Hugh Magee

About Hugh Magee

I’m an Asheville-based architectural designer and development strategist focused on the front end of development—where design, planning, community priorities, and feasibility intersect. My background combines architecture, research, and entrepreneurship (MIT MArch | US-UK Fulbright Scholar | TATA Center for Technology & Design; Design Fellow | MITdesignX). I’m most motivated by projects that pursue design excellence, environmental performance, and the creation of places that genuinely strengthen community life. My work spans higher education, civic and cultural projects, and international research initiatives, including award-winning work with the MIT Urban Risk Lab. Across these contexts, I’ve developed strengths in early-stage project definition: identifying opportunities on underutilized land, shaping concept-level site strategies, and aligning design ambition with practical constraints such as feasibility, infrastructure, and development logic. I’m particularly interested in design-forward, sustainable, small-to-mid-scale development in Western North Carolina. My focus is on helping landowners and partners understand what a site could be—architecturally, economically, and environmentally—and clarifying the pathway from initial idea to a viable project. I approach projects through a lens of innovation, sustainable practice, placemaking, and community-oriented architecture, with a belief that high-quality design can catalyze long-term economic and social value. I’m open to conversations with landowners, community leaders, and aligned partners who are exploring early development ideas, site potential, and design-driven approaches to shaping the built environment in WNC.

Experience

1. Project Designer

   McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture

   Oct 2024 — Present · Asheville, NC, US

Education

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Master's Degree, Architecture

  2014 — 2018

• Belfast School of Architecture

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Architecture

• Ecole nationale supérieure d'architecture de Saint-Etienne ENSASE

  Third year of French Licence in Architecture, Architecture