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ABRE ETTEH

Prior to joining Public Practice, Abre was an architect with experience across education, housing and workplace design. He has received a number of awards for his art and architectural practice and his work has been exhibited in the Design Museum in London, The Cube Gallery in Manchester and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Abre took on the role of Urban Design and Development Officer at LB Merton, where he worked on regeneration schemes across the borough. In particular, his role focused on Wimbledon Stadium, the regeneration of three housing estates, Morden town centre regeneration and public realm improvements in Mitcham, Colliers Wood and Wimbledon.

Abre worked with colleagues at Merton, including fellow Alumnus Mark Warren, to develop a small sites toolkit in-house, as well as a character study for the borough with Allies & Morrison and Solidspace. The final SPDs were adopted in 2021.

You can contact Abre via his LinkedIn account.

You can view Abre's Associate Story video here.

#alumni
#lb-merton
#small-sites #town-centres

ADAM SUMMERFIELD

Adam has experience in placemaking and strategic planning projects. Prior to joining Public Practice, Adam was an Associate at Fluid. In 2017, Adam was elected an NLA NextGen ambassador. In this role, he contributed to current urban thinking through events such as a major design workshop generating ideas to unlock opportunities for public transport sites in outer London Town Centres.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Adam joined the Place Shaping Team at Westminster City Council as Place Shaping Officer. In this role, he helped to formulate the place-shaping strategy across key priority areas within the Council’s agenda. The role involved formulating an urban strategy for priority areas, helping formulate the programme for change delivery within these areas and coordinating projects that emerge as part of the programme. Stakeholder engagement and coordination across various parts of the Council formed an integral part of the delivery process.

You can contact Adam via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#westminster-city-council
#engagement #digital-data

AKIL SCAFE-SMITH

Akil is an urban designer and researcher. His research interests concern the socio-spatial dynamics of urban camps and refugee mobility. As an experienced designer, Akil has built installations for the London Festival of Architecture and the Architecture Foundation, and he has also delivered a number of public design interventions and participatory design workshops.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Akil joined the Spatial Planning Service team in Croydon Council as Project Officer. In this role, he was involved in the design and delivery of meanwhile, public realm and cultural projects in the Metropolitan Centre that contributed towards the delivery of regeneration in the Croydon Growth Zone. Akil engaged with external stakeholders and project partners in the design and delivery of projects and generated enthusiasm for the wider Growth Zone programme and for Croydon in general. He also helped promote the Spatial Planning Service and Placemaking Team’s services and contributed to optimising income generation.

You can watch a short video interview of Akil and read more about his placement in the Practice Note 'Pop Down'.

#alumni
#lb-croydon
#meanwhile-use

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 took on the role of Senior Urban Designer at Camden, where he worked on the Regent’s Park Estate. He concentrated 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.

#alumni
#lb-camden
#estate-renewal

ALEC SCRAGG

Alec is an urban designer and architect with a particular specialism in masterplanning urban areas and town centres. In his most recent role as senior urban designer at AR Urbanism, he contributed to a range of town centre schemes throughout the midlands and south-east, including developing visions, frameworks, design guidance, and feasibility studies for complex sites and sensitive heritage areas. Alec also has extensive experience in community engagement, delivering technical assistance to a range of neighbourhood forums throughout Essex. Prior to working at AR Urbanism, Alec worked within the physical regeneration team at the London Legacy Development Corporation.

As Senior Urban Design Officer for Thurrock, Alec is responsible for providing urban design expertise which proactively guides and reinforces great placemaking in Thurrock. He is the design lead for two major projects and is helping to produce the new Thurrock Design Code to raise design standards across the Council.

Contact Alec via LinkedIn.

#associate
#thurrock-council

ALFIE RODEN

Alfie is an architect with experience in masterplanning across London, Europe and Malaysia. Most recently at Leonard Design Architects, he led the transformative Guildford Town Centre Masterplan and a future vision diversifying Bluewater shopping centre from destination to town centre. Related to these projects, he ran a series of retail repositioning pieces across a range of commercial portfolios, highlighting the need for adaption, change and futureproofing of retail destinations and town centres. Alfie has also delivered charity schemes in Africa including a sports facility in Liberia and a Nursery School in the deprived Limpopo region of South Africa.

Alfie took on the role of Senior Urban Designer for Westminster City Council as part of the team working on the Oxford Street District – an area benefiting from £150m investment to implement a new vision to establish the district as the nation's greenest, smartest and most sustainable high street. Alfie’s work involved leading key projects within the programme, acting as project manager, producing design reports and ensuring the delivery of major pieces of work.

#alumni
#westminster-city-council
#town-centres

ALPA DEPANI

Alpa is an architect and artist, interested in a built environment that serves communities. Alpa has worked with a range of architectural practices and holds teaching positions at The Cass and the University of Brighton. Alpa has also conducted international research into community-driven public space, establishing recommendations for London.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Alpa joined the Housing, Planning and Regeneration Team in Sutton Council as the Town Centre Design Associate. In this role, Alpa influenced and shaped the future of Sutton’s Town Centre by supporting the vision and design of large-scale sites and exploring meanwhile uses. Alongside this work, Alpa worked on a Public Realm Guide and developed Design Codes for residential development in small sites. Alpa also promoted good design across Sutton Council by reviewing current design services and building in-house design capacity.

As a part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Alpa took on the role of Placemaking Lead at Waltham Forest’s Design and Conservation, and their Planning and Regeneration teams helping to deliver the Borough’s growth objectives and cultural ambitions. She led and had key responsibility for the formulation, promotion, implementation and review of urban design projects and other initiatives at a strategic level. She provided specialist professional advice and guidance on all matters relating to urban design and related regeneration activity.

Your can contact Alpa via her LinkedIn account

#alumni
#lb-sutton #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, where she undertook projects at the intersection of urban design, transport, public health and social change. Alongside her work at Witteveen+Bos, Amanda was 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Amanda joined 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 involved 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.

You can contact Amanda via LinkedIn her account.

#alumni
#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 worked on the 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Amanda joined Hounslow as Principal Urban Design Officer supporting to ensure that its ambitious development agenda was delivered to the highest standards, preserving communities and enhancing infrastructure. Her role involved 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.

You can contact Amanda via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-hounslow
#council-led-housing

AMANPRIT ARNOLD

Amanprit is an experienced research and insights professional with over 10 years experience in the real-estate and land-use sector. Most recently she was Senior Manager for Research and Advisory Services for the Urban Land Institute in Europe, where she delivered independent strategic advice to governments, institutions, and companies on a range of urban issues. Previously, Amanprit was a Global Research and Policy Manager at RICS, delivering ground-breaking international research projects. She also led successful global real estate and planning conferences in Sydney and Toronto for academics and practitioners and worked on UN Global Compact engagement.

Joining the GLA’s Infrastructure team as Senior Policy Officer, Armanprit will be working to coordinate and plan the delivery of infrastructure across London. Her role involves researching and developing infrastructure policy recommendations relevant to areas such as decarbonisation, planning system reform, diversity and inclusion and regulatory reform, as well as developing infrastructure data and innovation tools.

#associate
#greater-london-authority

AMY LINFORD

Amy is an architect, community organiser, and tutor focusing on the social and political complexities of places and people. Prior to joining Public Practice, Amy was involved in the regeneration of Custom House of the Docklands through a community-council led partnership with PEACH and LB Newham. At muf architecture/art Amy was involved in public realm design, masterplanning, authoring guidance, brief writing, and community engagement.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Amy joined Thurrock’s new Design and Place-Making Team as a Senior Design Officer. Her role involved 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.

You can contact Amy via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#thurrock-council

ANDREA JUNG

Prior to joining Public Practice, Andrea was an experienced architect who spent 10 years at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in London where she led large, high-profile commercial projects in the UK and Europe, before founding her own practice, TURN Architects llp, specialising in residential work. She recently co-founded NoWA (Network of Women in Architecture), which supports, shares knowledge and aims to help give female practitioners a stronger voice.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, as Regeneration Manager at LB Newham, Andrea played a key role within the borough’s recent housing delivery function, supporting the delivery of well-designed homes for the biggest Council house building programme since the 1970s. Andrea’s work involved developing site briefs, supporting the appointment and management of design teams, helping to develop the Council’s specifications and design standards, and commenting on design proposals as they progress.

You can contact Andrea via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-newham
#council-led-housing #project-management

ANDREJ MECAVA

Andrej is an architect with 10 years of experience spanning across a variety of sectors. He has worked in leading roles on office, education and residential developments in London and Jersey, and has taken on senior roles on large scale projects for local practices in Los Angeles. Andrej is a part-time lecturer on the BA (Hons) Architecture course at Norwich University of the Arts. He is passionate about social value with a focus on gender equity and has spent the last 5 years campaigning for the equitable delivery of a Women's Building on the former site of Holloway Prison in London.

Contact Andrej via LinkedIn.

#associate
#lb-hounslow

ANDREW CATCHESIDE

Prior to joining Public Practice, Andrew was a co-director of Building BloQs, London’s largest open access workshop. He 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Andrew 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.

In July 2021, Andrew helped to launch a new space for local businesses to provide outdoor dining on Fountain Island. As well as transforming the area into a social space for residents and visitors, the initiative includes a support scheme to provide participating businesses with essential equipment.

You can contact Andrew via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#town-centres

ANKE BOEHME

Anke is an experienced architect who has worked on innovative regeneration projects across London with Stirling prize-winning architectural practices. Working on Saxon Court in King’s Cross and Fish Island Village in Hackney Wick from inception to completion she successfully resolved complex design issues with different stakeholders. Most recently, she was Senior Urban Designer at the London Borough of Bexley as part of the fifth cohort of Public Practice. There, she contributed to the development of masterplans surrounding stations along the C2E corridor

She joined the seventh cohort as Principal Urban Design Policy Officer at Hillingdon where she is raising the profile of design across the borough by embedding a design-led approach to development in the revised Local Plan. She is also facilitating the transition to a more proactive approach in shaping the design of new developments.

#associate
#lb-bexley #london-borough-of-hillingdon

ANNA JEFFERY

Anna is architecturally trained in Australia where she worked primarily on urban mulit-residential developments. In the UK, she has specialised in urban, education-led and community-focused projects. As an Associate at Architecture Initiative, she led the design development of a number of mixed-use urban school projects as well as residential development schemes across London. She has also taught Architectural Design at Monash University and the University of Melbourne. As a researcher, Anna instigated a knowledge-exchange project in 2020 with the Bartlett Real Estate Institute (BREI) at UCL entitled Educating the City: Urban Schools as Social Infrastructure. The research looks at ways to better connect schools to communities and bring together disparate stakeholders.

Contact Anna via LinkedIn

#associate
#hertsmere-borough-council

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 successfully 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 provided consultancy support for the British Army in Cyprus, for Aga Khan Foundation and UN-Habitat projects in Cairo, and for GIZ in Berlin.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Anna joined Epping Forest as an Urban Design Officer. Her role involved 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.

#alumni
#epping-forest-dc
#active-travel

ANNA-LISA POLLOCK

Prior to joining Public Practice, Anna-Lisa was a senior architect at Penoyre & Prasad. She worked 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, completing the design & delivery of an exemplary high-rise school in the heart of the Olympic Park. Anna-Lisa has been co-leading a Design Think Tank at the London School of Architecture.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Anna-Lisa joined Enfield, as Senior Architect. She was responsible for providing architectural advice and solutions across Enfield’s Property and Housing functions. Her role involved 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.

You can contact Anna-Lisa via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#engagement #estate-renewal #council-led-housing

ANNE POOLE

Anne is a project manager and creative producer working across the design, strategy, delivery and evaluation of community placemaking, public realm installation, cultural programming, and landscape activation projects. She has built partnerships across commercial districts, local councils, cultural enterprises, and housing associations to deliver a breadth of work from multi million contracts to small community funded initiatives.

As Town Centre Project Officer at London Borough of Barnet, Anne is supporting the council in its recovery from COVID-19, reimagining the borough’s town centres in a way that puts ‘new localism’ at their heart. Her role involves developing a Vacant Units Strategy, developing business cases to bring projects forward, and working directly with the community to facilitate participation and proactively build relationships with key stakeholders.

#alumni
#lb-barnet
#town-centres #project-management

ANTONIO IRRANCA

Antonio is a public policy professional with 14 years of experience in central government. He has worked on the decarbonisation of homes, increasing housing supply and developing frameworks to drive up social housing quality. Previously, he was team leader at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government responsible for the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations framework. In 2019, he completed his MSc in Urban Design & City Planning at UCL, with a thesis exploring the relationship between housing density and sociability in the public open spaces of residential developments.

As Sustainability Officer at Hounslow, Antonio is responsible for delivering various projects and initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and environmental impacts from the Council’s properties, operations and residents. This includes providing advice on low carbon technologies, designing zero carbon housing and developing climate change policies.

Contact Antonio via LinkedIn.

#associate
#lb-hounslow
#sustainability

ANTONIO REA

Antonio is an architect with experience at different scales across multiple sectors, including masterplans, large urban regeneration schemes and new developments in sensitive locations. He has a Masters in Sustainable Architectural Design from the University of Venice, where he developed a research study into the application of cross-laminated timber for high-rise residential buildings. In his previous role at Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands Antonio was involved in a wide range of residential, art, commercial and mixed-use developments.

Taking on the role of Principal Urban Designer at Dacorum Borough Council, Antonio is providing design advice on the major sites identified through the drafting of their Local Plan, existing site allocations and any major planning applications. As Dacorum is one of 14 local authorities that will test the new National Model Design Code (NMDC), Antonio is also involved in developing a new design code for the local area.

Contact Antonio via his LinkedIn profile.

#associate
#dacorum-borough-council
#urban-design

ARANZAZU FERNANDEZ RANGEL

Prior to joining Public Practice, Aranzazu was a design professional with a background in architecture, public realm design and psychotherapy. She has worked with muf architecture/art for over a decade, delivering public realm projects and strategies to improve everyday places and empower communities through participatory design processes. She has led diverse, collaborative project teams, which have included: Local Authorities, TfL, GLA, Historic England, NHS Trusts, The Church of England, cultural organisations, artists, makers, contractors, and community representatives.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Aranzazu focused on the ‘Meanwhile Uses for All’ project which encourages activities on temporarily vacant or underused sites that bring together existing and new residents in activities to build a cohesive community. Aranzazu's role involves researching existing arrangements of meanwhile uses in the borough and developing a strategy and management framework for Council-owned assets, including expanding the digital platform linking users with assets and setting up pilot projects.

