Willie Miller
Urban Designer
Profile
Willie Miller is an urban designer educated at Glasgow School of Art and the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture in Aberdeen. Based in Glasgow’s West End, Willie runs M-UD, a creative interdisciplinary consultancy specialising in the design and regeneration of urban and rural areas.
Established in 1996 as Willie Miller Urban Design and Planning, the practice has grown to accommodate specialisms in planning, regeneration, landscape and community consultation, as well as the core disciplines of urban design and masterplanning.
M-UD’s specialisms are most frequently brought into play at
the level of the neighbourhood, small town or urban quarter, including
town and district centres. The practice is highly collaborative
and regularly augments its own capability with complementary skills
from other practices.
Most UK settlements have been evolving for centuries. To regenerate
them in a holistic way, we try to understand their structuring elements
- streets, blocks, plots and spaces - and how these work together.
We try to connect these physical building blocks with an appreciation
of the structuring economic and social context - including the reality
of local property markets. In addition we aim to integrate local
services, health and education with transport and open space infrastructure.
M-UD believe that thinking at the neighbourhood and small town level
is the most appropriate way to secure realistic and deliverable
solutions to which communities can relate.
The true meaning of special places comes from human experience,
interpretation and understanding. It is obvious to us that community
sensibilities should be reflected in the planning, design and management
of old and new places. We don't ask that communities design. Rather,
through careful facilitation, they provide their knowledge and inform
our effort. We maintain a dialogue of ideas and options with a view
to reaching a desirable and deliverable outcome. The plan-making
process can take many months, but the place-making can take years.
Willie works regularly with Janet Benton.
