Associates
We believe that working in local government is the place to be if you want to use your built environment skills to influence every aspect of our everyday environment and to work for society as a whole, not just those who can afford it.
PROFESSIONAL PLACEMENT PROGRAMME
Public Practice recruits a diverse range of experienced built environment practitioners who are interested in working in the public sector.
HOW IT WORKS
After a multi-stage selection process, Associates are matched to a placement working in a local authority, with a salary of £30,000 – £70,000 depending on the Authority and role. 90% of your time is spent working for the host Authority, with the remaining 10% dedicated to attending the Public Practice R&D Programme. This programme is designed to help support Associates transition into their new roles within local government as well as co-produce resources to help share and develop good practice within the industry.
WHO CAN BE AN ASSOCIATE
We accept applications from candidates with a wide range of skills and experience across the built environment, including: planning, landscape architecture, surveying, development, architecture, community engagement, urban design, masterplanning and project management. Associates will be expected to have a minimum of three years’ experience in practice.
WHY JOIN THE PROGRAMME
You may be looking for: a new career challenge, an alternative route into the public sector, a temporary secondment to experience working in the built environment from a different perspective, a return to work after a career break, or to give something back towards the end of your career.
APPLY TO BECOME AN ASSOCIATE
We run two placement programmes a year, starting in April and October. Applications are now open for candidates to apply for placements starting on 1 April 2020. The deadline to apply for our next cohort is midday 25 November.
ATTEND AN OPEN EVENING
We host a number of free public evening talks around our recruitment windows to showcase the influential work our Associates and Authority hosts are doing. Details of our upcoming talks and to get a ticket can be found via our Eventbrite page here.
SUBMIT AN APPLICATION
Before applying we strongly recommend all applicants read our FAQs Guidance document thoroughly and ensure they are eligible to apply. The first stage of the application process is submitting an online form. Those successful at the online stage will be taken through to stage two of the application process, a day-long placement workshop.
Current Cohorts
London and the wider South East, Autumn 2019
ALASTAIR CROCKETT
LB Camden
ARMAN NOURI
LB Enfield
BALDEEP HEER
LB Haringey
CATHERINE MOLLETT
LB Lewisham
ELENI KATRINI
LB Newham
ELIZABETH RAPOPORT
LB Enfield
FRASER MCQUADE
Brighton & Hove Council
HOLLY HAYWARD
LB Camden
IBRAHIM BUHARI
Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
JORGE ROMAN RODRIGUEZ
LB Enfield
KAROLINE DE MENDONCA
Richmond & Wandsworth
KENDRA INMAN
TfL
KWAME LOWE
LB Redbridge
LAURA HAWKER
St Albans City DC
MADDY GUNN
St Albans City DC
MAGALI THOMSON
Great Ormond Street Hospital
MARCO PICARDI
Greater Cambridge Planning Services
MARIANA SCHILLER
LB Tower Hamlets
MARK WARREN
LB Merton
MATT WESTON
LB Barking & Dagenham
MEGAN CHARNLEY
LB Newham
RAFE BERTRAM
LB Enfield
ROO HUMPHERSON
Oxford City Council
ROSIE EVERED
GLA
SELASI SETUFE
BeFirst (Barking and Dagenham)
TED MAXWELL
Oxford City Council
THOMAS SMETHURST
Greater Cambridgeshire Shared Planning Service
TOM ATKINSON
LB Lewisham
YANNI PITSILLIDES
LB Newham
ZELJKA ABRAMOVIC
LB Lambeth
ALASTAIR CROCKETT
Alastair is an architect with 12 years of experience, most recently as an Associate at Níall McLaughlin Architects, where he was Project Architect on the Stirling Prize 2018 nominated Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre in Oxford. He has experience working across a diversity of scales, ranging from detailing a door handle up to a masterplan for 5000 new homes.
Alastair has taken on the role of Senior Urban Designer at Camden, where he will work on the Regent’s Park Estate. He is concentrating on providing urban design advice to Development Management on major planning applications and pre-applications, as well as providing feasibility work in relation to opportunities at the Regent’s Park Estate within the area covered by the Euston Area Plan, immediately adjacent to works already underway as part of HS2.
LB Camden
ARMAN NOURI
Arman is a cultural practitioner with a degree in Anthropology and a Masters in Urban Studies. His MSc dissertation explored the possibilities that meanwhile space offers for communities and grassroots culture, with a particular focus on improving cultural and meanwhile space policy to better facilitate community participation and empowerment. Following this, Arman co-founded art and architecture studio People’s Place. He is also co-founder and editor of EYESORE, a print magazine and events programme about cities and architecture.
At Enfield, Arman is playing a key role in defining how Enfield engages and involves residents, businesses, politicians and other stakeholders in new estate renewal projects, initially focusing on the Joyce and Snells estate – Enfield’s flagship regeneration scheme in one of the poorest parts of London.
LB Enfield
BALDEEP HEER
Baldeep is an architect with experience across stages on residential, mixed-use, commercial and retail sectors. She has mentored for the Steven Lawrence Charitable Trust and is a RIBA Architectural Ambassador.
Baldeep has taken on the role of Urban Design Architect at Haringey, where she is focusing on strategic regeneration projects and a range of housing delivery projects on multiple sites. Her work involves the coordination and delivery of key physical regeneration projects in Wood Green, and area or site-based design briefs and frameworks for key mixed-use and employment-led sites in South Tottenham and Tottenham Hale.
LB Haringey
CATHERINE MOLLETT
Catherine has a background in architecture, most recently at Asif Khan, where she led the studio's work on the new Museum of London. During her MA, she examined the design legacy of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London, exploring the role of the Mayor as an unintended creative lead. She is interested in housing and housing policy, a concern which has also led her to work as a Street Outreach volunteer for Tower Hamlet and as the Lead Coordinator for Cardiff Action for Single Homeless.
Catherine has taken on the role of Growth Manager at Lewisham where she is responsible for identifying, coordinating and visualising ways in which the borough can optimise sites for development, particularly on public land and with a focus on social housing. She is also supporting planning colleagues with the commissioning and managing of design consultants preparing an innovative Small Sites SPD and on the production of a masterplan for the A21 strategic growth corridor.
LB Lewisham
ELENI KATRINI
Eleni is an architect and academic with a research focus on urban commons, community empowerment, participation, and urban ecology. Specifically, her doctoral dissertation identified catalyzing spatial patterns of resident-led sharing culture practices within urban neighbourhoods. Eleni has worked on participatory planning and co-design projects in the US and UK and has taught on issues of urban ecology and the urban commons at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Sheffield.
Eleni’s role at Newham is as Lead Urban Designer, working to develop and deliver an exciting and progressive town centre strategy for Green Street (Upton Park), Forest Gate and East Ham. Her work involves carrying out research and analysis of the existing town centres, leading interactive co-design workshops with the local community and stakeholders and developing town centre strategies and a strong set of place principles for each town centre to guide future development.