You can contact Aranzazu via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-tower-hamlets
#meanwhile-use #public-realm

ARCHIE BASHFORD

Prior to joining Public Practice, Archie Bashford was a landscape architect, most recently at Levitt Bernstein, where he worked in a multidisciplinary environment collaborating with architects and urban designers across education, extra-care, and affordable housing projects.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice at Thurrock Council, Archie promoted good placemaking across the borough through the development of Local Plan policy, masterplans, development briefs, ‘Place Documents’ and a Public Realm Design Guide. He also provided specialist design advice for major projects and planning applications, and worked with the Thurrock Design Review Panel to improve the design of schemes.

You can contact Archie via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#thurrock-council
#placemaking

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.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#estate-renewal #council-led-housing

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 to develop cross borough regeneration initiatives to 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Ashleigh joined Barnet as a Town Centres Investment Manager. He worked 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
#placemaking

AZUL CASTANEDA

Azul is an architect, urban designer, and researcher, with particular expertise in participatory design, community engagement, and placemaking. She has experience coordinating multidisciplinary and multicultural teams in the public, private, and third sectors, including at the Council of Quito where she led a team responsible for cultural interventions and rehabilitation projects for public spaces in the city and with the Council of Mexico City where she conducted research into public spaces within marginalised neighbourhoods.

As Town Centre Senior Project Officer for LB Barnet, Azul has joined a newly formed Skills, Employment and Economic Development Team who are responding to the impact of COVID-19, as well as reimagining the borough’s town centres in a way that puts ‘new localism’ at their heart. Azul’s work involves engaging with communities and bringing design capacity to proactively lead the development of assets and scope new projects.

Contact Azul via her LinkedIn profile.

#associate
#lb-barnet

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.

As part of the third cohort of Public Practice, Baldeep took on the role of Urban Design Architect at Haringey, where she focused on strategic regeneration projects and a range of housing delivery projects on multiple sites. Her work involved 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.

You can contact Baldeep via her LinkedIn profile

#alumni
#lb-haringey
#engagement #urban-design

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. Working alongside local authorities to achieve planning consents for a range of clients, she negotiated with both clients and planning authorities to improve schemes to create better places for those who will use them.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Belinda joined Sutton as Housing and Planning Advisor. She helped to shape Sutton’s new estate regeneration programme around Sutton Town Centre and produced a draft Affordable Housing SPD. Her role across the Strategic Planning and Housing Regeneration Teams aligned engagement with existing residents with the emerging Northern Gateway Area Action Plan and helped produce a viable delivery strategy for the regeneration of up to five estates.

You can download Belinda and Martha Dallyn's resources around Assessing Viability in the resources section.

#alumni
#lb-sutton
#planning-policy #estate-renewal #viability

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 projects from landscape strategy, to town centre regeneration and parks. He was the Project Landscape Architect on Walthamstow Wetlands, a landscape led and multi-award-winning project that, at 200 Hectares, is a green space of London 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Ben joined Epping Forest as Landscape Officer 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.

Read more about Ben's work during his placement in the 'Planning With Nature' resources and you can contact Ben via his LinkedIn account here.

#alumni
#epping-forest-dc

BETHANIA SORIANO

Bethania is an experienced urban designer and independent researcher, with a background in architecture and sustainable urbanism. Her areas of expertise include masterplanning and specialist design across the higher education, sports, and property development sectors. Earlier in her career, Bethania was a graduate fellow at the Prince’s Foundation, where she researched best practices in urban development and trained in facilitation and community consultation techniques. She holds an MSc in City Design and Social Science from the LSE, and an MA in Research Architecture from Goldsmiths.

Bethania has taken on the role of Senior Urban Designer for Westminster City Council as part of the team working on the Oxford Street District – an area benefiting from £150m investment to implement a new vision to establish the district as the nation's greenest, smartest and most sustainable high street. Bethania’s work involves leading key projects within the programme, acting as project manager, producing design reports and ensuring the delivery of major pieces of work.

#associate
#westminster-city-council

BLANKA HAY

Blanka is a project manager with a background in urban regeneration and masterplanning, most recently working for London Borough of Hackney as a Senior Delivery Planner. In this role she gained broad experience in procurement, commissioning, managing funding, producing strategic planning guidance, engaging stakeholders and monitoring projects. She has an MsC in Urban Regeneration from UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning, and has Prince2 certification.

As Senior Planning Advisor at London Borough of Richmond and Wandsworth, Blanka is advising on changes to high streets and town centres across both boroughs, exploring opportunities and possibilities for new planning approaches, strategies and interventions. Part of her role is to provide an external face for high street stakeholders, working with the Economic Development team to put together funding bids and building in-house capacity by providing training to colleagues and sharing best practice.

#alumni
#lb-richmond-wandsworth
#economic-development #town-centres

BLAZEJ CZUBA

Blazej is an urban designer who has practiced in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia and the UK; Before joining Public Practice, Blazej was 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 also had key roles on projects such as Bridge Close (Havering), Brent Cross South (Barnet), Canada Water (Southwark) and Blackfriars Circus (Southwark).

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Blazej joined St Albans’ Planning and Building Control Department as Principal Urban Designer. Within this role he provided specialist urban design expertise and capacity on the development briefing, masterplanning and detailed design guidance for a series of major urban extensions and assisted in upskilling established staff on design analysis, critique, policy and management.

#alumni
#st-albans-city-dc
#planning-policy #new-settlements #pre-apps

BRYONY HENSON

Bryony is an architect specialising in housing and regeneration, and has worked in London and Berlin on masterplans ranging from urban densification, to regenerative brownfield and greenfield sites. Bryony gained substantial experience working with developers, public authorities and housing associations at BPTW, where she was responsible for leading multidisciplinary teams on residential-led masterplans from bid through to concept and planning stages. Most recently, Bryony led a successful design-led bid to Homes England and oversaw strategic designs for Ebbsfleet Harbour Village – a 12-hectare masterplan in Ebbsfleet Garden City, alongside designs for a 1000+ dwelling strategic site in Redbridge.

As Senior Regeneration Officer at Ealing, Bryony is supporting a borough-wide green industrial workspace strategy through the gathering of borough wide evidence, targeted interventions, engagement with businesses and communities, and planning policy recommendations. She is also delivering a place-based strategy for the Greenford local area.

Contact Bryony via LinkedIn.

#associate
#lb-ealing

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. At the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Carmel led Our Stockwell, a co-design research project that explored the link between the urban built environment and childhood obesity. Alongside this, Carmel 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Carmel joined GLA’s newly formed Urban Design Team, as an Urban Designer. She contributed to the initiation, design, management and completion of Opportunity Area Planning Frameworks for the capital’s most significant growth locations, she focused on creating a new best practice approach to consultation and engagement for these locations.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority
#engagement #placemaking #urban-design

CATHERINE HOWE

Catherine is an architect with experience on design-led, urban residential and place-making schemes as well as infrastructure projects within the rail and energy sectors. In her most recent role at Grimshaw, she also led training talks, initiated a debate series, and mentored others within the practice. Catherine has been involved in charitable build projects for a built suspension bridge in Rwanda and social housing projects in Argentina. She has also led educational projects supporting students interested in construction, design, and the built environment.

At LB Ealing, Catherine has taken on the role of Principal Regeneration Officer, where she is focusing on unlocking opportunities for major redevelopments across a key town centre to help with the council’s economic recovery and renewal. Working across multiple council services and engaging with the community, Catherine is developing a strategy and town centre masterplan, taking developments from feasibility to delivery.

#associate
#lb-ealing

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.

#alumni
#lb-lewisham

CHLOE RUTLAND

Chloe is an urban planner, most recently for Prior + Partners, where she worked across a range of urban advisory and planning projects, including city centre strategy and visioning work, large-scale urban extensions and brownfield regeneration. She completed her MSc in Spatial Planning at UCL, during which time she gained experience at Tibbalds where she contributed to research for the MHCLG National Design Guide. Outside work, Chloe is an active member of the RTPI London Young Planners committee.

Chloe has joined London Borough of Havering’s new Infrastructure Team where she is involved in reviewing and renewing the Infrastructure Delivery Plan to ensure new projects are well planned, delivered, and monitored. The new team is part of a commitment to deliver infrastructure projects and programmes worth over £600m. Her work also involves reviewing the council’s approach to its Community Infrastructure Levy.

#alumni
#lb-havering
#planning-policy

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, demonstrated in her transformative approach to Waterloo City Hub whilst at TfL. She led design teams through implementation of award-winning schemes including Bracknell Regeneration and Elephant Park public realm MP2, supported by her technical expertise in SuDS and inclusive design.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Ciara’s role within the newly formed Havering Placemaking team extended across the Council, expanding its in-house ambition to create healthier neighbourhoods by embracing sustainable growth. She informed emerging policy and shaped health impact assessments, alongside carrying out a pre-app advisory role focused on sensitive sites and Regeneration Areas, including the Rainham & Beam Park development.

#alumni
#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 has been a mentor for the FLUID diversity programme and worked with secondary schools to inform students of roles within the construction industry.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Clarissa took the role of Housing Design and Development Officer and assisted 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.

#alumni
#lb-redbridge
#urban-design #council-led-housing

CLAUDIA NICOLINI

Prior to joining Public Practice, Claudia was an urban practitioner with seven years experience in city development, urban studies and community engagement projects. She had spent the majority of her career in Chile, working in local government in roles including City Housing Director and Head of Regional Environment and Urban Development. In 2019 she completed an MSc. Environment and Sustainable Development at UCL, where she developed collaborative research in Sierra Leone to understand the effect of climate change on local communities in Freetown's informal settlements.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Claudia worked in Epping Forest District Council's Policy and Implementation Team to facilitate the negotiation and delivery of the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Communities. Her role was focused on developing a collaborative and coordinated approach to implementation across the Garden Town partnership, ensuring Garden City principles are at the heart of all developments.

You can contact Claudia via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#epping-forest-dc
#planning-policy #new-settlements

COLIN ROSE

Colin is an architect and researcher. He completed his Engineering Doctorate at the Centre for Urban Sustainability and Resilience, UCL, where his thesis investigated the secondary lives of building components in a circular economy. He is the winner of the 2020 Flemming Bligaard Award for his work on the use of waste wood to make cross-laminated timber. Prior to his doctorate, Colin was a project architect at Haworth Tompkins, where he worked on award-winning projects for the London Library, the Donmar Warehouse and the Royal College of Art.

At the London Borough of Redbridge, Colin has taken on the role of Infrastructure Coordinator, part of a pioneering London-wide infrastructure coordination service in partnership with the GLA. The service facilitates liaison between developers and infrastructure asset owners to proactively plan, design and construct London’s infrastructure. Working with Planning Policy Team, Colin is playing a key role in providing design advice and coordination, sharing best practice, informing local policy and plans, and researching, developing and implementing innovative infrastructure that reduces disruption and contributes to more liveable, healthy, sustainable and biodiverse places.

#alumni
#lb-redbridge
#planning-policy #sustainability

CONOR MORRIS

Conor is a Part II qualified architectural professional with substantial research experience. In his most recent role at Jacobs Engineering, Conor was part of the Cities team – focusing on strategy, masterplanning and urban design projects, infrastructure related development capacity studies, and the creation of a borough design guide. Prior to this, Conor worked with LSE Cities on a variety of projects spanning housing density,
to the future of London highstreets.

Conor has joined Ealing as Senior Regeneration Officer to unlock opportunities to create a climate adapted, greener and resilient neighbourhood in Northolt, an area of severe climate vulnerability and deprivation. He is developing a strategy and delivering early intervention projects that ensure future growth and enhancement in Northolt is underpinned by a green recovery.

#associate
#lb-ealing

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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Dan joined Ashford Borough Council as Masterplanning and Delivery Coordinator. He led a high profile initiative bringing together multiple stakeholder groups to determine long-term community stewardship of local assets in a major growth area south of Ashford. His role involved developing the Council’s long-term quality placemaking ambitions and he made recommendations for a joined-up approach based on best practices identified in the emerging community management trust for Chilmington Green.

#alumni
#ashford-borough-council

DAWA PRATTEN

Dawa is an architect, most recently at Project Orange, where he worked on a number of projects in Thamesmead for Peabody, including estate regeneration, landscape-led masterplans, green infrastructure strategies and the redevelopment of a derelict Brutalist social club at the heart of the Moorings Estate for which he was project architect. Prior to this, he worked at Citizens Design Bureau on the Sondheim Theatre and Manchester Jewish Museum and in Shanghai on several concept fashion stores. He has tutored at the RCA and other universities and was among the first cohort of students to graduate from the London School of Architecture. His drawings for the Thamesmead Green Infrastructure Strategy were exhibited at the 2020 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

Dawa has joined Epping Forest District Council as part of the team delivering Harlow and Gilston Garden Town – one of the most exciting and ambitious growth and regeneration projects in the Country. He is providing broad urban design expertise, including providing specialist advice on masterplans and planning applications, working with developers to prepare design codes, and ensuring the Garden Town principles of design quality, open space, and a connection to the landscape, are delivered.

#associate
#epping-forest-dc

DEBORAH EASTWOOD

Deborah is an experienced civil engineer with a passion for sustainability, community, and water. She has worked both in London and The Philippines – in the water sector, on large scale infrastructure projects, standalone building projects, disaster relief, as well as masterplans both in the UK and abroad. In her most recent role as Associate at AKT II, she led a Sustainability Focus Group in her infrastructure team and is commencing a Masters Degree in this subject in 2021.

Deborah has joined Epping Forest District Council as SuDS and Green Infrastructure Officer within the multidisciplinary Policy and Implementation Team. Her role is focussed on facilitating the negotiation and delivery of Harlow and Gilston Garden Town as well as strategic masterplans for other sites in the Council’s Local Plan. She is providing specialist sustainable drainage and landscape advice, with an emphasis on naturalistic drainage and green infrastructure design strategies that take the opportunity to connect with existing green and blue infrastructure in the District.

