McCollum Architects is a Union Pier-based, full-service architecture firm that has designed everything from urban to country homes, condominiums to second home communities, low income to upscale housing, single family to multi-family homes, tiny boutique restaurants to large eateries.
The firm is involved with renovating and creating new housing, amphitheaters, band shells, pavilions, daycare centers, senior housing, and special community development projects designed to create flexible environments; providing dignified alternatives to those often neglected members of society.
McCollum Architects also makes a point of leaving a footprint – in a good way – to his client’s projects and neighborhoods. “Architects have a responsibility to design ‘in scale’ with the surrounding areas,” says Bill McCollum, owner of McCollum Architects. For example, McCollum designed the award winning New Buffalo Township Pavilion to blend in with its setting. “A new design should look like it has always been a part of its neighborhood.” “I am thrilled that the Pavilion structure has been used so actively as an entertainment and meeting place.”
Two recent, very exciting Southwest Michigan projects include the The Stray Dog and Camp Buffalo Cottages, each demonstrating the unique twists in McCollum’s architecture.
Throughout the projects, McCollum is fully dedicated to sustainable energy, environmentally friendly buildings, universal design, and low maintenance costs. Although he has done plenty of elaborate “green” mechanical systems, he mainly focuses on a well-sealed envelope with sensitive placement of high performance windows as well as careful positioning of the home to reduce the solar gain in the summer and provide supplemental heat in the winter. “Simple and practical green solutions can give you more bang for the buck,” McCollum says.
McCollum is licensed in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan and, in addition to designing whole structures also provides zoning variances, feasibility studies, additions, and new porches. In fact, Bill McCollum is also a dealer for Sunspace porch enclosures – the porch windows that slide up and down to keep the weather out.
There is always an element of surprise in McCollum’s designs—unexpected old parts given a new life, hidden vistas, bridges to entryways, and customized spaces for personal collections. A sense of arrival is key to any project. McCollum reflects, “With respect for the past and a vision of the future, this office designs and builds community-based projects and homes that enrich the lives of our clients.”
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