LB Newham
ELIZABETH RAPOPORT
Elizabeth is an urban specialist with nearly two decades of experience working on planning, policy and governance issues in cities around the world, most recently as Director of Research and Advisory Services for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Europe. She holds a Doctorate in Urban Sustainability and Resilience from UCL and has led numerous international research and consultancy projects on urban and regional planning, governance, sustainability and climate change.
Elizabeth has taken on the role of Strategic Development Manager for Meridian Water, Enfield’s flagship £7bn regeneration programme of an 85-hectare site, which the council are developing. Elizabeth is curating and coordinating the production of a suite of strategies including sustainability, smart cities, meanwhile, employment, community engagement and estate management to realise Enfield’s vision for Meridian Water to be the greenest development in London.
LB Enfield
FRASER MCQUADE
Fraser is an architect with experience across all stages on a wide variety of projects. These include the delivery of an award-winning visitor centre for a rural museum in Sussex, the restoration of a listed Georgian building in Lewes and designing a new, local authority led visitor centre and station for the world’s oldest electric railway on Brighton’s seafront.
Fraser has taken on the role of Principal Planning Officer at Brighton and Hove, where he is providing specialist expert advice on urban design and place-making, shaping future schemes and working with internal and external stakeholders to have a long-lasting and positive impact on the city. He is advising on a number of planning and development issues, including the emerging Urban Design Framework.
Brighton & Hove Council
HOLLY HAYWARD
Holly is an architect, joining Public Practice from Morris + Company where she has been a Project Architect on a range of complex, mixed-use briefs. Most recently this has included delivering the award shortlisted Energy hub, a mixed-use building in Elephant and Castle, a new build + renovation of historic buildings for an office development for British Land within the Spitalfields conservation area.
Holly is Senior Urban Designer at Camden, where she is focusing on site identification, appraisal and prioritisation to support the borough’s Small Sites Programme. She is producing detailed design work related to high priority sites and producing site reports in preparation for planning submission.
LB Camden
IBRAHIM BUHARI
Ibrahim is an architect with experience leading award-winning projects including the Depot cinema and the Campbeltown Picturehouse. Ibrahim's experience working on historic buildings has developed his interest in the adaptive re-use of existing buildings and he is currently working towards gaining accreditation as a Conservation Architect. Ibrahim is committed to redressing the under-representation of professionals from BAME backgrounds in the built environment through his role as a member of the RIBA's advisory group on EDI, Architects for Change, and through mentoring at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and at the University of East London.
As Senior Urban Designer, Ibrahim is embedding a proactive approach to development in Kensington and Chelsea’s Conservation and Design Team by coaching officers and providing training to improve the team’s capability in critiquing projects. He is focusing on larger development proposals in key areas of change, especially Kensal Canalside and Earls Court Opportunity Areas, as well as improving the operation of the borough’s Architectural Appraisal Panel and encouraging community engagement at pre-application stage
Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
JORGE ROMAN RODRIGUEZ
Jorge is an architect with experience on a broad range of residential, education, healthcare, public estates and urban planning projects. He is joining Public Practice from Mace, where he contributes coordination, technical and design services to Public Estate's government frameworks. He has also delivered development projects in the third sector, where he fostered an interest in urban resilience – taken further through an MA in Environment and Sustainable Development.
Jorge has taken on the role of Principal Regeneration Officer, playing a key role in shaping and delivering Enfield’s flagship estate renewal project, Joyce and Snells – from masterplanning through to a resident ballot. He is also developing good practice toolkits and in-house coaching to guide Enfield’s future estate regeneration schemes.
LB Enfield
KAROLINE DE MENDONCA
Karoline de Mendonca is an architectural professional with 11 years of experience working in London, Sydney, Brisbane, Ahmedabad, and Sao Paulo. She has worked on projects ranging from multi-million-pound corporate fit-outs to a small pre-school in the Tekra slum in Ahmedabad, India. Her interests and expertise are in the understanding of heritage and character in placemaking, holding a Masters in Building History from the University of Cambridge.
Karoline has joined Richmond and Wandsworth as Conservation & Urban Design Specialist, where she is focusing on promoting a proactive approach to placemaking, conservation and urban design across the Planning Service. Alongside building capacity through training, Karoline is updating the conservation areas appraisal and studies, developing borough-wide urban design studies incorporating tall buildings guidance, and contributing to a Masterplan SPD for Wandsworth Central involving industrial intensification.
Richmond & Wandsworth
KENDRA INMAN
Kendra is an experienced chartered landscape architect who has worked on a wide range of urban public realm schemes, masterplans and parks for the public sector and commercial clients. Prior to joining Public Practice, she was senior landscape architect at Groundwork London, delivering key public space and park projects, and lead urban designer at Sustrans, delivering new walking and cycling routes for TFL.
Kendra has taken the role of Urban Design Advisor at TfL, joining a team within the City Planning directorate to bring creative thinking about how to integrate a Healthy Streets approach into the earliest stages of TfL Surface street and public realm schemes. Her role involves engaging with colleagues across TfL, the GLA and other Mayoral organisations, developing urban design proposals for specific projects, and helping to ensure TfL’s work is informed by the latest national and international best practice.
TfL
KWAME LOWE
Kwame has experience of building links between councils and communities, in particular in his role as Co-chair of RUSS, a Community Land Trust, where he developed a framework for creating sustainable neighbourhoods and genuinely affordable homes. Kwame has also built communities online, as the Founder and Director of (In)Space – a collective of young, black British, male creatives who seek to engage communities by exhibiting art outside of galleries and museums.
At Redbridge, Kwame has taken on the role of Community Engagement Officer within the Regeneration Team, playing a pivotal role in defining and building the council’s regeneration offer to the community through Council services, Redbridge Living and a new Community Hubs programme.
LB Redbridge
LAURA HAWKER
Laura is a Chartered Planner with experience providing environmental and planning consultancy on a range of development and nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIP) for both public and private sector clients. This includes a two-year secondment to the Thames Tideway Tunnel. Most recently she project-managed the multi-disciplinary input on a number of local authority urban regeneration projects and led on the delivery of the Consultation Reports for two gas-fired power station NSIP projects.
Laura has joined St Albans City and District Council as Hemel Gardens Communities Lead Planner to provide dedicated and senior expertise to drive the delivery of distinctive, high quality, innovative and sustainable urban design. She is taking an active role in preparing and consulting on the Hemel Garden Communities masterplan and advocacy at senior levels with stakeholders including Highways England, the Crown Estate and Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
St Albans City DC
MADDY GUNN
Maddy is a landscape architect and planner with experience in landscape design, community engagement, policy development and research. She is joining Public Practice from the Active Travel and Health team at TfL, where she has been responsible for developing strategic policy and technical guidance for the delivery of walking, cycling and Healthy Streets projects. She also designed and delivered Sustrans’ first DIY Schools project, which applied the innovative use of temporary trials as a way to change perceptions and attitudes around how public space is used around schools.
Maddy has joined St Albans District Council as Landscape Architect for Major Projects and is providing specialist landscape expertise to influence masterplan and detailed landscape guidance for a series of major urban extensions of between 500-3,000 homes across St Albans District Council.