#associate
#epping-forest-dc

DINA MNEIMNEH

Dina is an urban designer and researcher with architectural training and more than 8 years of experience in design, urban research, storytelling and project management. Her approach to placemaking is sensitive, holistic and spans multiple sectors with public and private projects in architecture, urban design, landscape, and heritage preservation strategies delivered in the different contexts of the SWANA region, Europe and Latin America. Alongside this work, she co-leads a graduate-level design unit at the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University.

Contact Dina via LinkedIn

#associate
#westminster-city-council

DOROTHEE WOOLLARD

Prior to joining Public Practice, Dorothee had over 20 years of experience in engineering design and consulting at Arup and Foster + Partners, specialising in public health and environmental water services. In 2017 she established her own water engineering and sustainability consultancy, with a particular interest in the environmental and aesthetic issues of building and infrastructure design. Her expertise also covers sustainability advice and a wide range of sustainability assessment tools.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Dorothee took on the role of Infrastructure Coordinator at LB Tower Hamlets, a pioneering new London-wide infrastructure coordination service, in partnership with the GLA. The service facilitates liaison between developers and infrastructure asset owners to proactively plan, design and construct London’s infrastructure. Dorothee is playing a key role in providing design advice and coordination, sharing best practice, informing local policy and plans, and researching, developing and implementing innovative infrastructure that reduces disruption and contributes to more liveable, healthy, sustainable and biodiverse places.

You can contact Dorothee via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-tower-hamlets
#sustainability

EI-LYN CHIA

Ei-Lyn is an urban designer with a background in architecture and research. Prior to joining Public Practice, she was a project coordinator at Publica where she worked on developing visions, strategies and briefs for regeneration projects.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Ei-Lyn joined the GLA Planning team as Urban Designer. In this role, she contributed to the design and management of Opportunity Area Planning Frameworks. This involved developing urban strategies and masterplans for the Thamesmead and Bexley Opportunity Areas; undertaking development capacity studies; planning for transport and social infrastructure to support growth, and providing design advice to developers on area masterplans.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority
#placemaking #urban-design #industry

ELENI KATRINI

Prior to joining Public Practice, Eleni was an architect and academic with a research focus on urban commons, community empowerment, participation, and urban ecology. Her doctoral dissertation identified catalyzing spatial patterns of resident-led sharing culture practices within urban neighborhoods. 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.

As part of the third cohort of Public Practice, Eleni’s role at Newham as Lead Urban Designer included working to develop and deliver an exciting and progressive town centre strategy for Green Street (Upton Park), Forest Gate and East Ham. Her work involved 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.

The results of her work can be seen in the Newham High Streets Phase One Report launched in June 2021. One of her key achievements was the development of the Newham Co-create platform, an online space for local residents to engage with and contribute to the regeneration of the town centre following the economic impacts of COVID-19. Read the Practice Note she co-wrote on Digital Engagement Tools to find out more.

You can contact Eleni via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-newham
#engagement #town-centres

ELERI THOMAS

Eleri is a trained urban designer and town planner with more than six years of multi-disciplinary experience in the research, policy, and practice of urban development. She has led advice and engagement programmes with developers, designers, and stakeholders on achieving design quality in more than 150 projects. Most recently she was part of the Architecture & Built Environment team at the Design Council, managing their Inclusive Environments programme. She is also a co-founder of Squeezed London, a community-led developer in East London, and teaches design and policy at the University of Westminster.

As Strategic Regeneration Partnership Manager for LB Newham, Eleri oversaw the transition of work from the London Legacy Development Corporation to Newham’s Community Wealth Building & Inclusive Economy directorate. Her role involved working across teams and organisations including with the Mayor of London, neighbouring boroughs and other delivery partners. More broadly, Eleri was involved with developing a wider and more comprehensive strategic narrative of placemaking for the Stratford and Leaway areas, bringing significant improvements to the quality of life of its residents.

#alumni
#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.

#alumni
#lb-enfield

ELLEN HADDEN

Prior to joining Public Practice, Ellen practiced as an architect, most recently as a senior associate at DSDHA. Her architectural experience spans public realm design, brief writing and project leading masterplans and new build housing. Acting as masterplan lead in the Central Somers Town Community Investment Programme, she worked with five other practices, developing a dialogue between a multi-headed client and stakeholder group. In 2016, she was awarded a 2-year Research Fellowship in the Built Environment by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, which investigated how improvements to walking and cycling infrastructure can help improve London’s public realm.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Ellen's role at LB Havering involved embedding design across the planning process to ensure that growth and regeneration was of a high quality. She provided urban design input through the Local Plan, the design review process, advising on regeneration initiatives and inputting into strategically important planning applications, including within the Council’s major regeneration areas of Romford Town Centre and Rainham/Beam Park.

You can contact Ellen via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-havering
#design-review #urban-design #pre-apps

ELOISE ROUSSEAU

Eloise is an urban planner specialising in policy development, spatial planning and community engagement. Most recently, she was an Urban Planning Manager in Arup’s Hong Kong office where she worked on public sector projects, including developing Active Design guidelines for the Hong Kong Government. Prior to that, she was a Principal Planner at the City of Cape Town where she project managed the award-winning Langa Proactive Land Use Application that obtained a landmark approval for consent use rights for 207 property owners in South Africa’s oldest township. Eloise regularly serves as an external examiner for the University of Cape Town and is a former participant in Les Ateliers’ international planning workshops in Paris and Kampala.

As Principal Policy Officer in the GLA’s Infrastructure Team, Eloise is leading on the provision of targeted planning support and technical advice to Boroughs experiencing high growth and development pressures on their existing infrastructure.

Contact Eloise via LinkedIn.

#associate
#greater-london-authority

EMILY BEAVAN

Emily is an architect specialising in housing, community and public projects. In her recent role as a Senior Project Architect at Alison Brooks Architects, she delivered high-quality design-led housing schemes across London and the South East. With a passion for the civic and sociological aspects of architecture and urban design, Emily regularly participates in workshops and events with local community groups and industry organisations. She has conducted research into the formation of social groups and the ways in which people generate a collective sense of ownership and belonging within a diverse urban context.

Contact Emily via LinkedIn

#associate
#basildon-council

ESRA ABD ELRAHMAN

Esra is an architectural designer and researcher, with a focus on community development and engagement. She worked with Age UK Westminster to tackle digital exclusion among vulnerable communities and implemented services to improve living standards together with local stakeholders. She has extensive experience working in the built environment as a researcher and architectural designer. Esra also serves as an Inclusivity Officer on the board of a Community Land Trust (CLT) in Lewisham, working to build affordable housing.

Contact Esra via LinkedIn

#associate
#lb-ealing

FRANCIS MOSS

Francis is an urban design consultant with over 15-years experience in architecture, regeneration, research, consultation, strategy and policy. He takes a people-centred and interdisciplinary approach to make places socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. Key pieces of work include capacity studies, options appraisals and businesses cases for regeneration sites, the strategic masterplan for the London Cancer Hub innovation district, and local economic studies such as The Park Royal Atlas for the GLA. He previously worked as an architect for practices in London and Zurich including David Chipperfield, Architects in London and reputable Swiss architecture firms Burkhardt+Partner, and Nägele Twerenbold.

Francis has taken on the role of Principal Regeneration Officer at LB Ealing, with a primary focus on unlocking opportunities for major redevelopments across a key town centre to help with the council’s economic recovery and renewal. Working across multiple council services and engaging with the community, Francis is developing a strategy and town centre masterplan, taking developments from feasibility to delivery.

#alumni
#lb-ealing
#town-centres

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.

#alumni
#brighton-hove-council
#design-review #urban-design #sustainability #pre-apps

GEORGE BURGESS

George is a Chartered Town Planner with over 6 years’ planning consultancy experience. He has a broad experience of planning covering major and minor developments across a variety of sectors, including residential, commercial, leisure and retail. His work has included town centre renewal, community engagement for contentious proposals, and engaging with Local Plan preparation. George is also experienced in undertaking socio-economic assessments for complex major mixed-use developments, and conducting analyses to inform masterplans.

Contact George via LinkedIn

#associate
#st-albans-city-dc

GEORGIE DAY

Prior to joining Public Practice, Georgie had been an architectural designer, public realm designer, furniture designer, urbanist, small business owner, journalist, researcher and teacher, exploring the same question of how architecture and cities can serve some conception of "the good life". She was previously director at FACtotum, a practice she co-founded with 4 friends. Georgie teaches BA Architecture at Central St Martins teaching in Studio 2 with Oscar Brito. She is an expert in UK housing cooperatives, having completed a 2 year MPhil on the topic at University of Cambridge, and has a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Georgie took on the role of Economic Development Project Officer at LB Enfield, supporting the borough’s Town Centre Action Plans and helping to guide the diversification and resilience of Enfield’s Town Centres. As a key member of the Council’s Economic Development Team, Georgie contributed directly to delivering homes in well-connected neighbourhoods, building the local economy to create a thriving place, and sustaining strong and healthy communities.

You can contact Georgie via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#engagement #placemaking #economic-development #town-centres

GISSELLE CASIO

Gisselle is an architect with experience working with both public and private clients, most notably within the housing and education sectors. In 2018, she took on a Housing Development Officer role at Tower Hamlets where she helped to maximise the supply of high-quality affordable housing. Gisselle is passionate about diversity and equality within the built environment. She has been involved with numerous education and training programs and worked closely with employers to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds pursue careers within the sector.

Contact Gisselle on LinkedIn

#associate
#lb-haringey

GRACE CRANNIS

Grace is a designer, researcher, and community engagement practitioner with a background in architecture and an MA in Information Experience Design from the Royal College of Art. In her most recent role she worked as Design Champion at The Glass-House Community Led Design, a design charity working with stakeholders to support a collaborative design process. She is also co-founder of Syrup, a creative platform and print magazine which produces socially-motivated projects and events. She is currently working on a project with school children in Hackney to explore their changing area, and has recently completed a project exploring memory in Barking and Dagenham.

Grace’s role as Senior Planning Engagement Officer at Richmond and Wandsworth is focused on helping both Authorities rethink how to meaningfully engage, in particular with communities who are seldom heard and under-represented in the planning process. Acting as the principal point of contact for local organisations and community groups, Grace is leading on the development of creative and inclusive engagement strategies, including for the Local Plans in both boroughs, while also building capacity with the Planning Policy and Design team and advising on best practice.

You can contact Grace via her LinkedIn profile.

#alumni
#lb-richmond-wandsworth
#engagement #planning-policy

GWENAËL JERRETT

Gwenaël is an architect with experience working in the UK and France across the residential, sports and education sectors, and a particular interest in housing design and policy. At Metropolitan Workshop she led successful mixed-use master planning bids and competitions. Before this, she was a partner at Cullinan Studio where she was part of the Housing Sector Group and designed and delivered large housing schemes.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Gwenaël joined the LLDC as Senior Designer within the Development Directorate. In this role, she ensured that high-quality design was consistently provided across the organisation. Gwenaël provided design advice on major planning applications as well as client-side on LLDC developments with a focus on residential schemes, linking to the mayor’s new housing targets and the GLA’s Good Growth Agenda, and looked at new models of affordable homes.

#alumni
#london-legacy-development-corporation
#urban-design #council-led-housing #pre-apps

HANA LOFTUS

Hana is co-director of HAT Projects, an award-winning architecture and enabling practice with whom she has delivered civic, cultural and community projects at large and small scales. Hana is an experienced facilitator of co-design processes and other methods of community involvement in design and regeneration.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Hana joined the Shared Planning Service in South Cambs District Council as a part-time Planning and Special Projects Officer. In this role, she developed and tested new models of planning and design guidance within rural parish communities which are set to experience high levels of growth and development. She worked with parish communities to understand their priorities for how new development is integrated, existing examples of good and bad practice, and developed new adopted design guidance for a number of villages with current applications and pre-applications in the pipeline. She evaluated the results to establish a process map for delivering effective policy guidance for the district more widely.

#alumni
#greater-cambridge-planning-services
#engagement #planning-policy #urban-design

HANNAH LAMBERT

Hannah is an architect with experience working with strategic regeneration. At the Regional Development Agency in Yorkshire, she was responsible for the delivery of urban development framework strategies and acted as design advisor on new public realm, masterplanning and civic buildings across the region.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Hannah joined the Regeneration and Planning Team in Newham Council as Senior Regeneration Manager. She worked as part of a small team leading the Canning Town and Custom House estate regeneration Programme. This was the first time that Newham had developed its own planning application of this scale. The council hoped that Hannah’s involvement defined a final vision for the area, set the standard for the design quality of council-led schemes as well as delivery by future development partners and speed up the regeneration process through giving certainty to developers.

#alumni
#lb-newham
#engagement #meanwhile-use #estate-renewal

HAZEL MEALY

Hazel is an architect with 12 years’ international experience in architecture, humanitarian shelter and international development. Most recently in Mozambique, as IFRC National Shelter-Cluster Coordinator, she developed the emergency shelter response strategy, collaborated on the Government’s Post-Cyclone Reconstruction Plan, and provided technical guidance to partner organizations. In London she has worked as an architect on mixed-use projects and as a site-based Senior Design Coordinator on large-scale developments. She has also worked in Honduras as architect and donor representative on a series of healthcare and community projects. She has a Masters in Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources during which she developed a community-led sustainability strategy in Caracas, and a Masters in Human Rights Law which focused on irregular migrants’ protections from exploitation.

Taking on the role of Principal Strategy Officer for Better Placed, a partnership between LB Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Hazel is working across the tri-borough partnership to shape, plan and lead their response to the emerging green skills and zero-carbon sector opportunities. She will also help to maximise employment opportunities for residents from council investment, towards achieving net zero.

Contact Hazel via LinkedIn.

#associate
#better-placed

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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Helen took on the role of Development and Design Manager at Newham and played 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 involved 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; and commenting on concept to final design proposals as they progress.

You can contact Helen via their LinkedIn account here.

#alumni
#lb-newham
#council-led-housing #sustainability #project-management

HELEN MARKIDES

After studying urban development planning and architecture, Helen developed a career across policy, project management, monitoring and evaluation in both public and private settings, gaining almost a decade of experience in roles focused on improving outcomes for people and places.

