Employee Spotlight: Charles McLean, Project Architect

Charles McLean began at Hamilton Anderson in 2016. Currently a project architect, Charles does architectural production and building information modeling at HAA.

In the last year, Charles has worked on projects ranging from Corktown, 1435 Randolph and the Greektown Whitebox. He has also worked on two Wayne State projects – Anthony Wayne and Chatsworth – and three MGM projects – High Limit, Cigar Lounge and Springfield Armory Market Place.

His favorite project to date has been Queen Lillian, because it was the first project he worked on at HAA.

Originally from Warrensville Heights, Ohio, Lawrence Tech brought Charles to the mitten. He attended college at LTU, and also worked for Hannah & Associates in Detroit. Before coming to HAA, he was consulting with Hannah & Associates, Neumann Smith, Centric Design Studios, Ghafari Associates and COG Studios.

You might be surprised to learn that not only did Charles teach college courses for a few years, but he also has a certificate as a Master Gardener from Michigan State.

“While I was working for Ken Cockrel and the Detroit City Council, the city loaned me about an acre of land within the city limits,” Charles said. “At the time, I had started an urban farm where I designed sustainable approaches to water conservancy. I often brought my findings back to City Council to engage in new policy talks.”

Charles was awarded grants and additional help to keep these designs and projects alive. One of these grants was to attend the MSU Master Gardening program.

“The teachings and understandings allowed me to better prepare the land and agriculture to help improve a blighted city,” he added.

Beyond architecture, Charles is also passionate about making money, and outside of our office walls, he enjoys playing video games and rebuilding houses.