Profile piece: Belfast business leader recalls his 'burning ambition to create a world-class architectural practice in his hometown'
Celebrating 30 successful years of Collins Rolston Architects, owner Mark Collins believes ‘experience is the greatest teacher you will ever find’
Belfast man Mark Collins joined Rolston Architects as a fledgling architect with a burning ambition, to help create a world-class architectural practice in his hometown.
He recalls: “I learned so much upon joining Rolston Architects, under the watchful gaze of some of the island’s most talented architects in those early days.”
The ambitious and talented Collins cut his professional teeth within the burgeoning social housing market in Northern Ireland, but soon developed a keen interest in sustainability and how that could be successfully incorporated into projects that demonstrated exemplary design and practicality.
He explained: “I was fortunate to see the firm grow rapidly into a host of new sectors and one of my proudest moments came when my contribution was rewarded 10 years later with a seat at the top table as a board director and equity holder.”
Almost 20 years to the day when he sat down at his drawing board for the first time to begin his professional journey, Mark Collins successfully completed the acquisition of the practice from his mentor and long-time friend, Harry Rolston.
The firm, rebranded to Collins Rolston, acquired its new Belfast headquarters in the chic, James Street South last year before embarking on what proved to be an award-winning fit-out.
Today Collins Rolston has a wide and varied portfolio of work across the public and private sectors including many award-winning schemes across the island of Ireland.
While the solid residential base upon which the firm’s success was built remains, the team now has market-leading credentials across every major sector, including conservation, education, health, tech, and retail.
With a growing reputation as a teaching practice, and a strong focus on practice development, Collins’ vision is to build a lasting legacy for both his firm and its team: “One of the major challenges we face – like every other business nowadays – is identifying and recruiting top talent.
"In order to address that we have invested heavily in professional development within the firm, including the creation of our very own Training Academy. Our goal is to enable our team to carve out their own outstanding reputations as world-class design professionals.
“We want to be proud of their role in Collins Rolston and give them opportunities to work on some of the most exciting, leading-edge, and professionally fulfilling projects we can find.
"I believe our ambition can only be limited by our imagination. The next step in our journey together is building on our exceptional current team by bringing in more outstanding people who buy into our philosophy and are motivated by the thought of being able to make their own mark in an ambitious, multi-location architectural practice with a desire to be truly ground-breaking and world-class.”
Recently the practice, which has offices in Belfast and Dublin, took another important step in its development by securing various places in the Pagabo Professional Services Framework. The major framework, which is worth up to £780m, covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. With a four-year term, Collins Rolston’s inclusion within the Pagabo Framework will help increase its reach across Britain and Northern Ireland.
“To win a place on the Architecture, Project Management, Employers Agent, Landscape Architecture, H&S Co-ordination is a massive achievement for our growing practice and bears testament to the quality work our talented team is capable of producing.”
For the managing director, every day is a learning day: “I still love the sense of achievement you feel when you see a concept you have created in collaboration with a client and the team comes to life.
"We are proud to be a strongly design-led practice and some of the work we have been doing recently, for example, in terms of urban regeneration has been immensely satisfying. I keep myself motivated by observing what the world’s best architectural firms do and, where there is a fit, implementing any lessons learned within Collins Rolston.
“Experience is the greatest teacher you will ever find. I’m a huge advocate of learning from our experiences and realising some elements are within your control and some aren’t. Concentrate on those areas you can influence and take lots of advice!”