Following many years working on international projects, Public Practice offered Helen the opportunity to work in and for her home city of London and to bring her technical skills squarely back to placemaking and the built environment. In her placement for the GLA, where she was Infrastructure Data and Innovation Lead, Helen worked in partnership with boroughs, utilities, and digital teams to ensure data and innovation programmes inform strategic planning and drive collaborative working for London's infrastructure.

Helen led two digital projects: London’s Underground Asset Register (LUAR) and the Infrastructure Mapping Application (IMA). LUAR is a pilot project at City Hall funded by the Cabinet Office that brings together data from utilities, transport providers, telecommunications companies, and boroughs to digitally map our below-ground infrastructure. As a champion for data sharing and innovation, Helen’s role also involved influencing the infrastructure sector, bringing together the GLA, central government, regulators and think-tanks to build support for mandating data sharing, as well as speaking at conferences and writing blogs.

She described how her Public Practice placement enabled her to fulfil long-held hopes for the future of our cities: “If the public and private sectors are encouraged to share data in a standard format, councils could plan more strategically, anticipate change, and move towards smart cities – my role at the GLA is a small but meaningful step towards these ambitions.”

#alumni
#greater-london-authority
#digital-data #project-management

HELEN SAYERS

Helen is a landscape architect with over twenty years of experience working in the public and private sectors on a broad range of landscape projects including public parks, public spaces, schools, estate regeneration and housing. She has experience in working at all stages, taking projects through the planning process, public consultation, the procurement process and working with contractors through the construction period. Helen’s recent projects include two large residential schemes at Wembley, which were completed in early 2021. She worked with a multidisciplinary team to coordinate the landscape design with infrastructure, architecture and engineering on constrained urban sites.

Contact Helen via LinkedIn

#associate
#greater-cambridge-planning-services

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.

#alumni
#lb-camden

HOPE MCGEE

Hope has extensive experience in community work combined with economic development skills in fundraising, planning, and programme administration. Her career spans technology, fashion, and social enterprise, and most recently led her to complete an MSc in Urban Economic Development at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit. Her research focus is on participatory planning and policy, addressing post-pandemic recovery, spatial justice, and developing an economic democracy framework that reimagines London's high streets through the social value of the commons.

Contact Hope via LinkedIn

#associate
#london-borough-of-southwark

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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Huw took on the role of Urban Design Officer and joined Havering's newly formed Placemaking team. His role involved working across the department, providing design advice on strategic planning applications, developing planning guidance, and inputting into council-led development projects. He also provided training for planning officers and councillors, helping to encourage design-led approaches in the planning process.

You can read more about Huw's work in the Practice Note Engaging Members and contact Huw directly via their LinkedIn account here.

#alumni
#lb-havering

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

#alumni
#royal-borough-of-kensington-chelsea
#design-review #urban-design #heritage

IONE BRADDICK

Prior to joining Public Practice Ione worked at Archio as Project Architect and Head of PR for a number of years, leading on the design and delivery of housing schemes. Ione has run engagement and design workshops for the Lewisham Community Land Trust, the London Festival of Architecture and within schools as an RIBA Architecture Ambassador.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Ione joined Epping Forest District Council in their Implementation Team as an Urban Designer. In this role, she helped to ensure the design and quality standards set out in the emerging Local Plan were implemented. This included liaising and advising on masterplans, including major growth areas around the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town. Alongside this, Ione provided design advice for major schemes in the district and coordinated the newly set up Quality Review Panel.

You can watch a short video interview of Ione during her placement, read more about her work in the Practice Note Measuring Design Review and contact Ione via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#epping-forest-dc
#design-review #urban-design #new-settlements

ISRAEL HURTADO COLA

Israel is an architect, spatial designer and community facilitator with broad experience across the UK and Europe. Most recently at BARE he worked on a series of community-led projects in London, focusing on adaptive reuse of vacant and underused buildings, participatory design and placemaking. As both a designer and expert facilitator, he has run multiple Design & Build workshops in the UK, Europe and China, testing innovative approaches to community engagement, public consultation and co-design. Previously, he worked at Grimshaw on the award-winning London Bridge Station redevelopment project.

As Regeneration Sites Officer for Haringey, Israel is working on the council’s successful ‘Future High Streets Fund’ programme which covers a series of complex sites across South Tottenham to deliver much needed workspace, council homes and placemaking outputs. He is working with landowners and key partners to develop design briefs and undertake capacity studies and options appraisals to agree next steps with partners and local residents.

Contact Israel via his LinkedIn account.

#associate
#lb-haringey

JACK BENNETT

Jack is an architect specialising in community-led development and urban design. In his most recent role at PRP Architects, he worked on masterplanning and placemaking projects including proposals for a new neighbourhood and public park homes in Surrey. He was previously a founding director at Heat Island where he led the delivery of a new community teaching kitchen for a Rhyl school in Gospel Oak. Jack is also a board trustee at Forest Community Land Trust based in Waltham Forest, where he leads the community hub – a co-designed vision for a new co-designed community hub project which was a finalist for the Clarion William Sutton Prize.

As Principal Urban Designer for Uttlesford District Council, Jack is working on the new Local Plan and leading on strategic developments – from considering locations, through to masterplanning, and design codes. As design lead, Jack is working with a wide range of stakeholders to embed design quality in Local Plan policies and allocations, design guidance, site masterplans and design codes. He is also providing advice and training to the Development Management team.

#alumni
#uttlesford-dc

JACOB STURDY

Jacob is an architect with experience in social, private and temporary housing projects. He has expertise in tall buildings, most recently leading and coordinating a multidisciplinary consultant team on the delivery of a large, mix-use development in Brighton. Jacob has contributed to research-led community infrastructure projects focussing on engagement with end users. Alongside this, he co-founded Medium, a dual design and research collective working on projects including a built community infrastructure project in Georgia.

Contact Jacob via LinkedIn

#associate
#lb-haringey

JAMES COLLISTER

James is an experienced Chartered Town Planner, specialising in strategic planning, city visioning, economic development, and regeneration. He has worked extensively across the public and private sector, including a role as Lead Regeneration Officer on secondment to the Borough of Hounslow where he developed an Economic Recovery Strategy, supported town centres impacted by COVID-19, and developed an in-house GIS incident reporting system. Most recently he has been working closely with LB Camden to maximise the economic benefits resulting from the Council retrofitting their housing stock.

As Industrial Sector Manager for LB Enfield, James is playing a key role in delivering the Economic Development Strategy with respect to industrial areas which play a critical part of employment in the borough. His work involves the creation of action plans for priority industrial areas and mobilising staff and resources to deliver these strategies.

#associate
#lb-enfield

JAMES NEWTON

James is an architect with broad experience ranging from feasibility to technical design. Most recently working with Kristofer Adelaide Architects, he developed the A.F.R.O House modular housing concept, responding to lessons learned from the global pandemic, which was shortlisted for Brick-by-Brick's ‘Housing for a Better World’ competition and HUB White Hat's Architects Pitch. Previously, James worked at Apt where he was responsible for all residential packages on Medius House, a social and intermediate housing project on a tight site in Central London. James is a keen artist and has been a member of Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust since 2017, helping with their RA 250th celebrations and a new research project linking Portland Stone buildings in London with the quarries and community of Portland.

As Senior Urban Design Officer for Oxford City Council, James has joined the planning service to promote design quality and ensure developments create a positive legacy for the city. He is inputting into major planning applications and pre-applications, as well as shaping the way the team approaches urban design.

#alumni
#oxford-city-council
#urban-design

JAMIE NAYAR

Jamie is an urban designer with experience in urban strategy, project management, landscape detailing, and public realm design. Most recently with Project Centre, his work has included the design and delivery of a £13m regeneration project in Dartford Town Centre; designing a new public realm at the entrance to Windsor Castle; detailing ‘small-scale big impact’ schemes for a West Ealing Liveable Neighbourhood and project managing multi-disciplinary teams and internal budgets. Drawing on his passion for everyday places, Jamie’s recent Master's research at the University of Westminster focused on participatory placemaking, sustainable local economies, and exploring alternative models for community engagement and inclusivity through the public realm.

As Regeneration Manager for Waltham Forest, Jamie is leading a number of area strategies and capital regeneration projects – ensuring projects deliver expected outcomes and benefits to the Council, its residents and the wider community. His work is focused around the Lea Bridge Strategic Location as identified in the draft Local Plan.

#alumni
#lb-waltham-forest

JAN ACKENHAUSEN

Jan is an urbanist with a background in sociology and cultural production. Before joining Public Practice, Jan worked as a project manager with the Brussels public planning agency, Perspective, where he was in charge of integrating spaces of work (industry, port activities, and vacant office buildings) with the surrounding urban fabric.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Jan joined the OPDC’s Design Team as Principal Urban Designer. In this role, he led the feasibility and concept development stage of the organisation’s placemaking projects including public realm, meanwhile use and early activation projects. He was also involved in establishing a clear approach to design and placemaking for the OPDC. Jan provided design advice on architectural, urban design and landscape design aspects of planning applications and infrastructure projects, and provided advice and support in the preparation of the OPDC’s planning policies related to design and placemaking.

#alumni
#old-oak-park-royal-development-corporation
#design-review #placemaking #urban-design

JANE BRIGINSHAW

Jane’s early career as an architect was followed by 11 years in government, leading place-making policy and delivery as Head of Design and Sustainability for the Department for Education and Homes England. She directs Design England, offering consulting services to local authorities, working at all levels and across disciplines to build collaborative leadership and enhance the quality of large-scale projects. Jane is an advocate for high-quality design and has acted as Design Review Chair for the London Borough of Hounslow and sat on the Design Review Panel for the London Legacy Development Corporation.

Contact Jane via LinkedIn

#associate
#buckinghamshire-council

JANE HAKES

Jane is an experienced urban designer and qualified Architect with a specialism in master planning and strategic design. Most recently, she has worked on estate regeneration and master planning projects at Levitt Bernstein Architects, and previously at Allies and Morrison on concept design, viability and planning compliance. Outside work, Jane volunteers with Shelter in Kings Cross.

Taking on the role of Principal Urban Designer at Dacorum, Jane is providing design advice from the early stages onward to shape proposals for a series of major planning applications and sites identified through the Local Plan. Central to her work is setting a new benchmark for design quality on major sites following the publication of the council’s draft Strategic Design Guide.

#alumni
#dacorum-borough-council
#urban-design

JENNIFER GUTTERIDGE

Jennifer is an urban planner with an architectural background. She joined Public Practice from Lambeth Council where she was a Principal Urban Design Officer.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Jennifer joined the Royal Docks team at the GLA as Design Advisor. In this role she worked on the Enterprise Zone Delivery Plan — which set out the key themes of Promotion, Connectivity, Place, Economy and Activation – and provided particular support on the Place strand, the strategic objective of which was to “transform the quality of place through a ‘Great Estate’ approach, building on the Royal Docks’ unique landscape and heritage.” Among other things, this involved rethinking the use of the water and how the public realm fits together.

#alumni
#royal-docks
#placemaking #public-realm #urban-design

JENNY DUNN

Jenny is a multidisciplinary designer focusing on participatory practice. Most recently at Groundwork London she led on co-producing initiatives to tackle local food insecurity and designed an active travel webinar series. She is an experienced designer, previously working as design lead at Mace and Penoyre & Prasad, across education, healthcare, workplace and housing projects. Jenny has an MA in Art and Social Practice, for which she co-created a mobile ‘community-centre’ cart with residents of the Dorset Estate in Bethnal Green. She also worked on the University of Nicosia’s research project ‘Phygital’ in Cyprus, collaborating on the creation of a community makerspace.

In her role as Principal Regeneration Officer at Camden, Jenny is focused on identifying underused space within assets under the councils ownership, including their estates or high streets. She is responsible for co-creating value from underused spaces by retrofitting them for sustainable uses that meet the needs of the local community.

Contact Jenny via LinkedIn.

#associate
#lb-camden

JESSICA CARGILL THOMPSON

Prior to joining Public Practice, Jessica was a writer, editor, journalist, urbanist and community engager. Following a career in journalism which included seven years as features/deputy editor of Time Out London and authoring numerous books, she recently undertook an MSc in Urban Studies at UCL. Her research included a joint report into local involvement with Opportunity Area planning, and an independent dissertation on place, identity and regeneration strategies around London's Old Kent Road. Since 2016 she has been running community engagement events around the Old Kent Road, and fundraising to establish an 'urban room' as a permanent hub for the public to interact with planning.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice Jessica joined Waltham Forest's Planning Policy Team as Community Engagement Officer. Her role involved engaging with local residents and other stakeholders to develop an effective communication and engagement strategy for the Local Plan and an issues and options version of a strategic site allocations document. Her role centred on building a strong relationship with stakeholders and acting as a bridge between the Council and the community.

You can contact Jessica via her LinkedIn account.

You can view Jessica's Associate Story video here.

#alumni
#lb-waltham-forest

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, alongside 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Joanne joined Greater Cambridge Planning Service as Principal Urban Design Officer. Her role sat within the joint planning service’s multi-disciplinary Built and Natural Environment Team and involved working on the masterplan for Northstowe New Town. She supported the development of Cambridge Biomedical Campus and contributed to the design code for an urban extension to the east of Cambridge.

#alumni
#greater-cambridge-planning-services
#urban-design #new-settlements

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 has been developing a self-directed project exploring how strategic infill development can help regenerate these areas. John has been involved in a number of council-led housing development - looking into the pressures in today’s procurement and delivery processes and the positive impact that considered development can have on communities.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, John took on the role of Quality and Design Advisor with TFL’s Property Development team. He ensured that the principles of Good Growth by Design were followed-up on a range of housing and mixed-use schemes, from development concept to scheme development. His role also involved coordinating design reviews; helping to deliver in-house training workshops, charrettes and building visits; drafting design policy documents and updating the team’s Design Review Protocol.

You can contact John via his LinkedIn profile.

#alumni
#transport-for-london
#design-review #urban-design #council-led-housing

JOHNNY LUI

Johnny is an architect, mostly recently at Herzog & de Meuron, where he contributed to the technical design, coordination and delivery of the practice’s UK projects. Johnny’s previous research project ‘CILVIA’ explored the potentials of interactive digital 3D models in planning, and was developed with the help of planners, game designers, artists and technologists. The project was widely published and exhibited at the Building Centre. Johnny is also a volunteer for the community project Goodgym in Tower Hamlets.