St Albans City DC
MAGALI THOMSON
Magali is an architect with a specialism in education projects, having led a successful education team to deliver award-winning schools at Marks Barfield Architects. She joins Public Practice from The Children's Trust where she has consulted on their future vision and strategy, and how their estate development can support these. She is on the Design South East, Sutton and Brighton design review panels providing design support to local authorities, developers and communities in the south-east.
Magali has joined Great Ormond Street Hospital as Project Lead for Place Making where she is leading a transformational approach to the public realm as an integral part of the planning process for the new Children’s Cancer Centre. She is engaging with patients, families, staff, neighbours and the local authority to co-design a public realm response that will enhance the neighbourliness of Great Ormond Street and the setting of the Children's Cancer Centre.
Great Ormond Street Hospital
MARCO PICARDI
Marco is a chartered town planner working at the intersection of behaviour change and design. He is joining Public Practice from Dar Group where he has been a Senior Urban Planner focusing on strategic planning. Marco is also co-founder of the London Car Free Day campaign and tutors on Sustainable Futures at the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL.
Marco joins the Greater Cambridgeshire Shared Planning Service as Design and Development Implementation Officer, to translate aspirations for an innovative high quality, higher density, highly sustainable truly mixed-use new urban quarter in North East Cambridge into delivery on the ground. As one of the last strategic brownfield sites in Cambridge, the site has the potential capacity for 5,000+ homes and 20,000 jobs.
Greater Cambridge Planning Services
MARIANA SCHILLER
Mariana is an urban planner with a background in research and community engagement. Prior to moving to London, she worked for LabCidade, a São Paulo-based research lab where she studied the management of public spaces in the city. She also led a small team of volunteers in implementing cultural projects and building emergency housing in an informal settlement. In 2018 she completed the MSc International Planning at the Bartlett School of Planning with a thesis on London’s informal housing and was awarded the Bartlett School of Planning Prize. She is joining Public Practice from a townscape, heritage and urban design consultancy where she has been advising on complex schemes in historically-sensitive locations.
In her role at Tower Hamlets, Mariana is responsible for the management and delivery of an urban characterisation study and set of urban design guidelines to support the urban intensification of the central area of Tower Hamlets – the only part of the borough that is not designated as an opportunity area. Her work involves developing a good understanding of the character of the area, as well as drawing on best practice examples of small scale urban intensification and infill, to shape future growth in a way that respects and enhances local distinctiveness.
LB Tower Hamlets
MARK WARREN
Mark Warren is an architect and urban designer joining Public Practice from Studio Egret West. He has worked on a range of projects from meanwhile structures to 1,500+ home masterplans with a 15-20 year timeline. He is also a Design Think Tank Leader at the London School of Architecture, where he leads a studio of Masters students investigating how the built environment can improve the emotional and physical wellbeing of the city.
Mark has taken on the role of Urban Design and Development Officer at Merton, where he is playing a major role in the delivery of Merton’s Homebuilding Capacity Fund project – with key placemaking and regeneration projects across the borough including Wimbledon Stadium, the regeneration of three housing estates, Morden town centre regeneration and public realm improvements in Mitcham, Colliers Wood and Wimbledon.
LB Merton
MATT WESTON
Matt leads Spacemakers, a regeneration group based in Brighton and has ten years’ experience working in the built environment. Through Spacemakers, he has produced new cultural infrastructure and interventions across the country, including the internationally-recognised regeneration of Brixton Village. He has supported the GLA on major regeneration projects for eight years, and has extensive experience working with authorities, developers and directly with local communities.
Matt has taken on the role of Strategy Lead for Becontree, Barking and Dagenham’s four-square-mile council estate, the largest in the country. He is leading the development of a strategy focussing on the future of the Becontree, putting residents in charge and setting out a series of interventions over the next 10 - 20 years.
LB Barking & Dagenham
MEGAN CHARNLEY
Megan is an architectural designer and creative strategist and is a co-founder of Projects Office, a multi-disciplinary architecture practice with a portfolio including healthcare, commercial and cultural projects. Alongside architectural design, Megan leads Projects Office’s community consultations and feasibility studies, developing bespoke strategies for each project.
Megan has joined Newham as a Masterplanner for Beckton and North Woolwich. Her role involves carrying out research and analysis of both masterplan areas, developing an innovative meanwhile workspace strategy, leading an interactive community engagement programme to generate ideas, and working with the Project Manager to prepare tender documents for the procurement of a multi-disciplinary consortium headed up by an architectural practice in late 2020.
LB Newham
RAFE BERTRAM
Rafe Bertram has worked for Foster+Partners for 18 years, running projects ranging from tents for the Red Cross to retail venues for Apple and eco-smart cities. Sustainability is Rafe’s personal passion and he approaches each project as a vital opportunity to diminish the environmental impact and enhance social benefit. Some of his most recent projects include a smart sustainable cities in California, a masterplan for an evolving university campus in England and innovation in prefabricated buildings.
As Sustainability Lead for Meridian Water, Enfield’s flagship £7bn regeneration programme of an 85-hectare site, Rafe is working with Directors, Heads of Service, the community and partners to drive Enfield’s vision for Meridian Water as the greenest development in London. He is formulating and implementing a strategic approach to making Meridian Water a low carbon area, including building energy-efficient homes, integrating sustainable transport options, making excellent use of water, improving air quality, ensuring the development of a healthier place and significantly reducing the use of non- renewable resources.
LB Enfield
ROO HUMPHERSON
Roo has over twenty-five years’ experience as an architect specialising in residential design. As director at Pollard Thomas Edwards (PTE) between 2001- 2008, he led award-winning regeneration projects across the UK and established PTE’s first regional office. His career ranges from master-planning and project management to detailed design and his approach to community engagement has won awards for residential and dementia projects. His pro-active approach has included setting up his own beneficial development company supporting enfranchised leaseholders struggling to refurbish their own homes. Roo has also taught Professional Practice at London South Bank University from 2008 to 2016.
Roo has joined Oxford City Council as Regeneration Manager to support the delivery of two major regeneration schemes that present a once in a generation opportunity to make a step-change in the physical and social environments of two of Oxford’s biggest and most important housing estates.
Oxford City Council
ROSIE EVERED
Rosie is an architect and certified Passivhaus designer with expertise in sustainable design, having worked on Passivhaus schools, archives and other public buildings. She was the architect and Passivhaus designer for the RUSS Community Land Trust Church Grove project in Lewisham, where she developed the co-design process with the residents, as well as managed the technical aspects of the Passivhaus design. Rosie’s interest in alternative housing models led her to set up Sheffield Student Housing Co-operative, providing not-for-profit homes for students.
Rosie’s role as Small Sites Programme Senior Project Officer is supporting the delivery of the GLA’s innovative Small Sites - Small Builders programme, which has the twin aims of increasing the number of publicly owned small sites that are brought forward for development and increasing the capacity of SME housebuilders. Her work involves promoting the programme with London boroughs and other public landowners, reviewing funding applications, making recommendations for funding support, issuing grant agreements, working with public landowners to bring sites forward onto the programme, and monitoring delivery.
