modernist inheritance while addressing our most pressing contemporary concerns: environmental sustainability, social equity, and cultural enrichment.

For tickets follow the link below:

Mæ Associate Payal Ceurvels has been invited to join the judging panel for this year's 'Inside Housing Development Awards'.

The Inside Housing Development Awards celebrate the UK’s most outstanding residential developments over the past year, highlighting the innovation and resilience driving the sector forward. With governments across the UK focused on increasing delivery, the Inside Housing Development Awards flag the schemes and teams crucial to success: delivering quality, sustainable housing and transforming communities.

Director Alex Ely will be speaking at the 'Sustainable Development X Urban Conservation' conference on Thursday 27th March. The event will explore innovative and practical approaches which demonstrate how urban conservation and sustainable development can work in harmony to improve places for people and planet.

Sustainable development and the need for growth need practical reconciliation. Conservation and responsible management must be balanced against affordability, and the ongoing requirements of growth and renewal. Alex will explore how doughnut economy principles can align with urban development.

Mæ Associate Nadine Wagner will be participating in the KADSA lecture series. The Kent Architecture and Design Student Association is the official student organisation from the Kent School of Architecture. Throughout the year KADSA organise speakers from diverse backgrounds and experiences to complement the school's weekly lecture series: Aiming to inspire all students by showcasing the work and success of carefully selected speakers.

Nadine will speak about her work delivering some of our award winning, low carbon, and environmentally driven projects and creating resilient architecture.

Founder Director Alex Ely has been interviewed for Studio International magazine.

Studio was first published in April 1893 under the title The Studio: An Illustrated Magazine of Fine and Applied Art. It rapidly established itself as one of the most successful fine art periodicals in the English-speaking world.

Among others, it featured the work of the illustrator Aubrey Beardsley and the architects Charles Rennie Mackintosh and CFA Voysey.

In the interview with Veronica Simpson, Alex explores the secret to making buildings that other architects admire and envy, but which are dedicated to the greater good.