As Urban Designer for Watford Borough Council, Johnny is working with the Borough’s recently commissioned 3D model of the Borough to consider what the potential applications of the model are, how they can use the model to meet the needs of their customers and community, and how it might be commercialised to reduce ongoing costs. He is also exploring how the 3D model may be used to assist in both developing the strategies and masterplans for a number of key regeneration projects and in improving the quality of community engagement relating to these projects.

Contact Johnny via LinkedIn.

#associate
#watford-borough-council
#urban-design

JONATHAN BRODERICK

Jonathan trained in social science, urban design and urban policy at LSE. As an urban researcher, a project manager and consultant, he has worked with a range of built environment organisations 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Jonathan joined Barnet as a Town Centres Investment Manager and worked closely with Council officers, local businesses, community groups, developers and other levels of government. He helped to develop and deliver strategies combining economic, social and physical interventions across Barnet’s town centres.

#alumni
#lb-barnet
#engagement #placemaking #town-centres

JONATHAN KEEN

Prior to joining Public Practice, Jonathan was a transport planner, most recently within Imperial College London’s Transport Strategy Centre where he advised global Public Transport operators on service and operations. While working on transport demand management schemes in Greater Manchester, Jonathan sat on the Manchester Climate Change Board. A large focus of his work has been championing digitising data and using GIS to visualise complex issues.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Jonathan took on the role of Infrastructure Coordinator at LB Croydon, part of a pioneering new London-wide infrastructure coordination service, in partnership with the GLA. The service facilitates liaison between developers and infrastructure asset owners to proactively plan, design and construct London’s infrastructure. Jonathan's role involved providing design advice and coordination, sharing best practice and supporting a London-wide community of infrastructure coordinators, informing local policy and plans, and researching, developing and implementing innovative infrastructure that reduces disruption and contributes to more liveable, healthy places.

You can contact Jonathan via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-croydon

JONATHAN WATSON

Prior to joining Public Practice, Jonathan was a collaborative project manager with experience in the rail sector, most recently at Network Rail where he managed change projects to ensure minimal disruption to operational railway and the public. He has a background in modern languages and qualifications in programme and project management.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice as an Infrastructure Delivery Officer within the GLA, Jonathan joined the recently established Infrastructure Coordination Team, working on a wide range of projects which support the development of initiatives designed to improve the way in which infrastructure is delivered across London. Jonathan’s role involved working with data and engagement with stakeholders to identify opportunities for infrastructure coordination, as well as ensuring the alignment of initiatives to wider GLA and Mayoral objectives, and monitoring and evaluating the success of initiatives to inform future funding.

You can contact Jonathan via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority
#digital-data #project-management

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.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#engagement #estate-renewal #council-led-housing

JOSEPH PENN

Joseph is an architect and climate activist. Most recently, he was a project architect at Rock Townsend working on schools and higher education facilities including new-build, extension and retrofit. He helped to develop the office’s approach to sustainable practice as part of a focus group. In 2019 Joe co-founded Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) in order to help catalyse radical, urgent action in the construction industry. ACAN was built around the values of inclusion, empowerment and collective agency. Alongside this work, he teaches Architecture at Cardiff University where he shares his knowledge of sustainable construction techniques and community engagement.

Contact Joseph via LinkedIn

#associate
#royal-borough-of-kensington-chelsea

JOSHUA DOYLE

Joshua is a process-driven designer working across Europe and within various creative sectors. Prior to joining Public Practice, Joshua 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 Stephen Lawrence Prize in 2018. 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Joshua joined Redbridge’s Urban Design, Development Management and Planning Policy teams. In his role as Urban Design and Heritage Growth Officer, he took a design-led approach to regeneration and placemaking, whilst ensuring that the Borough’s heritage and important community assets were enhanced.

#alumni
#lb-redbridge
#design-review #urban-design #digital-data #heritage

JULIET AMORUSO

Juliet is a chartered planner with a multidisciplinary background in town planning, urban research and urban design. In her most recent role at Savills as an urban designer, she provided design advice to clients on a range of sites – from small scale capacity studies for two to three units, to the masterplanning of a strategic mixed-use garden village of 6000 homes. Prior to this she worked for a non-departmental public body in London, where she gained expertise in environmental and strategic planning. Juliet has been an active events organiser for London Rivers Week, which also inspired her masters design project on daylighting London’s lost urban rivers.

Taking on the role of Design and Planning Officer at Dacorum, Juliet is leading aspects
of design and programme delivery for Hemel Garden Communities (HGC) by providing expert urban design and town planning advice to enable well designed masterplans, policies and guidance. She is also providing Local Plan support to align with HGC’s Spatial Vision Intentions.

Contact Juliet via LinkedIn.

#associate
#dacorum-borough-council
#planning-policy #urban-design

KAROLINA GREBOWIEC-HALL

Karolina is a planner with experience spanning high-profile and large-scale mixed use schemes, comprehensive neighbourhood studies, and policy development. Over eight years, Karolina was a planner for the City of New York, managing the City’s property portfolio, advising the Manhattan Borough President and leading planning on the west side of Manhattan – with oversight of initiatives around the High Line, Hudson Yards and the Hudson River. Karolina relocated to London in 2017 where she has been part of the Euston Regeneration team at Camden, as Principal Planner charged with policy development, supporting community engagement and formulating a strategy to capture social value.

Joining Enfield as a Principal Planner, Karolina is proactively managing strategic planning applications and acting as lead officer in Development Management on major schemes on behalf of the council. She is working on a range of high profile developments, including town centre schemes, corporate projects and one of the UK’s most ambitious new neighbourhoods – Meridian Water.

Contact Karolina via LinkedIn.

#associate
#lb-enfield
#planning-policy #town-centres

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 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.

#alumni
#lb-richmond-wandsworth
#urban-design #heritage

KATE BEECHING

Kate has 12 years of experience working in regeneration and communities, most recently as Community Asset Manager for Clarion Housing Group where her focus was on improving the sustainability of 65 community facilities across England. Kate shared the learnings from this work in the Community Asset Transfer toolkit for Housing Associations, published with HACT. Throughout her career Kate initiated a broad range of social and environmental improvements in estates, including delivering engagement events, fundraising, project management, distributing grants and contracts. She is also a trustee for Likewise, an innovative social care and mental health charity, and volunteers for Bermondsey Welcomes Refugees.

Kate joined Oxford City Council as Programme and Partnership Manager working on the Oxford West End programme. She is responsible for ensuring the vision for the programme is realised through a high degree of co-ordinated action, both in design and planning of new developments, but also in the promotion of the opportunity to investors, developers and occupiers, and the coordination of delivery, especially around hard and soft infrastructure.

Contact Kate via LinkedIn.

#associate
#oxford-city-council

KATE JANSEN CASEY

Kate Jansen Casey is an experienced real estate project manager with a track record of leading affordable, market-rate, and mixed-use housing through all stages of development and managing complex urban regeneration schemes through the planning and public approvals process. Kate has a particular interest in sustainable design, retrofit, and Passivhaus construction.

Kate has joined the Meridian Water team at London Borough of Enfield, a flagship regeneration project delivering 10,000 new homes and 6,000 jobs, for which the council is acting as Master Developer. Kate is involved in preparing the business case and options appraisal for the next phase of delivery, procuring and managing a team of consultants to deliver and implement the scheme-wide estate management strategy. Kate is also leading on assessing tenures for each phase of development, including non-standard housing tenures.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#project-management

KATE RIDGWAY

Kate is an architectural professional with five years experience in housing and community-
led design. In her most recent role at Archio she worked extensively in residential architecture for a range of clients including councils, Community Land Trusts, and developers. She is also an engagement consultant for Erith Think Tank and in 2019 co-founded Re-Fabricate, a social enterprise focused on advocating for circular economy principles in design and construction. Through her involvement, Kate has co-run a series of engagement projects including a RIBA research initiative intended to engage young creative professionals in developing new waste-reuse products for the commercial market. In 2020, the group was included in the RIBAJ Rising Stars cohort for their work on the circular economy.

Kate is Programme Manager for South London Partnership – a subregional collaboration of five London boroughs: Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames and Sutton. Her role involves working across the five boroughs to identify, shape, agree and lead on delivering projects which when done collaboratively will lead to greater impact on tackling climate change and stimulating or supporting the green economy.

Contact Kate via LinkedIn.

#associate
#south-london-partnership
#sustainability

KATHERINE LEAT

Katherine is an architect with over 20 years of experience and is the founder of Fabrica Architecture, a multi-disciplinary studio focusing on collaborative design processes. She started her career in hospital design with RTKL and has had a continued interest in social and community architecture. This has included UK school design as project architect for Architecture PLB, and as lead architect for an international development charity; for whom Katherine designed community settlements, schools and charity headquarters in Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique. Katherine has a postgraduate diploma in Development Practice with a wealth of experience in community consultation and a keen interest in socially responsive, community-led models of development.

As part of the sixth cohort of Public Practice, as a Senior Design Officer for LLDC Katherine joined the innovative Design Team to assist at all stages of projects connected to the London 2012 legacy, from concept design to the delivery of projects on site, including giving specialist architectural and urban design advice.

You can contact Katherine via her LinkedIn profile.

#alumni
#london-legacy-development-corporation

KATHERINE SPENCE

Prior to joining Public Practice, Katherine was an architecturally trained practitioner with a decade of experience in research and design-led practice. Her expertise is in high-quality design, multi-disciplinary collaboration and participative processes involving local stakeholders. She has developed innovative research methods with public sector partners, not-for-profits and educational institutions, including a commission by the GLA and a collaboration between Central Saint Martins and SPACE Artist Studio Providers. She was the co-recipient of the 2017 Central Saint Martins Graduate Design Consultancy, and was awarded the 2016 Lethaby Gallery Residency for Architecture.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Katherine’s role as Place Shaping Officer at Westminster City Council focused on supporting the development of a place strategy for one of the Council’s priority areas. She was involved in place analysis, engaging communities and stakeholders, formulating place strategies, developing urban design and public realm projects, preparing briefs, and coordinating and clienting projects.

You can contact Katherine via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#westminster-city-council
#engagement #placemaking #public-realm #urban-design

KATHY MACEWEN

Kathy is a town planner with 25 years’ experience. She worked as a planner in Camden and Hackney and started Design Awards in those boroughs, embedding design quality within their planning services. She was Head of Programmes at Design Council Cabe and a CABE Built Environment Expert.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Kathy joined the Housing, Planning & Regulatory Services team in Hounslow Council as Principal Urban Design Officer. In this role, she pushed best design practice in all new developments. Key deliverables included developing a framework for design review; establishing a best practice portfolio of schemes for the borough; pushing new developers to adhere to the highest design standards; and developing a design award programme.

#alumni
#lb-hounslow
#design-review #urban-design

KATIE GODDING

Katie is an urban designer with a background in architecture. In her most recent role she created surveys and strategies for clients in London and Winchester at Publica, an urban design consultancy. Prior to this, she gained experience in landscape design at SLA Copenhagen and worked on a range of publicly-funded projects at Adams and Sutherland – including community buildings, pocket parks, local markets and streetscape improvements. Her Masters dissertation completed at the Royal College of Art investigated how the financialisation of property affects standards of house building in London and was nominated for the RIBA Dissertation Medal 2017.

Katie has joined London Borough of Bexley as an Urban Designer, where she will be contributing to the development of masterplans surrounding three stations along the Abbey Wood and Ebbsfleet (AW2E) corridor. Her role involves producing capacity studies for strategic sites, as well as contributing to the growing design culture within the Placemaking Team – boosting the council’s ability to be proactive and deliver projects in-house.

#alumni
#lb-bexley
#urban-design

KATSURA LESLIE

Katsura is an architect with over 12 years of experience leading a diverse range of projects including museums, residential and luxury retail. Her work involved managing large-scale complex schemes with multiple stakeholders and extensive internal and external partnerships. She started her career working for a number of award-winning practices in Tokyo and London. In 2015, she moved client-side and joined the architecture studio at Burberry, where she led and commissioned an ambitious masterplan for a new manufacturing and creative quarter in Leeds.

#associate
#lb-haringey

KAVITA TAILOR

Kavita is an Associate RICS Project Manager and 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Kavita joined OPDC as Early Activation Project Manager. She was responsible for the delivery of the first phase of the Early Activation programme; piloting local activities and initiatives, 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.

#alumni
#old-oak-park-royal-development-corporation
#meanwhile-use #placemaking #project-management #industry

KENDRA INMAN

Dartford Borough Council, Senior Urban Designer

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. She was previously placed as a Public Practice Associate in the third cohort at TfL in the city planning directorate. Her role involved integrating a Healthy Streets approach into the earliest stages of street and public realm schemes. Prior to joining Public Practice, she was a 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 joined Dartford Borough Council as a Senior Urban Designer to boost the council’s in-house capacity for design, contributing to master planning work around four key stations along the AW2E corridor. Her role involves producing capacity studies for strategic sites, as well as contributing to the growing design culture within the Placemaking Team – boosting the council’s ability to be proactive and deliver projects in-house.

#alumni
#dartford-council
#public-realm #active-travel #landscape

KERRY EDWARDS

Kerry Edwards is an architect, most recently with award-winning practice Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. Prior to this she worked with humanitarian design and build practice Orkidstudio (now BuildX Studio), whose aim was to bring about social change through building, enterprise and community. She has built expertise working on projects in London, Bristol, Manchester, Australia, Cameroon and Kenya, across a range of scales from the design and construction of an earthbag house, to the detailed design of complex higher education, residential and mixed-use commercial schemes. She has worked with not-for-profits both overseas and in London where she ran a series of workshops to encourage young women to pursue a career in the built environment.

Kerry has joined the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation as Principal Urban Designer where she has responsibility for the design, development, and delivery of a range of early activation projects across the area. These range from public realm, landscape, supergraphics and creative signage, and street furniture, and will be among the first projects to be delivered to benefit communities in a tangible way. She is also involved in providing design input into strategic master plans, future development strategies, and planning applications.