GLA
SELASI SETUFE
Selasi is an architect and founder of Crystal Design Studios – an architectural studio which explores socially responsive approaches to design and architecture. Working with her mentor Elsie Owusu, she has also gained experience of housing and masterplanning. She is a RIBA trustee and Co-Vice President for Students and Associates, and co-founder of Black Females in Architecture, a network that aims to support and champion black/black mixed heritage females within the architecture/built environment.
Selasi is joining Barking and Dagenham’s regeneration body BeFirst as Project Manager for Small Sites Housing, where she is responsible for designing, establishing and leading a new small sites programme to promote innovative and community-led models of housing development.
BeFirst (Barking and Dagenham)
TED MAXWELL
Ted is a creative team and project leader with experience in the 'meanwhile' side of the property sector. Since 2015 he has worked at Dot Dot Dot, the property guardian social enterprise, becoming its Head of Business Development & Marketing in 2018. He has created and managed partnerships across sectors, delivering property guardianship in regeneration contexts, enabling creative and charitable uses, such as artist studios and community kitchens, and securing long-term outcomes from interim opportunities. Before working in the property sector, his career included leadership roles in the transport, tech, events and community sectors.
Ted’s role as Regeneration for Oxford’s Covered Market entails leading on a feasibility study and business case for major investment to help deliver the Oxford Strategic Partnership’s objective of inclusive growth, including agreeing a procurement and delivery strategy for major capital works
Oxford City Council
THOMAS SMETHURST
Thomas Smethurst is an architect, joining Public Practice from 51 architecture, where he has worked on projects ranging from a £6 million pound Grade II listed community hub, to bespoke individual houses and public works infrastructure for urban wildlife.
At the Greater Cambridgeshire Shared Planning Service, Thomas is taking on the role of Programme Manager, to coordinate and oversee strategic projects such as major new developments at Waterbeach, Northstowe and Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan, or the Area Action Plan for North East Cambridge. Thomas will also be introducing new ways of working to the joint planning service.
Greater Cambridgeshire Shared Planning Service
TOM ATKINSON
Tom is an experienced architectural designer whose practice focuses on residential extensions and improvements mainly for private clients. In particular, he has built his practice working on listed buildings within historic conservation areas. He has also been involved in community projects, including working with Edible Rotherhithe to set up an Architecture Summer school aimed at introduced BAME students in SE16 to the sector.
Tom has joined Lewisham as Growth Manager where he is responsible for identifying, coordinating and visualising ways in which the borough can optimise sites for development, particularly on public land and with a focus on social housing. He is also supporting planning colleagues with the commissioning and managing of design consultants preparing an innovative Small Sites SPD, and on the production of a masterplan for the A21 strategic growth corridor.
LB Lewisham
YANNI PITSILLIDES
Yanni has a background in architecture, most recently at Feilden Clegg Bradley, working on primary and higher education buildings and several large scale masterplan projects. He is passionate about design which engages and represents people. His Master's thesis challenged methods of contemporary practice, setting up residency in a café in Mannheim, Germany, talking to activists and running a series of workshops to represent a largely misunderstood migrant community.
As Regeneration Manager at Newham, Yanni is working with a multidisciplinary team to deliver a Masterplan Vision for Stratford Metropolitan Town Centre that reflects the Mayor of Newham’s priorities, particularly relating to cultural uses and increased affordable housing. He is working with a variety of internal and external stakeholders to provide development proposals and masterplanning advice on strategic sites in Stratford; devising a programme to support community groups, ‘grass-roots’ workspace providers and local organisations across Stratford to develop temporary projects; and developing a portfolio of small to medium scale housing infill sites as part of Newham’s Building Council Homes programme
LB Newham
ZELJKA ABRAMOVIC
Zeljka is an architect and for the past 18 years has been working in UK-based architecture practices on both public and private sector developments with strong design, community and environmental agendas such as housing projects, nursing homes for people with dementia, higher education and community buildings. Zeljka also holds a Postgraduate Degree in Development Practice.
Zeljka joins Lambeth as Principal Design Officer, where she is working within Lambeth’s Planning Policy and Place-shaping team to build an innovative approach to the Lambeth Site Allocations Development Plan Document (SADPD). She is leading on design-led capacity assessments for 15 - 20 large sites, optimising potential on each site and taking every opportunity to enhance placeshaping and maximise planning benefits.
LB Lambeth
London and the wider South East, Spring 2019
ALPAN DEPANI
LB Waltham Forest
AMANDA GREGOR
Sevenoaks DC
AMANDA RASHID
LB Hounslow
AMY LINFORD
Thurrock Council
ANDREW CATCHESIDE
LB Enfield
ANNA ROWELL
Epping Forest DC
ANNA-LISA POLLOCK
LB Enfield
ASHLEIGH WATKINS
LB Barnet
BELINDA GREENWELL
LB Sutton
BEN SMITH
Epping Forest DC
BLAZEJ CZUBA
St Albans City DC
CARMEL KEREN
GLA
CIARA HANSON
LB Havering
CLARISSA YEE
LB Redbridge
DAN DALEY
Ashford Borough Council
HELEN EVANS
LB Newham
HUW TREVORROW
LB Havering
JOANNE PRESTON
Greater Cambridge Planning Service
JOHN STILES
TfL
JONATHAN BRODERICK
LB Barnet
JOSHUA DOYLE
LB Redbridge
KAVITA TAILOR
Old Oak & Park Royal DC
LAETITIA PANCRAZI
Ashford Borough Council
LAURA HART
Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
LAURENCE NEAL
LB Havering
MARTHA DALLYN
LB Enfield
MATTHEW BROWN
LB Croydon
MICHAEL KENNEDY
LB Enfield
OLIVER REINHOLD
LB Haringey
OLIVIA HALPER
Dacorum Borough Council
RAMIRO LEVY
Westminster City Council
SHARON GIFFEN
TfL
SOPHIE BEAGLES
GLA Royal Docks
TARA GBOLADE
Epping Forest DC
TOM FOX
LB Bexley
UMI BADEN-POWELL
LB Newham
YIORGOS PAPAMANOUSAKIS
LB Bexley
ALPAN DEPANI
Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Alpa worked across teams at LB Sutton on town centre regeneration, produced new Supplementary Planning Guidance on Public Realm and Urban Design, helped establish the borough’s first design review panel, and researched the development of small sites. Prior to joining Public Practice Alpa worked in a range of architectural practices, and has held teaching positions at London Metropolitan University, Brighton University and Central Saint Martins.
Alpa has taken on the role of Placemaking Lead working with Waltham Forest’s Design and Conservation, Planning and Regeneration teams to help deliver the Borough’s growth objectives and cultural ambitions. Her role involves leading and having key responsibility for the formulation, promotion, implementation and review of urban design projects and other initiatives at a strategic level; and providing specialist professional advice and guidance on all matters relating to urban design and related regeneration activity.
