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CV

Ross Thomas McCarthy, BArch, CPHC

Architecture + Education
 

Email: rosstmccarthy@gmail.com

 

Education

 

St. Conleths Secondary School, Dublin (2002 - 2008)

 

Technological University Dublin, Architecture BArch (2008 - 2015)

 

Accredited Erasmus: Behnisch Architekten - Stuttgart, Germany (2011 - 2012)

 

Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC) - Passive House Institute PHIUS. Seattle, USA (2017)

 

 

Experience
Architecture Education

Hedgegrow Learning - San Francisco — Director (2023 - Present)

Founded Hedgerow Learning, an organization that creates student-led design-build education programs that focus on humanitarian action.

Key Projects include:

Humane Architecture in the Arizona Borderlands (2024): Collaborated with Humane Borders and students from the University of San Francisco's community outreach studio to design and build water stations in the Sonoran Desert, providing essential resources for migrants. Students will travel to the desert to implement their designs, working alongside local volunteers and conducting in-depth site research to understand how the landscape can inform future design adaptations. The project emphasizes equity, borderland policies, climate impact, and Indigenous water management practices, creating a just and sustainable intervention.

 

Greenville Information Basket – Youth Design-Build Program (2024)

Directed a summer program where local youth, Maidu tribal members, and architecture students designed and constructed a community information center, now known as the Information Basket, to support Greenville’s revitalization post-Dixie fire. Built in collaboration with local volunteers, this impactful project fostered a deep sense of community ownership and cultural pride. Through a Tribal Knowledge Exchange, students integrated Maidu culture into the structure, establishing a powerful model for culturally anchored rebuilding and creating a lasting, meaningful space for the community.

 

LMNOP Design - Greenville (Re)Build Internship - Greenville, USA — Project Architect (2023)

Co-directed the Greenville Re-Build summer internship program for architecture interns in collaboration with LMNOP, a fully integrated design-build firm. Led the development of its core philosophy centered on community-driven design, addressing social, economic, and environmental well-being. The program aimed to create a holistic and regenerative rebuild strategy for the town of Greenville, destroyed by the 2019 Dixie fire, promoting sustainable growth and resilience. Through close collaborating with local community including Native Mountain Maidu community members.

 

University of San Francisco - San Francisco – Architecture Faculty (2023-Present)

Architecture Studio I; introducing students to essential drawing conventions such as free-hand sketching, manual drafting, and digital techniques, while guiding them in representing abstract design ideas using architectural graphic standards.

CAD 101; covering Rhino, Adobe Suite programs, rendering software, 3D modeling, and laser-cutting software, helping students build foundational digital fabrication skills. Intro to Architecture and Community Design; syllabus that explores the meaning of architecture and place over time, including site visits to architecture firms and the local building department. This course culminates in a design-build community project where students identify a local cultural element and design an architectural intervention to foster it.

 

Academy of Art University - San Francisco – Architecture Faculty (2023 - Present)

Architecture Studio 6, an advanced building technology studio that meets NAAB accreditation standards, where students design a visitor center responsive to its natural habitat and historical context. The course emphasizes in-depth knowledge of building technology, passive design strategies, and sustainable energy use, while addressing climate, orientation, topography, and materiality. Architecture Studio 1, a foundational studio introducing first-year students to digital drawing techniques, core architectural design principles, and seminal architectural texts. Architecture History Complete (online), a course covering architectural history from antiquity to the present, requiring students to produce two reflective writings weekly based on syllabus readings.

 

College of Marin - Kentfield – Architecture History Lecturer (2022 - Present)

Taught a group of up to 30 students Architectural History tracing the development of architecture and cities throughout the world from the ancient times until present day. Emphasizing the evolution of architectural ideas and the connection between architecture, identity, and culture.