#alumni
#old-oak-park-royal-development-corporation
#placemaking #urban-design

KETAN LAD

Ketan is an experienced architect and has worked with a range of architectural practices, including Stirling prize-winning Maccreanor Lavington Architects, Adam Khan Architects and Ab Rogers Design. He has led projects at a variety of scales and contexts, including historically sensitive settings, suburban locations and the Green Belt. These include a Maggie’s Centre for the Royal Marsden in Sutton, an innovative estate refurbishment housing scheme in Copenhagen and high-density, mixed-use housing led schemes in Tower Hamlets and Southwark. Ketan is a member of the Southwark Design Review Panel and holds teaching positions at Central Saint Martins and RIBA North West.

Contact Ketan via LinkedIn

#associate
#old-oak-park-royal-development-corporation

KOSH KAR

Kosh is an architect, most recently with Hawkins Brown Architects, where he has specialised in large-scale multi- disciplinary projects, within the infrastructure, master-planning, residential and public realm sectors. His recent projects include leading the design and delivery of eight public realm sites along the Thames Tideway Central Section; developing the concept and feasibility design for a multi-modal transport hub and 5000+ new homes at Clapham Junction and detailed design of Liverpool Street Crossrail Station.

Kosh joined the GLA’s Infrastructure team to play a key role in developing and managing initiatives that reduce the disruption experienced by Londonders from infrastructure works, relieve the pressure on development viability and facilitate planning for growth. His role involves managing Developer Infrastructure Coordination Service, a consultancy style service offered to London’s developers by several local authorities and centrally managed by the GLA’s Infrastructure team.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority

KRISHAN NATHANIEL

Prior to joining Public Practice, Krishan was an architectural designer, artist and policy advisor. He joined Public Practice from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government where he helped shape national policy as part of the Housing Diversification and Climate Change teams and as programme manager for the Home of 2030. He is architect-in-residence at Glamis Adventure Playground, Tower Hamlets and has exhibited work in Rio de Janeiro, Munich and Shanghai while his independent arts practice explores place and cultural identity through diorama.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice at LB Harrow, Krishan took on the role of Design Officer, providing urban design advice to the Council’s Planning Team. He provided design input on major planning applications and is part of the development team working on schemes through Planning Performance Agreements. Krishan supported the policy team in the development and review of design policies and is working on a Supplementary Planning Document on residential design.

You can contact Krishan via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-harrow
#planning-policy #urban-design #pre-apps

KRISHMA SHAH

Krishma is an experienced architect, having spent a decade at Levitt Bernstein Associates before setting up her own practice in 2019. During her time at Levitt Bernstein, she has worked on both new-build and refurbishment projects across the health, education and residential sectors, working with local authorities and end-users at the design stage. For the past three years, Krishma has specialised in housing design ranging from smaller specialist housing projects to larger scale estate regeneration schemes for public and private providers. As well as running projects at various stages, Krishma has been involved in studio management including resourcing, finance and staff reviews, bid writing and feasibility.

As Urban Designer within Epping Forest’s multi-disciplinary Policy and Implementation Team, Krishma provides specialist urban design advice on the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town as well as on strategic master plans for other sites in the Council’s Local Plan. She is also involved in managing the Council’s Quality Review Panel, giving pre-application advice on large and complex development proposals, and masterplanning with a strong emphasis on place making and high-quality design.

#alumni
#epping-forest-dc
#placemaking #urban-design

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 took 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.

#alumni
#lb-redbridge
#engagement #council-led-housing

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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Laetitia took on the role of Environmental Advisor and helped Ashford Borough Council embed a cohesive and cross-sectoral environmental strategy across its future corporate plan and associated policies. Her role involved 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 resonated with people's concerns, maximised the impact from limited resources and engendered community-led environmental actions.

#alumni
#ashford-borough-council
#sustainability

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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Laura joined RBKC’s Conservation & Design Team as Senior Urban Designer. She worked both internally and externally to build design capacity in the Borough. As well as giving design advice on major schemes, her role involved building the capacity and confidence of colleagues to critique projects from a design perspective and negotiate improvements. She improved the operation of RBKC’s Architectural Appraisal Panel and facilitated discussions with communities about good design, enabling them to play a positive role at pre-application stage.

#alumni
#royal-borough-of-kensington-chelsea
#urban-design #pre-apps

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

#alumni
#st-albans-city-dc
#planning-policy #new-settlements

LAUREN KEHOE

Lauren is an ARB registered Architect with a track record of delivering mixed-use regeneration schemes and meanwhile use projects across London; from rooftop additions designed to maximise capacity of dense urban sites within the tight constraints of the London View Management Framework, to setting out potential options for temporary creative reuse of historic assets. She has acted as Practice Mentor for the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and the NLA, is co-founder of OSA, a student-led print magazine that aims to encourage conversations and learning across the university environment; and volunteers for Planning Aid for London providing free support on town planning and development for people and communities who can not afford professional advice.

As a Public Practice Associate, she supported the delivery of strategic projects within London Borough of Hounslow, particularly in the Great West Corridor and Heathrow (West of Borough Plan) by providing urban design advice alongside managing and coordinating the design review panel and expanding its role in reviewing major schemes. Her role has also involved developing planning briefs, supplementary planning documents and masterplans and providing design input for developing visions, masterplans and planning policy guidance for the borough’s four town centres. More recently she has been working to formalise design services across multiple teams within the Local Authority to ensure design is a fundamental component across all RIBA Work Stages.

You can contact Lauren via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-hounslow
#design-review #planning-policy #urban-design

LAUREN SHEVILLS

Lauren is an architect and environmental activist with a passion for community-driven projects. She co-founded Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN), advocating for industry change by collaborating closely with other built environment professionals. Lauren has helped lead at a strategic level on the Steering Groups for both ACAN and Architects Declare, demonstrating a breadth of knowledge in coordinating campaigns and communicating sustainability beyond the construction industry. As an architect at Studio Bark, Lauren led on live-build projects, climate pedagogy and innovative low-carbon design. Previously, she taught MArch at London Metropolitan University, which focused on retrofit and adaptation of existing council buildings. Lauren also has experience in community engagement and place-making from her work with arts and education charity SPUD.

Contact Lauren via LinkedIn

#associate
#westminster-city-council

LAURENCE NEAL

Laurence joined Public Practice after having worked at Allies and Morrison Architects for several years, specialising in planning policy, masterplans, conservation and consultation-led projects. In 2018 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Laurence joined Havering as an Urban Design Officer, within their Joint Ventures and Delivery Company. He provided 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 involved embedding placemaking into Regeneration schemes throughout the whole project delivery process - ensuring quality design was delivered through procurement, masterplanning, and public realm improvements.

#alumni
#lb-havering
#urban-design #pre-apps

LEE HEYKOOP

Lee is an experienced project manager and landscape architect, with a PhD in landscape architecture from the University of Sheffield. Through her freelance work and roles most recently with Patel Taylor and Islington Council, she has developed a detailed knowledge of planting and ecology, environmental legislation, planning legislation, community engagement and people, and experience of delivering projects. Lee is an active Fellow of the RSA, a member of the Urban Design Group, and the TCPA’s Green Infrastructure Network.

At Tower Hamlets, Lee focused on the delivery of improvements proposed by the community in the process of Local Infrastructure Fund consultations. In particular, her work is seeking to respond to community needs for improved open public spaces.

#alumni
#lb-tower-hamlets
#public-realm

LEONIE FITZGERALD

Leonie joined Public Practice from Julian Cowie Architects, where she worked across a range of sectors from concept to completion, including residential schemes, community buildings and conservation projects in sensitive locations. As an Associate in the practice, she also contributed to the award-winning practice’s growth, direction and ethos, and mentored junior staff.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice as Regeneration and Development Senior Architect at LB Enfield, Leonie provided architectural advice and solutions across the Council’s Property and Housing teams. In particular, Leonie’s role involved managing multi-disciplinary design teams to shape the design and quality of the Council’s housebuilding programme and other capital build projects.

You can contact Leonie via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#estate-renewal #council-led-housing

LIVI SMITH

Livi is a community engagement and placemaking consultant with a Masters in Urban Studies. Her extensive experience includes the delivery of community consultation and stakeholder engagement on some of London’s largest and most high-profile projects, from the regeneration of Elephant & Castle to the longest public art project in the world, Illuminated River. During her time working at a placemaking consultancy she was involved in delivering community-focussed festivals and arts projects that aimed to engage people with local change and development.

Livi joined the programme as Community Activation and Engagement Manager at Waltham Forest, where she is engaging with businesses, community groups, and local stakeholders as part of the masterplan and development management process for the major growth area of Lea Bridge. She is also supporting high street activation projects and events, including helping to establish a new market in Lea Bridge, deal with vacant units and attract new businesses to the area.

Contact Livi via LinkedIn.

#associate
#lb-waltham-forest
#engagement

LIZ REDBOURNE

Liz is a Chartered Landscape Architect, most recently at Land Use Consultants in London, where she has worked on the design, planning, and management of public spaces across the region. Her work is underpinned by an understanding of how public spaces can help to nurture a healthy population, using ecological design. She has also recently applied this approach through her role as an Advisory Board member for a Natural Environment Research Council funded project at the University of Sheffield into the wellbeing benefits of greenspace.

Liz has joined a new, multidisciplinary national team within Homes England which is seeking to improve design quality and delivery. She provides dedicated landscape advice on Homes England’s sites, particularly where they are adopting a master developer approach. Her work focuses on ensuring long-term maintenance and that opportunities for multi-functional landscape to support biodiversity, amenity, and sustainable drainage are considered early on and delivered to high standards.

#alumni
#homes-england
#landscape

LORAINE WILLIAMS

Loraine is an experienced Project Manager with a background in regeneration and community development. She is passionate about widening participation and social mobility with a particular interest in environmental sustainability and smart technologies in the built environment. Across her career she has successfully created employment and skills regeneration programmes in the boroughs of Lewisham, Sutton, and East London. In her previous role for Richmond and Wandsworth Borough Council as a Programme Manager, Loraine developed cross-borough regeneration initiatives to widen participation for disadvantaged communities.

Lorraine has joined Local London, a partnership of 8 London boroughs in the
north and east of the capital. In her role as Green Innovation Lead, she is responsible for coordinating activity across the eight boroughs to promote green innovation and recovery with particular emphasis on green jobs and green skills. She is also working with partners to establish a green skills partnership to encourage collaborative working between the private and public sectors. Her work is aiming to overcome the barriers to green innovation that will lead to associated economic, social and environmental benefits and create demand for green innovation, green jobs and green skills.

Contact Loraine via LinkedIn.

#associate
#local-london
#economic-development #sustainability

LOUISA FACCHINO-STACK

Prior to joining Public Practice, Louisa was an urban planner with an MsC in Urban Design and City Planning from UCL. Most recently she worked at a townscape and heritage consultancy, assessing the townscape, heritage and visual impacts of new development. Her MSc major research project explored through design how infill development on high-rise post-war estates can improve estate spaces and the relationship that estates have with the wider area.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Louisa took on the role of Urban Design Project Officer at London Borough of Hounslow, project managing consultants to develop a new GIS-based Design and Capacity toolkit for unlocking sustainable growth in the borough. She procured and managed the contract with Urban Intelligence to create an interactive digital evidence base of sites for development, translating the information into maps and 3D models. The tool has saved officer time in data entry and appraisal, as well as simplified the process for landowners and other stakeholders submitting sites to help Hounslow achieve their housing delivery targets.

Louisa also worked on a public realm strategy for the Great West Corridor (Golden Mile) Opportunity Area, and worked with the Conservation team to develop a borough-wide Heritage Strategy.

Learn more about Louisa's career journey.

You can contact Louisa via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-hounslow
#public-realm #urban-design #digital-data #heritage

LOUISE CLAEYS

Louise is an experienced architect who has worked across new build and regeneration projects from early feasibility stages to technical design and construction. As a Climate Activist, she has focused on implementing sustainable and ethical principles into her professional practice, challenging her own and fellow designers’ responsibilities to leave a legacy that will benefit future generations. In a previous role Louise co-founded an employee-led group promoting low carbon lifestyles and also helped to produce the LETI Climate Emergency Design Guide. She also volunteers at Repurpose, a charity-led workshop which specialises in refurbishing and repairing items saved from landfill.

As Senior Planning & Sustainability Policy Officer, Louise joined Greenwich to lead on shaping their environmental sustainability-related planning policies and lead on developing a Low-Cost Carbon Reduction SPD. She is also working closely with planning officers to ensure that the Local Plan Policies and Low Cost Carbon Reduction SPD are clear, usable and achievable, and a key element of the successful progress of Greenwich’s Carbon Neutral Plan – setting the Borough on the path to reaching the net-zero target.

Contact Louise via LinkedIn.

#alumni
#royal-borough-of-greenwich
#planning-policy #sustainability

LUCIA CERRADA MORATO

Lucia is an architecturally trained urban designer and academic. She has worked in several countries before moving to London to work with the Stirling Prize-winning Maccreanor Lavington Architects. She has recently completed a PhD at the Bartlett School of Planning.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Lucia joined the Place Shaping Team in Tower Hamlets Council as High-Density Development Project Manager. In this role, she helped the Council’s Place Directorate develop best practice guidance for high-density development, exploring issues associated with high-density development including the delivery of family housing, especially affordable family housing. She addressed the need for play space and amenity space, effectively managed waste and enabling and promoted social cohesion.

#alumni
#lb-tower-hamlets
#planning-policy #urban-design

LUCILA SAMPAOLI

Prior to joining Public Practice, Lucila was a multilingual architect from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where most recently she worked for the City Government´s Urban Development and Transport Ministry on their Public Offices´ Relocation and Centralization Strategy. She has architectural experience in the residential and commercial sectors and has been recognised by numerous scholarships and prizes, including at the Bogotá CityLAB Final Conference 2018 on Sustainable Cities in Latin-America and Barcelona CityLAB Citymakers 2019.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, in her role at LB Croydon as Project Officer for Placemaking, Lucila supported the delivery of the growth vision set out in the Local Plan, in particular developing emerging projects related to the Borough’s intensification policies and the new Suburban Design Guide. She was also involved in managing and expanding the Croydon Place Review Panel, and provided design and masterplanning advice for a variety of major and strategic pre-planning and planning applications.