LB Waltham Forest
AMANDA GREGOR
Amanda is an Urban Designer with a wide-ranging professional and academic background encompassing urban design, sociology, anthropology and sustainability. Prior to joining Public Practice, she worked in the resilient infrastructure team at the London office of the Dutch engineering practice Witteveen+Bos, undertaking projects at the intersection of urban design, transport, public health and social change. Alongside her work at Witteveen+Bos, Amanda is also part of Peckham Coal Line; a community-led project with the overarching aim of creating a linear park connecting two high streets in South London.
Amanda joins Sevenoaks’ Strategic Planning Policy Team as an Urban Designer, with the aim of developing a design culture and language for Sevenoaks and embedding this into the planning process. Her role will involve providing specialist design advice on major schemes; creating a ‘best practice portfolio’ of projects built within the district; developing design training for Officers, Members and Parish Councils; and working with the Economic Development Team and Parish Councils to deliver targeted public realm improvements.
Sevenoaks DC
AMANDA RASHID
Amanda Rashid is a project architect with several years experience in the education sector, delivering complex design and build projects giving her a range of strategic, technical and coordination skills as well as strong design abilities. Prior to joining Public Practice, Amanda recently completed a Hindu Primary School in Croydon for Cottrell & Vermeulen Architects. Amanda is a founding member of society the SALADS who curate tours of buildings for a growing community of female architects. She has also run workshops in primary schools for the charity Open City and is a RIBA professional mentor for students at South Bank University.
Amanda joined Hounslow as Principal Urban Design Officer supporting to ensure that its ambitious development agenda is delivered to the highest standards, preserving communities and enhancing infrastructure. Her role involves using new digital tools to masterplan the Borough’s two Opportunity Areas; engaging with wider projects to digitise the planning system; coordinating the production of planning briefs for smaller sites, and assisting in managing the ‘Design Hounslow’ Programme including the new Hounslow Design Review Panel.
LB Hounslow
AMY LINFORD
Amy is an architect, community organiser, and tutor focusing on the social and political complexities of places and people. Most recently Amy was involved in the regeneration of Custom House of the Docklands through a community-council led partnership with PEACH and LB Newham. Prior to joining Public Practice, Amy was with muf architecture/art where she was involved in public realm design, masterplanning, authoring guidance, brief writing, and community engagement. She was involved in developing LB Hackney’s estate regeneration program through the pilot project Kings Crescent as a public realm designer, brief writer, and researcher through meaningful community engagement from sketch to completion. Alongside practice Amy teachers architecture at Newcastle University with a focus on the civic dimension of architecture by reconsidering the dynamic role of the architect, as well as hands-on making to challenge hierarchies in the profession.
Amy has joined Thurrock’s new Design and Place-Making Team as a Senior Design Officer. Her role involves contributing to the development of Local Plan policy, masterplans, design strategies and development briefs; providing expert design advice for major projects and planning applications; and contributing to a resource library and material for training, including best practice and emerging intelligence from the industry.
Thurrock Council
ANDREW CATCHESIDE
Prior to joining Public Practice, Andrew was a co-director of Building BloQs, London’s largest open access workshop. He recently contributed to the regeneration strategy of Meridian Water in Enfield and coordinated a funding bid for the social enterprise, BloQs. During his studies, he began working for BloQs and was integral in the application for £2.7m as part of the GLA’s London Regeneration Fund (LRF). The project will facilitate the expansion and diversification of BloQs at Meridian Works - a launch project for the Meridian Water regeneration scheme in Enfield.
Andrew has now joined Enfield as Town Centre Development Manager to implement a Town Centre Action Plan to guide and support the diversification and resilience of the key Town Centres, drawing on best practice as well as identifying opportunities to innovate.
LB Enfield
ANNA ROWELL
Prior to joining Public Practice, Anna worked for Sustrans as an embedded Senior Project Officer in the City of Edinburgh Council. Her role included leading on sustainable transport, strategic planning, infrastructure delivery, community engagement and urban regeneration projects. She successful secured £6million in match funding for ambitious public realm improvements, and helped shape Edinburgh’s CityPlan 2030 to encourage positive future travel choices. Anna has previously provided consultancy support for the British Army in Cyprus, for Aga Khan Foundation and UN-Habitat projects in Cairo, and for GIZ in Berlin.
Anna has joined Epping Forest as an Urban Design Officer, providing specialist technical advice on masterplans and planning applications; delivering innovative solutions to masterplanning; preparing design codes that support the creation of high-quality Garden Town communities; and building capacity within the team to deliver the Local Plan’s increased emphasis on design.
Epping Forest DC
ANNA-LISA POLLOCK
Prior to joining Public Practice, Anna-Lisa Pollock was a senior architect at Penoyre & Prasad. She has recently been working with residents on the Lancaster West Estate in Kensington and Chelsea, as part of an estate-wide refurbishment following the terrible tragedy of Grenfell Tower. She has experience in designing for education and elderly living, recently completing the design & delivery of an exemplary high-rise school in the heart of the Olympic Park. Anna-Lisa is currently co-leading a Design Think Tank at the London School of Architecture.
Anna-Lisa has joined Enfield, as Senior Architect and is providing architectural advice and solutions across Enfield’s Property and Housing functions. Her role involves undertaking site analysis, capacity and feasibility studies; developing design briefs; and managing multi-disciplinary design teams to shape the design and quality of the Council’s house building programme and other capital build projects.
LB Enfield
ASHLEIGH WATKINS
Ashleigh is an Architect, with a background in strategic and community-led regeneration. Prior to joining Public Practice, he worked at the GLA with Borough’s in North West London to develop regeneration initiatives that align with the London Plan. In this role, he also supported recipients of the Good Growth Fund and CrowdFund London to deliver both capital and revenue funded projects in alignment with the Mayor’s Good Growth by Design programme. He has also worked for Erect Architecture, delivering public realm, architectural and landscape projects with local authorities, national charities, schools, housing associations, and community groups.
Ashleigh has joined Barnet as a Town Centres Investment Manager and works closely with Council officers, local businesses, community groups, developers and other levels of government to develop and deliver strategies combining economic, social and physical interventions across Barnet’s town centres.
LB Barnet
BELINDA GREENWELL
Belinda is a chartered town planner, who has worked in private practice for the past six years, advising on redevelopment potential, preparing planning appeals and managing both large and small planning applications. She has worked alongside local authorities to achieve planning consents for a range of clients and has negotiated with both clients and planning authorities to improve schemes to create better places for those who will use them.
Belinda has joined Sutton as Housing and Planning Advisor and is helping to shape Sutton’s new estate regeneration programme around Sutton Town Centre and produce a draft Affordable Housing SPD. Her role works across the Strategic Planning and Housing Regeneration Teams to align engagement with existing residents with the emerging Northern Gateway Area Action Plan and produce a viable delivery strategy for the regeneration of up to five estates.