 

Waldorf Highschool - San Francisco, USA – Architecture Program Director (2018 - Present)

Taught a group of approximately 40 senior students three months annually. Developed a curriculum within the Waldorf pedegogy, analyzing architecture across world cultures from nomadic cultures to present day urban settlement. Students also focus on a strategic design-build community engagement project where they work on small-scale projects that provide value to communities in need.

 

Architecture Practice

 

Studio Bondy Architecture - Oakland, USA - Senior Designer (2019 - 2023)

Contributed to and lead the design process from schematic design through to completion while working on educational projects; from pre-k, k-12 and collegial level. Assigned to projects such as; The Urban School of San Francisco Theatre of the Arts, The Bishop O’Dowd Highschool, The San Francisco Waldorf Grade School expansion.

 

450 Architects - San Francisco, USA - Senior Designer (2015 - 2019)

Contributed to and lead the design process from schematic design through to completion while also managing clients and consultants. Primarily working on sustainably minded residential projects, progressive educational facilities and socially minded public projects. Notable projects I have worked on include; the David Bushnell Community Centre, the Prison University Project; San Quentin prison and multiple sustainably-focused residential projects.

 

MCOB Architects and Designers - Dublin (Designer) (2014 - 2015)

Performed administrative duties including developing and maintaining the company’s digital portfolio and social media presence. Executed and assisted with; the preparation of interior and exterior presentation and construction drawings, site surveying, and preparing planning documents. Assigned to projects such as; a Passive House residential project and an assisted living center for the elderly.

 

Behnisch Architekten - Boston, USA - Internship (2012 - 2013)

Executed and assisted with; prototyping design strategies for clients, creating spacial master planning presentations and producing construction drawings. Assigned to large-scale projects such as; the Amherst College Science Center, the Harvard Allston Science and Engineering Project, and the University of Baltimore John and Frances Angelos Law Center in Maryland.

 

Behnisch Architekten - Stuttgart, Germany - Praktikant (2011-2012)

Primary duties included creating and editing interior and exterior design and presentation drawings at different scales and constructing working and presentation models for active firm projects and international competitions. Prepared materials for the Principal Architect for public dissemination while also editing submittals for design publications. Assigned to projects such as the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, the Karlzplaz Governmental Quarter in Stuttgart and the Freie Waldorfschule Uhlandshöhe, Stuttgart.

 

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

 

California College of the Arts, San Francisco, Architecture Studio Advisor (2024)

Worked with Peter Anderson a as a studio advisor for a timber technology class focused on designing structures for the town of Greenville. Helped to write the curriculum and have acted as a client and reviewer role throughout the class meeting each student at strategic points throughout the class.

 

Architecture Foundation of San Francisco, Architecture Mentor (2020 - 2022)

Mentored groups of 3 highshcool students from diverse backgrounds at a time in the fundamentals of and architecture, architecture history and practice.

 

Kid Mob, San Francisco, USA – Teaching Facilitator/Program Coordinator (2015 - 2023)

Acted as a facilitator and director for a nonprofit mobile, design firm that organize design and prototyping workshops with children and teens that use design education as an opportunity for creative engagement and community empowerment.

 

Indian Valley Charter School, Quincy, USA - XQ Super School Grant Team (2016)

Helping to manage and develop assets and written content with a cross-disciplinary team envisaging a new school student-interest based curriculum for the XQ: The Super School Project. Helping coordinate high school students, educators, and designers.

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Community Engagement Strategies in Youth Education (Currently being written)

A research dissertation exploring the power of connecting education with community engagement architecture projects focused on serving post-disaster communities.

 

The Revivalist Architecture of 20th Century National Schools – Architectural Research, Technical University Dublin (2019) A dissertation exploring the architecture of 20th century Irish National Schools and how their vernacular architecture used sustainable building solutions and reflected the identity of the Irish Free State.

 

Wellbeing Anchored in Place - BArch Thesis, Dublin School of Architecture (2015)

An examination of wellbeing in the built environment researching how architecture can impact emotional, social and physical wellbeing by examining how architecture relates to place. 

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