News archive

NTU alumni add The Alchemist Nottingham to their portfolio

20 April 2018

Macaulay Sinclair, a Nottingham-based interior architecture and design studio, was founded by NTU alumni, John Macaulay and Mike Sinclair (BA Hons Interior Architecture and Design, 1995). The firm recently designed the newly opened bar and restaurant in Nottingham, The Alchemist. 

After graduating in 1995, both John and Mike worked in the hospitality sector, to gain a further understanding of how bars and restaurants work. Following on from that, they set up a small local architectural practice designing bars and restaurants, giving them their first taste of commercial design in Nottingham.

The duo founded Macaulay Sinclair in 2003, with a clear vision: creating inspiring places where people want to eat, drink and socialise. Since then they have worked on interior design projects with clients such as Hawksmoor, Dirty Bones, D&D London, Dishoom, Wright Brothers and Caravan.

Mike commented that: “We’re very lucky to work with prestigious clients in the hospitality sector. Each client has different needs which is always a great challenge for us.”

The duo have kept close ties with NTU and our BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design course, having employed four of our graduates into their growing team of designers. 

John said: “It seems a bit daft not to employ graduates from the course! The graduates we have employed from NTU have been well grounded and have the skills to develop into really good commercial interior designers.”

Laura Bowman graduated last summer from the BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design course and is now an interior designer at Macaulay Sinclair, and said: “Working at Macaulay Sinclair has allowed me to develop my skills and at the same time I have been given more responsibility, which has made me feel like I’m part of the team.”

Find out more about the design projects Macaulay Sinclair has worked on here