LB Sutton
BEN SMITH
Prior to joining Public Practice, Ben worked as a Chartered Landscape Architect and associate at Kinnear Landscape Architects. Ben has experience across different scales and types of project from landscape strategy, to town centre regeneration and parks. Most recently he took the Project Landscape Architects role on Walthamstow Wetlands, a landscape led and multi award-winning project which at 200 Hectares, is a green space of Lon- don wide significance. Ben is interested in the many facets of landscape and urban space, how they can connect people, draw upon innate characters of a place and address the urgent urban environmental issues of our time.
Ben has joined Epping Forest as Landscape Officer, that sits within a new joint implementation team working on Harlow and Gilston Garden Town sites across Epping Forest, Harlow and East Herts Districts, and other strategic sites in Epping Forest District Council’s Local Plan submission.
Epping Forest DC
BLAZEJ CZUBA
Blazej is an urban designer who has practised in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia and the UK; Before joining Public Practice, Blazej has been at Maccreanor Lavington, leading the practice’s work on the masterplans for Old Oak Common (OPDC), Meridian Water (Enfield) and Aylesbury Estate Phase 2 (Southwark). He has also had key roles on projects such as Bridge Close (Havering), Brent Cross South (Barnet), Canada Water (Southwark) and Blackfriars Circus (Southwark).
Blazej joined St Albans’ Planning and Building Control Department as Principal Urban Designer. Within this role, he provides specialist urban design expertise and capacity on the development briefing, masterplanning and detailed design guidance for a series of major urban extensions and assisting in upskilling established staff on design analysis, critique, policy and management.
St Albans City DC
CARMEL KEREN
Carmel is an urban designer and researcher with expertise in community-led design. She has worked on several large-scale masterplan projects, as well as a mix of research and small-scale build projects across London, Glasgow and Lisbon, championing engagement with local communities. Most recently at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Carmel led Our Stockwell, a co-design research project exploring the link between the urban built environment and childhood obesity. Alongside this, Carmel has worked extensively on a range of urban design projects at Fletcher Priest Architects including a new town at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire which was nominated for Architect’s Journal Masterplan of the Year 2018.
Carmel has joined GLA’s recently formed Urban Design Team, as an Urban Designer. She contributes to the initiation, design, management and completion of Opportunity Area Planning Frameworks for the capital’s most significant growth locations, focusing on creating a new best practice approach to consultation and engagement for these locations.
GLA
CIARA HANSON
Ciara Hanson is a Chartered Landscape Architect committed to delivering resilient public realm to inform healthier communities. Central to her approach is utilising green infrastructure to resolve Planning challenges, recently demonstrated in her transformative approach to Waterloo City Hub whilst at TfL. She has led design teams through implementa- tion of award-winning schemes including Bracknell Regeneration and Elephant Park public realm MP2, supported by her technical expertise in SuDS and inclusive design.
Ciara’s role within the newly formed Placemaking team extends across the Council, expanding its in-house ambition to create healthier neighbourhoods by embracing sustainable growth. She is informing emerging policy and shaping health impact assessments, alongside carrying out a pre-app advisory role focused on sensitive sites and Regeneration Areas, including the Rainham & Beam Park development.
LB Havering
CLARISSA YEE
Clarissa is a project architect with experience in leading residential projects for a variety of local authority clients, ranging from small urban infill housing in Newham and Greenwich to larger suburban neighbourhoods with improved public realm in Thurrock and Sutton. Clarissa is an advocate for diversity within the construction industry and promotes the empowerment of people from diverse backgrounds within the profession. She is a mentor for the FLUID diversity programme and worked with secondary schools to inform students of roles within the construction industry.
Clarissa has taken the role of Housing Design and Development Officer and is Redbridge’s Urban Design, Development Management and Housing teams to take a design-led approach to deliver a new generation of high-quality council housing across a variety of sites including infill developments, vacant garage sites and more significant renewal schemes.
LB Redbridge
DAN DALEY
Dan is a researcher and certified project manager with experience in urban design, community outreach and artistic programming. Prior to joining Public Practice, he worked on multiple collaborative planning processes to shape small to large scale masterplans and design briefs, created research material and facilitated design workshops for nonprofit and for-profit clients. He has a background in creative writing and producing independent theatre.
Dan has joined Ashford Borough Council as Masterplanning and Delivery Coordinator leading a high profile initiative to bring together multiple stakeholder groups to determine long-term community stewardship of local assets in a major growth area south of Ashford. His role involves developing the Council’s long-term quality placemaking ambitions and to make recommendations for a joined-up approach based on best practices identified in the emerging community management trust for Chilmington Green.
Ashford Borough Council
HELEN EVANS
Helen is an Architect and Passivhaus Certified Designer with experience across residential, workplace, education and urban design projects – ranging from small-scale domestic refurbishments to large urban renewal developments. During her six years as a partner at Cullinan Studio, she gained first-hand experience of cross-disciplinary collaboration and on-site delivery.
Helen has taken on the role of Development and Design Manager at Newham and plays a key role within Newham’s new housing delivery function, supporting the delivery of well-designed homes for the biggest Council house building programme since the 1970s. Her role involves developing site briefs; supporting the appointment and management of design teams; helping to develop and manage the production of the Council’s employer’s requirements, specifications and housing design standards; commenting on concept to final design proposals as they progress.
LB Newham
HUW TREVORROW
Huw Trevorrow has a background in architecture and urban design. Before joining Public Practice, Huw was a Design Advisor for Design South East, where he supported local planning authorities and developers in areas including Brighton, Kent and Kingston upon Thames. Previous to this role he worked for Publica, developing public realm strategies for areas including Westminster and The City of London. He has also worked in architectural practice in London and Brazil.
Huw takes on the role of Urban Design Officer, joining Havering's newly formed Placemaking team. His role involves working across the department, providing design advice on strategic planning applications, developing planning guidance, and inputting into council-led development projects. He is also providing training for planning officers and councillors, helping to encourage design-led approaches in the planning process.
LB Havering
JOANNE PRESTON
Joanne has a background in architecture, urban design and architectural history and theory. Prior to joining Public Practice Joanne worked at AR Urbanism, working with community groups to develop design codes to support their neighbourhood plans. She previously worked at Sarah Wigglesworth Architects and Peter Barber Architects where she contributed to the design and delivery of public realm and social housing projects, the production of a housing design guide for a national housing association and a strategic vision for Ebbsfleet Garden City Development Corporation.
Joanne has joined Greater Cambridge Planning Service as Principal Urban Design Officer. Her role sits within the joint planning service’s multi-disciplinary Built and Natural Environment Team, and involves working on the masterplan for Northstowe New Town; supporting the development of Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and contributing to the design code for an urban extension to the east of Cambridge.
Greater Cambridge Planning Service
JOHN STILES
John is an architect interested in housing design within the context of the campaign for affordable homes. His research focuses on commuter-belt communities on the periphery of London and he is currently developing a self-directed project exploring how strategic infill development can help regenerate these areas. John is involved in a number of council-led housing developments, looking into the pressures in today’s procurement and delivery processes and the positive impact that considered development can have on communities.