You can contact Lucila via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-croydon
#planning-policy #urban-design #pre-apps

LUCY ATLEE

Prior to joining Public Practice, Lucy Atlee was an architect with two decades of experience, she had most recently worked with Will Alsop as a director of aLL Design. She has expertise across a diverse range of sectors including residential, hospitality, commercial, education, community, exhibition and meanwhile, and is a Trustee of Lewisham Building Preservation Trust. Lucy has particular expertise in sustainable design, and as a qualified BREEAM AP consulted on the sustainability strategy of projects including the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Village whilst working for RMJM.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, at TfL, Lucy supported residential delivery teams as a champion for design excellence on a range of projects, including mixed use, private rental sector, and residential for-sale schemes. Her role involved developing architectural and design briefs, assisting with procurement exercises for design teams and development partners, and securing quality and design priorities for individual projects.

You can contact Lucy via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#transport-for-london
#design-review #urban-design #council-led-housing

LUCY BULLIVANT

Lucy is a place strategist, curatorial director, author, and director of Lucy Bullivant & Associates. She specialises in building social value as part of urban regeneration, working with a wide range of clients across the public and private sectors since 2007. Alongside this, she is a Design Council Expert - Specialist and a Trustee of the Temple Bar Trust. Over the last two years she has been cultural strategist for Sletteløkka, Oslo, leading a community development programme centred on residents’ lived experiences. Since 2019 she has acted as Chair of the Lambeth Design Review Panel. Her books include Masterplanning Futures, awarded Urban Design Group Book of the Year, and Recoded City: Co-Creating Urban Futures, which focuses on participatory placemaking.

Contact Lucy via LinkedIn

#associate
#westminster-city-council

LUCY DEVEREUX

Prior to joining Public Practice, Lucy was an architect with over eight years experience, most recently at RCKa where she worked on a number of projects, including two CIP projects for LB Camden, prioritising socially responsive design solutions to challenging briefs. In her previous roles she developed expertise in mixed-use, retail, commercial and tall buildings.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice at Barnet, Lucy took on the role of Town Centre Project Officer to oversee the delivery of an ambitious public realm project in Finchley Central. This included establishing a new Town Team and Town Team Charter to enable the community to take greater responsibility for placemaking in the town centre. Working with the community and local cultural and arts organisations, Lucy facilitated an annual, community-run events programme and sought other strategic opportunities in the town centre.

You can contact Lucy via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-barnet
#engagement #placemaking #economic-development #town-centres

MACARENA PLAZA HELGUERO

Macarena is an architect and urban researcher with over nine years of international experience working in the built environment. Her most recent role was Head of Planning Production at Cityscape Digital, where she provided advice on the impact of proposed developments on surrounding townscapes and worked with leading planning consultants, townscape consultants, and heritage advisors across the UK. She previously worked as an architectural consultant for Porphyrios Associates in London, and as an Architect for K+M Arquitectura y Urbanismo in Lima, where she collaborated on a range of residential, mixed-use, and master planning projects. In addition, she acted as the main research assistant at the Peruvian Pavilion for the 14th Venice Biennale.

Contact Macarena via LinkedIn

#associate
#lb-tower-hamlets

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.

#alumni
#st-albans-city-dc
#new-settlements #landscape

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 joined Public Practice from The Children's Trust where she 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.

As part of the third cohort of Public Practice, Magali joined Great Ormond Street Hospital as Project Lead for Place Making where she was leading a transformational approach to the public realm as an integral part of the planning process for the new Children’s Cancer Centre. She engaged with patients, families, staff, neighbours and the local authority to co-design a public realm response that enhances the neighbourliness of Great Ormond Street and the setting of the Children's Cancer Centre. You can view a short video of Magali's Associate story on Vimeo here.

You can contact Magali via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#great-ormond-street-hospital
#public-realm #wellbeing-healthy-places

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.

#alumni
#greater-cambridge-planning-services
#urban-design #new-settlements

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 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 area's character, 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.

In July 2021, her work was published in the Central Area Good Growth Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), where Mariana acted as Project Manager working alongside Tamara Kahn. The document aims to support developers, designers and council case officers in delivering sustainable growth whilst respecting the character of the area.

#alumni
#lb-tower-hamlets
#planning-policy #urban-design #heritage

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.

Mark worked with colleagues at Merton, including fellow Alumnus Abre Etteh, to develop a small sites toolkit in-house, as well as a character study for the borough with Allies & Morrison and Solidspace. The final SPDs were adopted in 2021.

You can contact Mark via their LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-merton
#placemaking #urban-design

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. She has also supported the charity Build Up, working with young people to design and build structures to benefit their own communities.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Martha joined Enfield as Project Manager and took a more integrated approach to the design and delivery of a £40m capital programme to refurbish and maintain its council homes. Martha’s role brought in architectural and project management expertise, shaping fire safety improvements and substantial capital works across a large council housing portfolio, including 53 tower blocks – the largest number of any London borough.

You can download Martha and Belinda Greenwell's resources around Assessing Viability in the resources section.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#estate-renewal #council-led-housing #project-management #viability

MATHILDE LEBRETON

Mathilde is an architect and urbanist, most recently working at the GLA’s Regeneration team, where she has been leading strategy, policy, and project delivery in North West London. She has been leading on the Mayor’s high street agenda for the last three years, including the development and launch of the ‘Adaptive Strategies’ guidance published in 2020 and the High Streets for All mission for London. Prior to this, she was working as a senior architect, with 10 years of experience in Paris and London managing teams and delivering award winning and complex projects including civic buildings, public realm design and urban strategies, from concept design to site supervision.

Taking on the role of Town Centre Programme Manager in the Economic Development Team, Mathilde is managing the programme, design and delivery of a town centres and high streets recovery plan including the High Streets For All (HSFA) project. Focusing on Bexleyheath, she is working on tackling the area’s key challenges, finding opportunities and developing a reimagined town – whilst also influencing the emerging Bexleyheath masterplan.

Contact Mathilde via LinkedIn.

#associate
#lb-bexley
#economic-development #town-centres

MATT RUDDY

Prior to joining Public Practice, Matt Ruddy was an architect with experience in mixed-use projects from concept design to construction, in challenging urban regeneration sites. He joined Public Practice from Hawkins\Brown where he was an active member of the Junior Practice Management Group and Corporate Social Responsibility team, working to broaden access into architecture. Prior to this, his work for Hackney Wick and Fish Island won the 2019 Planning Award for Excellence In Placemaking at High Densities. Matt has also organised walking tours and exhibitions for the Housing Forum, Open House London and London Festival of Architecture, and in 2018 won the inaugural LFA LGBT+ Float competition.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice at the GLA, Matt managed the London Review Panel, City Hall’s design review panel, part of the Mayor’s Good Growth by Design programme. Matt was also involved in research and thought leadership, providing support to individual boroughs on design review, and working on the biannual place shaping and design review capacity survey.

You can contact Matt via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority
#design-review #placemaking #urban-design

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.

#alumni
#lb-barking-dagenham
#placemaking #estate-renewal #economic-development

MATTHEW ADEBAYO

Matthew is an urban planner committed to making urban landscapes more open, accessible, and equitable, with a focus on sustainable transport and development. In his previous role as Transport Planner at Southwark Council, he led partnerships with stakeholders and delivered the docked cycle hire scheme expansion, creating immediate benefits for local communities. Matthew has experience in contributing to design codes, spatial planning and policy development, and community engagement. As part of the Liveable Neighbourhoods programme, he led transport planning projects and the Movement Plan for the regeneration of the Old Kent Road.

Contact Matthew via LinkedIn

#associate
#watford-borough-council

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 research explores alternative methods of communicating planning and policy.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Matthew joined Croydon as a Project Officer within their Placemaking team. He worked on projects to activate key regeneration areas, test future plans and enable sustainable growth through holistic placemaking. His role involved 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.

#alumni
#lb-croydon
#engagement #planning-policy #urban-design #small-sites

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.

#alumni
#lb-newham
#engagement #town-centres

MEHRDAD BORNA

Mehrdad has over 15 years of experience in architecture, sustainability and design in roles across both professional practice and higher education. Most recently Mehrdad has acted as a consultant and advisor on a variety of indoor and outdoor air quality and environmental design related projects. His work has been presented regularly at conferences and symposia in both the UK and globally. Mehrdad’s doctoral research at the University of Westminster examines the effect of urban form on microclimate and air pollution concentration at pedestrian level. The findings of his studies will suggest the most favourable urban form capable of mitigating urban air pollution concentrations and further reducing its adverse health impacts.

Mehrdad has joined Islington as their Green Economy Policy and Delivery Officer to develop a green economy strategy as part of the council’s carbon net zero strategy. He is translating green policies and developments into a programme of green economy projects – with a view to greening local businesses, upskilling local residents and making best use of developments being initiated elsewhere in the council or its partners.

Contact Mehrdad via LinkedIn.

#associate
#london-borough-of-islington
#economic-development #sustainability

MERVE ANIL

Prior to joining Public Practice, Merve was an architect with experience across scales and sectors, from large-scale mixed-use, commercial schemes to smaller civic projects. Most recently she had worked as project architect for AHMM, combining this with leading a design studio at the Architectural Association.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice as a Projects Officer in the Policy and Implementation Team at Epping Forest District Council, Merve’s work focused on the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Communities, and Strategic Masterplans and Concept Frameworks for other major sites. The role involved acting as the Council’s advocate for promoting high quality design and place shaping through policy and design advice.

You can contact Merve via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#epping-forest-dc
#placemaking #urban-design #new-settlements

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. He was a consultee for the RIBA Ethics and Sustainability Commission and has been delivering research into the affordability of architectural education at Central Saint Martins.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Michael joined Enfield’s Strategic Planning and Design Team as a Planning Officer in Urban Design. He led on managing the Council’s newly established Place and Design Quality Review Panel. He was involved in promoting the use of the Panel within Enfield and beyond, and he explored 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.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#design-review #urban-design #pre-apps

MICHÈLE YOUNG

Michèle Young is an architect with 16 year’s of experience in the commercial office, education and mixed-use sectors in the UK and Europe. During this time she has developed expertise in project management and delivery, with substantial experience of coordination and relationship building with a wide range of stakeholders. Since 2010, she has moved into the international development and humanitarian sector, working with the Red Cross and Save the Children International, as well as independent consultancies. Her roles have involved policy development, climate action mitigation, disaster risk reduction practices, disaster response action, and capacity development of field staff and Government representatives.

In her role as Development Coordinator at Tower Hamlets, Michèle is pioneering an innovative new service to provide better coordination for construction activity across the Borough. Focusing on mitigating the negative impacts of construction on local residents and businesses, Michele is working on existing pilot works alongside coordinating demolition activities, logistics, environmental mitigation, meanwhile interventions, and relationship building to proactively find opportunities to better manage development delivery.

#alumni
#lb-tower-hamlets
#project-management

MICHELLE ROWLAND

Michelle is an urban planning professional with experience working on a variety of projects for public and private sector clients, including managing zoning by-law amendment submissions, determining the strategic role of employment hubs, and providing strategic planning advice. She led the Markham Age-Friendly Design Guidelines process in Canada, aiming to improve outdoor spaces and high-rise housing for seniors and children.

Contact Michelle via LinkedIn

#associate
#hertfordshire-county-council

MINA MANIK

Prior to joining Public Practice, Mina was an urbanist and placemaking professional. She is co-founder of Green Hands, an organisation which seeks to alleviate social isolation through the regeneration and better utilisation of urban green spaces. Since 2019, her team has been working with the local community to regenerate a 12,000 sq. ft. brownfield site in Newham, with support from the Mayor of London’s Greener City Fund.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Mina joined the Community Wealth Building Directorate at Newham to support their work across a number of areas of work including housing delivery, regeneration and economic development. The Mayor of Newham recently launched the Council’s Community Wealth Building Strategy, which aims to achieve long-term prosperity, wellbeing and fairness for all residents by pursuing economic, social and environmental justice. Mina’s role involved working closely with the Director of Community Wealth Building on the governance and political dimensions of the programme, as well as supporting community engagement in practice.

You can contact Mina via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-newham
#engagement #project-management

MOLLY STROYMAN

Molly has 20 years’ experience working in built environment roles across sustainable landscape, stakeholder engagement, project coordination and quality assurance. Her work focuses on interdisciplinary planning and co-design, supporting communities to have a say in infrastructure changes which directly impact them, while helping project teams to deliver more innovative and inclusive solutions.

Her recent work includes planning and delivery of participatory engagement: for an isolated village in rural Rwanda during the construction of a footbridge; for a green infrastructure study across Kent and Essex, supporting a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project in the UK; and for two local authorities in London, supporting them in identifying behaviour change initiatives to help people choose to walk and cycle.

Part of the fifth cohort of Public Practice, Molly took on the role of Stewardship and Community Development Officer for East Herts District Council where she is working across five local authorities, to bring forward the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town according to Garden City principles. In particular, she is working with partners, developers and community in building greater quality and equality into stewardship and governance arrangements; and informing wider stewardship guidance and policy as plans evolve.

Molly also chairs a Stewardship Working Group for Local Authorities in the UK, hosted by Public Practice.

You can contact Molly via her LinkedIn profile.

#alumni
#east-herts-dc
#engagement #new-settlements

NADA ELFEITURI

Nada Elfeituri is an architect and project manager with 5 years of experience in development practice within the built environment. Her work spans projects across local governance, planning policy, and community-led development, working internationally in countries including Libya, Myanmar, and the UK. Nada has managed multi- million euro projects funded by agencies such as the EU, DfID and UNHCR, and has led several research and consultation projects on urban development. She recently completed an M.Sc. in Building and Urban Design in Development at UCL.

As Senior Design Officer for Thurrock Borough Council, Nada is joining an emerging design team to support collaborative working across departments to join-up thinking via design-led projects and strategies. In particular Nada is leading on charrettes and the production of Place Documents for two towns in Thurrock, following an ‘enquiry-by-design’ process trialled by the Council with the support of MHCLG. She is also involved more broadly with championing design quality through advising on a wide range of other projects.

#alumni
#thurrock-council
#urban-design

NATALIE BARTON

Natalie is an architect and diversity champion with an interest in the ethical production of our built environment. She has worked in design-led architectural studios to collaboratively deliver a number of projects across sectors, more recently moving into local government and gaining experience in spatial policy.