John takes on the role of Quality and Design Advisor within Transport for London’s Property Development team, ensuring that the principles of Good Growth by Design are followed-up on a range of housing and mixed-use schemes, from development concept through scheme development. His role also involves coordinating design reviews; helping to deliver an in-house training programme of workshops, charrettes and building visits; drafting design policy documents and updating the team’s Design Review Protocol.
TfL
JONATHAN BRODERICK
Jonathan trained in social science, urban design and urban policy at the LSE. As an urban researcher, project manager and consultant, he has worked with a range of built environment organizations in the UK and abroad, including We Made That, Gensler, Arup Foresight Research + Innovation, the Future Cities Catapult, and Bioregional. He is interested in exploring interdisciplinary views of urban development, considering medium to long-term impacts on economic vitality, social inclusion, health and wellbeing, and environmental sustainability.
Jonathan has joined Barnet as a Town Centres Investment Manager and works closely with Council officers, local businesses, community groups, developers and other levels of government to develop and deliver strategies combining economic, social and physical interventions across Barnet’s town centres.
LB Barnet
JOSHUA DOYLE
Joshua is a process-driven designer working across Europe and within various creative sectors. Previously, Joshua has worked on varying scales and typologies of architectural projects, and most notably led the design and renovation of a five-acre site on the Suffolk coastline, to create a contemporary bed and breakfast and viable business. Since its completion, the project has received multiple national awards and was shortlisted for 2018’s Stephen Lawrence Prize. Joshua has been a visiting critic at multiple universities and has taught at the Royal College of Art, as part of the Information Experience Design MA.
Joshua joins Redbridge’s Urban Design, Development Management and Planning Policy teams. In his role as Urban Design and Heritage Growth Officer, he takes a design-led approach to regeneration and placemaking, whilst ensuring that the Borough’s heritage and important community assets are enhanced.
LB Redbridge
KAVITA TAILOR
Kavita is an Associate RICS Project Manager passionate about creating an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable built environment. Kavita has a background in economic development, regeneration and housing, having worked in Mace's housing and regeneration consultancy team and with various built environment social enterprises in the UK and India. Prior to Public Practice, she was a Project Manager at Southwark Council working on the Aylesbury Regeneration and supporting a social enterprise, Livesey Exchange, to design, build and operate a temporary community space on the Old Kent Road.
Kavita has joined OPDC as Early Activation Project Manager and is responsible for the delivery of the first phase of the Early Activation programme; piloting local activities and initiatives, and delivering a range of meanwhile use and public realm projects; creating immediate benefits for local communities and establishing a strong identity for Old Oak and Park Royal.
Old Oak & Park Royal DC
LAETITIA PANCRAZI
Laetitia is a sustainability advisor with experience in environmental and fundraising consultancy, research and analytics, as well as in development and project management. Prior to joining Public Practice, Laetitia was Director of Research at RHI LLC, assisting non-profit organisations in solving complex issues whilst ensuring they maximise their societal impacts. Prior to this, she was a Senior Associate at Kingston Smith where she oversaw the fundraising and management strategies of cultural and environmental organisations.
Laetitia has taken on the role of Environmental Advisor helping Ashford Borough Council embed a cohesive and cross-sectoral environmental strategy across its future corporate plan and associated policies. Her role involves working with staff across the Council, members and partners, as well as with the community, in order to develop a bespoke and pragmatic Ashford agenda that resonates with people's concerns, maximises the impact from limited resources, and engenders community-led environmental actions.
Ashford Borough Council
LAURA HART
Laura is an urban designer with over 10 years’ experience in both the public and private sectors, with a variety of different research and design roles. Prior to her joining Public Practice, she was an Associate Urban Designer in a private practice in London. With her range of experience, she has a holistic view of the design process and the practical skills to help deliver high-quality places.
Laura joined RBKC’s Conservation & Design Team as Senior Urban Designer, to work both internally and externally to build design capacity in the Borough. As well as giving design advice on major schemes, her role involves building the capacity and confidence of colleagues to critique projects from a design perspective and negotiate improvements; improving the operation of RBKC’s Architectural Appraisal Panel; and facilitating discussions with communities about good design to enable them to play a positive role at pre-application stage.
Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
LAURENCE NEAL
Laurence joined Public Practice after working at Allies and Morrison Architects for several years, specialising in planning policy, masterplans, conservation and consultation-led projects. Last year his work with Guildford Borough Council was shortlisted for a Royal Town Planning Institute National Award. He has also held teaching positions and has been a visiting critic at Nottingham, London Met and Cambridge Universities.
Laurence joined Havering as an Urban Design Officer, within their Joint Ventures and Delivery Company, to provide design quality input to the Council’s Regeneration Programme Delivery service, including schemes through Joint Ventures and the Council’s own housing delivery company Mercury Land Holdings. His role involves embedding placemaking into Regeneration schemes throughout the whole project delivery process; ensuring quality design is delivered through procurement, masterplanning, and public realm improvements.
LB Havering
MARTHA DALLYN
Martha is a structural engineer and project manager who has varied experience working on the extension of Tate Modern, the construction of six hundred homes in Haringey, and timber self-build projects in rural Romania. She has worked in the UK and Norway, where she learnt Norwegian and experienced first-hand the benefits of ambitious public sector planning. Recently she has supported the charity Build Up, working with young people to design and build structures to benefit their own communities.
Martha has joined Enfield as Project Manager to take a more integrated approach to the design and delivery of a £40m capital programme to refurbish and maintain its council homes. Martha’s role brings in architectural and project management expertise to shape fire safety improvements and substantial capital works across a large council housing portfolio, including 53 tower blocks – the largest number of any London borough.
LB Enfield
MATTHEW BROWN
Matthew is a member of public works, a not-for-profit studio set up to explore the intersection between art, architecture, performance and activism. Prior to joining Public Practice, he worked for several housing and landscape architecture practices in London, most recently East Architecture, Landscape, Urban Design. He has also worked with artists Alex Schweder and Nils Norman on art installations, play structures and performances. Matthew’s current research explores alternative methods of communicating planning and policy.
Matthew has joined Croydon as a Project Officer within their Placemaking team, working on projects to activate key regeneration areas, test future plans and enable sustainable growth through holistic placemaking. His role involves managing and expanding the Croydon Place Review Panel; providing design advice for a variety of major and strategic applications; supporting the delivery of the Borough’s Suburban Densification Design Guide, and developing new visual communication methods for emerging plans and policies.
LB Croydon
MICHAEL KENNEDY
Prior to joining Public Practice, Michael worked with London Community Land Trust to successfully bid for public land to build truly affordable community-led housing through the Greater London Authority’s Small Sites x Small Builders initiative. Most recently he was a consultee for the RIBA Ethics and Sustainability Commission and is currently delivering research into the affordability of architectural education at Central Saint Martins.
Michael has joined Enfield’s Strategic Planning and Design Team as a Planning Officer in Urban Design. He leads on managing the Council’s recently established Place and Design Quality Review Panel. His involves promoting the use of the Panel within Enfield and beyond, and exploring opportunities to expand its influence to improve emerging planning policy and other Council strategies and projects that have an impact on the quality and design of the built environment.
LB Enfield
OLIVER REINHOLD
Before joining Public Practice, Oliver was a Senior Architect at Tigg Coll Architects, specialising in the residential and heritage sectors. His experience ranges from bespoke houses to award-winning student accommodation projects, through to masterplanning new communities and public spaces across London. He has a keen interest in the history and theory of architecture and planning and has previously researched alternative methods of housing development in order to provide cheaper, larger and better-designed accommodation.
Oliver is a Senior Urban Designer at Haringey Council, working across their and Planning teams on a broad scope of strategic, delivery-focused, and research-based projects. His role involves preparing design briefs for major housing regeneration master- plans; developing place-based strategies for Haringey’s local centres; assisting with the coordination and delivery of public realm projects; providing evidence to inform design related policy; and design-based research into reimagining redundant Council buildings.
LB Haringey
OLIVIA HALPER
Olivia is an urban designer, planner and economist. Prior to joining Public Practice, she worked at Atkins on projects in the UK and abroad spanning strategic planning and policy, masterplanning, economic development and impact assessment. Olivia has pursued her interest in promoting social inclusion through research at the University of Cambridge and the Bartlett, including her recent Masters thesis which proposed design principles and processes to enhance the public's ability to shape public spaces whilst providing counter-terror security.
Olivia has taken on the role of Urban Design Officer providing specialist urban design and architectural guidance at a senior level to support the delivery of Hemel Garden Communities – a major growth project spanning Dacorum Borough Council and St Albans District Council.
Dacorum Borough Council
RAMIRO LEVY
Ramiro Levy is Brazilian-trained architect, urban designer and planner. Prior to joining Public Practice, he held different roles coordinating multi-disciplinary teams on projects in the public, private and third sectors. From 2009 to 2013 he worked on projects related to the network of public spaces and parks design in São Paulo, his home town. Since 2013 he acted as a consultant on public policies focused on city-wide municipal urban development, sanitation and mobility plans through Risco arquitetura urbana, having led social-spatial diagnosis and planning initiatives focused on inclusion, equity and right to the city in 17 different Brazilian municipalities. In 2014, Ramiro also co-founded Cidade Ativa, a not-for-profit organization recognized for its leading role on walkability and active design in Brazil.
Ramiro has joined Westminster City Council as a Place Shaping Officer. He is contributing to develop the Council’s sustainable, place-shaping strategies across key priority areas such as Paddington, Victoria and Harrow Road.
Westminster City Council
SHARON GIFFEN
Sharon Giffen has been an Associate Partner at Foster + Partners for 12 years, leading large-scale public projects with multi-disciplinary teams. Sharon studied at Cambridge University where she undertook on-the-ground research on the role of ‘self- build’ as a sustainable low-income housing solution. This culminated in the publication of her written thesis and presentation at the UNCHS Habitat regional workshop.
Sharon has taken on the role of Design and Quality Manager at TfL. Her role is instrumental in building the Management team within the department and developing architectural and design briefs, attending design team meetings, and securing quality and design priorities for individual projects across Private Rental Sector led projects, Commercial Development planning team and their Joint Venture partner. These include mixed-use, PRS led projects of between 300 and 2,000 homes.
TfL
SOPHIE BEAGLES
Prior to joining Public Practice, Sophie was at Jestico + Whiles Architects, working on education, community-use and residential projects. She developed the practice’s social value manifesto and founded the +Forum: an inclusive discussion platform, promoting collaborative and strategic thinking for the future of the practice. Sophie is also a RIBA Ambassador, Open City Design Mentor and visiting lecturer at the V&A.
Sophie has joined GLA and Newham’s joint delivery team for the Royal Docks as a Planning and Design Advisor. Her role involves advising on best practice in planning and design, particularly on public realm and workspace projects and optimising the non-residential components of development schemes. Her role also involves proposing options to improve the strategic offer of the Enterprise Zone and providing design input to the new Custom House interchange.
GLA Royal Docks
TARA GBOLADE
Tara Gbolade is the co-founder of Gbolade Design Studio and winner of the RIBAJ Rising Star award in 2018. She specialises in residential and mixed-use developments for public and private sector clients, creating homes and communities that are: Design-led, Commercially viable, Innovative, and Sustainable. As an Architect, Passivhaus consultant, and BIM and generative-design champion, she has overseen and been involved in a range of mixed-use developments from 10 to 900 homes.
Tara has joined Epping Forest as Sustainability Officer, providing specialist technical advice on masterplans and planning applications; and developing a Sustainability Checklist to inform Local Plan policies and guide the development of strategic sites and Harlow & Gilston Garden Town.
Epping Forest DC
TOM FOX
As part of the first Public Practice cohort, Tom was Principal Planning Officer at St Albans City and District Council and Dacorum Borough Council. He led the authorities’ initiatives to take a more proactive approach to urban design across strategic sites, in particular, facilitating cross-boundary working. He has over 10 years of experience working on projects across architecture, urban design, planning, and activism both in the UK and internationally.
In joining the new cohort, Tom has taken on the role of Principal Urban Design and Project Manager in Bexley’s Planning and Regeneration functions to develop capacity studies and concept designs for a significant Council-led JV for an estate regeneration project, delivering several thousand homes. His role involves managing the development of Bexley’s new Design Supplementary Planning Document.
LB Bexley
UMI BADEN-POWELL
Umi Baden-Powell is an architectural designer, researcher and creative practitioner with expertise in inclusive design and speculative design futures. She works on projects in complex social contexts both in the UK and the Global South. In 2017, her collaborative project Okun Makoko: Waste to Wealth won the Helen Hamlyn MIE Design Award for Health- care. Most recently, Umi has lead Banking Without Barriers, a design research project which is partnered with the Royal College of Art, NatWest and Age UK.
Umi has joined Newham as Housing Engagement Manager and plays a key role within Newham’s new housing delivery function, helping to shape and deliver the biggest Council house building programme since the 1970s. Her role involves supporting local engagement for new housing on Council-owned land; working with residents to develop designs, site management plans, local activities and events; and developing a package of local benefits for areas of growth.
LB Newham
YIORGOS PAPAMANOUSAKIS
Yiorgos trained as an architect and an urban development planner and has experience working with local authorities, research institutions, cultural organisations and communities. Yiorgos initiated Urban Transcripts, a not-for-profit organisation he currently directs, by producing international public event programmes on the critical exploration of cities and their development. He has been a consultant at the New Economics Foundation, with a focus on the social impact of urban development.
Yiorgos has joined Bexley’s Strategic Planning and Growth Team as Strategic Research Coordinator. He is helping to develop a robust evidence base and innovative policies that help secure the Council’s Growth Strategy and working across internal teams and in the field to gather, collate, present and interpret data; researching emerging policy approaches and best practice; and implementing research findings through new policies, strategic plans and design solutions.
LB Bexley