Specialising in placemaking, housing, inclusivity and sustainable design, Natalie also follows intersectional feminism and uses a number of research and practice methods such as storytelling, engagement, and film. Natalie created and implemented Sarah Wigglesworth Architect’s equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) vision. Since joining Croydon Council, she has continued to be a champion for EDI through an internal training programme and the Equality Impact Assessment of the Croydon Local Plan review.

As Senior Designer Officer at Hackney, Natalie provides technical expertise, strategic advice and guidance to internal and external project teams to ensure that Hackney’s regeneration programmes continue to deliver high-quality housing in well-designed neighbourhoods.

#alumni
#lb-hackney

NATASHA REID

Natasha is a multidisciplinary designer who has worked across architecture, urban design and public art, developing her career at award-winning practices before founding her own firm, MATTER . SPACE . SOUL, in 2014. She specialises in designing for people’s wellbeing, with experience across housing, workspace, hospitality, cultural spaces, public space and masterplanning. Natasha advocates for human-centred approaches to design and innovative solutions to pressing societal issues. Alongside her design projects, she is a Fellow of the Centre for Conscious Design and an Associate of the Quality of Life Foundation.

Contact Natasha via LinkedIn

#associate
#lb-brent

NEHA TAYAL

Neha is an urbanist with an architecture and planning background. She brings a range of project experience from concept design through to implementation of masterplans, playing a key role in a number of award-winning regeneration projects – most recently with AECOM. Neha is a built environment expert on a number of Design Review panels for London Boroughs and a regular visiting critic and guest tutor at the Bartlett, UCL. She is an active champion of diversity, equality and community initiatives.

Taking on the role of Principal Urban Design Officer at Havering, Neha is joining the Strategic Development team with the aim of putting placemaking at the heart of delivering sustainable development. She is advising on design across the whole planning process, from the Local Plan to Design Review, regeneration initiatives, and strategic applications.

#alumni
#lb-havering
#pre-apps

NIAMH LINCOLN

Niamh is a qualified architect with experience at both the architectural and urban scale, and across sectors and typologies. Most recently she has been delivering a Good Growth funded project in Tottenham in collaboration with the GLA and Haringey Council. Niamh has also devised design codes for Hackney Council providing guidance on estate refurbishment, and developed a Signage and Colour coding strategy to guide maintenance works across the entirety of Hackney Council’s housing stock.

Taking on the role of Placemaking and Community Engagement Officer at Redbridge, Niamh is working between the council’s Planning Policy and Community Hubs teams to help deliver a flagship Community Hubs programme. This is a new place-based initiative to co-design hubs across the borough, involving residents more centrally in decisions about their communities, and supporting them to define and deliver their own services. Her role also involves supporting collaboration with residents across different parts of the council in relation to community engagement in planning policy and place shaping.

#alumni
#lb-redbridge
#engagement #placemaking #planning-policy

NICOLA COPPEN

Prior to joining Public Practice, Nicola was a project manager with extensive experience of managing multi-utility projects from feasibility to project handover for organisations including UK Power Networks and Thames Water. As Utilities and Infrastructure Project Manager at Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, Nicola secured HM Treasury approval for a groundbreaking business case that enabled the Government to invest in electricity infrastructure for the first time, unlocking the electricity deficit for Ebbsfleet Garden City.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Nicola took on the role of Infrastructure Coordinator at Westminster, which is part of a new London-wide infrastructure coordination service, in partnership with the GLA. The service facilitates liaison between developers and infrastructure asset owners to proactively plan, design and construct London’s infrastructure. Nicola played a key role in providing design advice and coordination, informing local policy and plans, and developing and implementing innovative infrastructure that contributes to more liveable, healthy, sustainable and biodiverse places.

You can contact Nicola via her LinkedIn account.

You can view Nicola's Associate Story video here.

#alumni
#westminster-city-council
#public-realm

NISSA SHAHID

Nissa is a chartered planner and an expert in digital transformation and innovation within the planning and development field. She has a background in planning consultancy and technology within the built environment. She has a strong track record in shaping, delivering and securing strategic projects and programmes, most notably in the field of digital planning (i.e. Plantech). She has demonstrated her ability to secure funding through complex bidding processes (such as ESPON and Innovate). In March 2020, she was recognised as a ‘Women of Influence’ by The Planner magazine due to her contribution to the digitisation of the planning sector whilst working at the Connected Places Catapult.

As Digital First Lead for the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service, Nissa is leading on the development of technical solutions for the Authority’s first digital Local Plan. At the core of Nissa’s role is democratising and widening the plan-making process through technology, ensuring that the Local Plan meets the needs of its varied users.

#alumni
#greater-cambridge-planning-services

NKECHI OKEKE-ARU

Nkechi has over 15 years local government experience completing outcome-based research projects and delivering high profile service improvement and change projects in a range of council services including homeless-ness prevention, housing provision and regeneration. At Brent she managed the infrastructure delivery plan, including developing infrastructure policy, managing S106 projects and an award winning CIL programme. Most recently she has been developing strategic interventions and construction packages to improve Oxford Street’s public realm at Westminster City Council. Nkechi is also on the steering group of a local community-led housing organisation.

Nkechi has taken on the role of High Street Recovery Lead at Kingston, where her focus is on delivering the agreed objectives of the Kingston Economic Recovery Taskforce. This includes addressing unemployment through actions on skills and employment, inward investment in high streets, and the transition to green economy and digital inclusion. She is project leading on the development of adaptive strategies and bespoke programmes for town centre diversification and renewal through innovation and experimentation.

Contact Nkechi via LinkedIn.

#associate
#royal-borough-of-kingston-upon-thames
#economic-development #town-centres

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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Oliver was a Senior Urban Designer at Haringey Council, he worked on a broad scope of strategic, delivery-focused, and research-based projects. His role involved preparing design briefs for major housing regeneration masterplans; 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.

#alumni
#lb-haringey
#urban-design #council-led-housing

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 pursued her interest in promoting social inclusion through research at the University of Cambridge and the Bartlett, including her Masters thesis which proposed design principles and processes to enhance the public's ability to shape public spaces whilst providing counter-terror security.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Olivia took on the role of Urban Design Officer for Hemel Garden Communities, a major urban extension of Hemel Hempstead. Based at Dacorum Borough Council, she provided specialist urban design guidance to support the Council’s strategic planning and development management services. She led the development of an engagement strategy for local communities, Councillors and stakeholders, and set up Dacorum’s first Community Review Panel.

#alumni
#dacorum-borough-council
#design-review #engagement #new-settlements

OMRI BEN-CHETRIT

Omri is an urban designer and landscape architect specialising in public realm projects. Most recently, at Shlomo Aronson, Omri worked across a range of urban design and planning projects including the Jerusalem open spaces strategy where he wrote strategic planning guidance, produced geospatial analysis and engaged with different stakeholders. Previously at Gillespies, he was involved in several large-scale public realm schemes from concept to detailed design, placemaking projects and city centre regeneration masterplans. Omri’s MSc dissertation, which investigated how London’s railway arches could be regenerated in a more socially inclusive way, was shortlisted for the National Urban Design Award 2020.

Omri has joined Somerset West and Taunton council as Green Infrastructure Officer. His role is focused on providing specialist project delivery capacity to facilitate the negotiation and delivery of key green infrastructure projects in Taunton Garden Town. He is also involved in a project to address water quality issues affecting the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site by identifying a number of nature-based solutions to reduce the level of phosphates.

Contact Omri via LinkedIn.

#associate
#somerset-west-taunton-council
#sustainability

PATRICK SHANNON

Patrick is an architect with particular expertise in community-led residential design and the master planning of new estates. He has spent the last 8-years at Karakusevic-Carson Architects where he was involved in the Bacton Estate redevelopment in Camden – working alongside the council and the Tenants and Residents Association who were instrumental in the design and delivery of the project. More recently, he has worked on the redevelopment of a series of TfL-owned car-parks to provide affordable housing in Harrow.

Patrick joined Waltham Forest as Masterplan Project Manager to manage a collaborative project with the GLA to redevelop the Blackhorse Lane Strategic Industrial Location – a comprehensive industrial-led master plan that will inform how other industrial locations across London can be strategically planned. His role involves commissioning and producing the masterplan and engagement strategy, as well as developing key stakeholder relationships and working across council departments.

#alumni
#lb-waltham-forest

PAUL COHOON

Paul is a Part III qualified architectural professional and urban designer, having gained international experience in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, London, and his native Toronto. Prior to joining Public Practice, Paul was an Associate at Formation Architects, where he was the lead designer on large-scale residential developments across various typologies, including co-living and student accommodation. He specialises in evaluating highly constrained sites and engaging with various stakeholders to optimise quality and value for all.

Contact Paul via LinkedIn

#associate
#royal-borough-of-kingston-upon-thames

PAUL EVANS

Paul joined Public Practice from Hyas Associates, where he supported the delivery of large scale, housing-led developments through the planning and masterplanning process. Most recently, prior to joining Public Practice, he led on visioning and concept planning for 10,000 new homes at St Cuthbert’s Garden Village in Carlisle; a masterplan framework at Bailrigg Garden Village, Lancaster for 3,500 new homes; and a concept framework at Culm Garden Village, Devon. Previously, Paul held a variety of roles at the Building Research Establishment (BRE), and worked with the Advisory Team for Large Applications (ATLAS) at the Homes and Communities Agency.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice as Strategic Masterplanner for Bedford Borough Council, Paul led on discussions on new settlements, garden villages and strategic urban extensions; influenced masterplans; mentored policy staff and developing in-house skills; and assisted in the preparation of bids for government funding. He also worked as part of the Policy Team to develop options for the Local Plan 2040, in preparation for consultation in 2021.

You can contact Paul via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#bedford-borough-council
#planning-policy #urban-design #new-settlements

PAULA PETKOVA

Paula is a social anthropologist with experience in applied urban research, community engagement and place-making strategy. Prior to joining Public Practice, Paula was an Associate Partner within the Urban Design Group at Foster + Partners, where she worked across geographies and scales on developing people-centred visions, strategies, and briefs. Before entering the built environment sector, Paula worked within the R&D department at MoMA in New York, and at restaurant Noma’s think tank MAD in Copenhagen.

Contact Paula on LinkedIn

#associate
#westminster-city-council

PETER CROFT

Prior to joining Public Practice, Peter was an architect and urban designer, with experience leading complex projects with large design teams and multiple stakeholders at both urban and architectural scale. At Studio Egret West his experience spanned residential, mixed-use buildings which he managed from conception to completion, to taking large masterplans through planning. Peter is also an active member of the Community Land Trust RUSS, leading member workshops, setting the strategic brief and advising on the appointment of consultants.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice at Dartford, Peter provided design expertise in his role as Principal Urban Designer to shape Dartford Town Centre. He developed design guidance for specific areas and topics and gave design advice on planning applications. He was also involved in the Crossrail extension study, assessing the development capacity of sites and advising on transport and public realm improvement projects.

You can contact Peter via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#dartford-council
#urban-design #pre-apps #town-centres

PHIL SMITH

Phil is a planner with experience in planning policy, transport planning and GIS, and most recently worked as an environmental planner at Surrey County Council. Phil completed his MSc in Spatial Planning at UCL, where he pursued his interests in urban design, urban green space and social sustainability, with a focus on social justice. Phil had a leading role in the preparation of a new Waste Local Plan for Surrey and is experienced in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement and undertaking planning research.

Joining the GLA’s Infrastructure Coordination service as a Senior Infrastructure Planning & Policy Officer, Phil worked on strategy and policy development in partnership with stakeholders, to ensure better planning and delivery of infrastructure in the capital. His role focused on building a clearer picture of development infrastructure requirements ahead of need in an integrated way, to enable the more timely and effective delivery of development and to support the goal of well-coordinated good growth for London.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority

PHILIPPA ILLINGWORTH

Philippa is a Chartered Engineer with 16 years of experience in development, working for both private developers and local authorities. She has led the delivery and project management of a variety of projects from major road planning applications to the strategic planning and design of infrastructure on multiphase mixed-use developments. She has expert knowledge of the planning process and extensive experience in assessing technical and commercial viability.

Contact Philippa via LinkedIn

#associate
#old-oak-park-royal-development-corporation

RACHEL HEARN

Rachel is an architect with experience ranging from designing large residential neighbourhoods to smaller urban infill housing to public realm led masterplans and education facilities. Prior to joining Public Practice, she worked at a number of award-winning practices, most recently Stanton Williams. She has initiated and led a co-housing project and taught at several universities.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Rachel joined the Neighbourhoods Directorate in Havering Council as Principal Urban Design Officer. In this role, she provided design advice on the Borough’s estate regeneration programme, input into a masterplan for Romford, advised on pre-applications for strategic sites, led on setting up a design review panel and worked to embed design into the development management process.

#alumni
#lb-havering
#design-review #urban-design #pre-apps

RACHEL SANDBROOK

Rachel is a chartered structural engineer, most recently at engineering firm Engenuiti as an Associate Director. She has delivered new-build projects across the sport, cultural, educational and residential sectors, as well as the refurbishment of existing and historic structures. Rachel’s major projects include Oriam – Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre, the refurbishment of Westminster Abbey’s Cellarium and, recently, a series of exemplary housing developments for Brick by Brick in Croydon. Rachel has particular expertise in engineered timber, delivering talks for Wood for Good and the Building Centre, and is a Built Environment Expert for the Design Council.

In her role as Infrastructure and Development Coordination Lead, Rachel has joined Lambeth as part of a pioneering London-wide infrastructure coordination service in partnership with the GLA. The service facilitates liaison between developers and infrastructure asset owners to proactively plan, design and construct London’s infrastructure. Working within Lambeth’s Council infrastructure planning team, she is playing a key role in providing design advice and coordination, sharing best practice, informing local policy and plans, and researching, developing and implementing innovative infrastructure that reduces disruption and contributes to more liveable, healthy, sustainable and biodiverse places.

#alumni
#lb-lambeth
#project-management

RACHNA LEVEQUE

Rachna is an urban planner with global experience in place-making and strategic planning, most recently with Buro Happold & Happold Consulting. Working at the core of international multi-disciplinary teams, Rachna has developed masterplans, formulated strategies and reports for public dissemination, prepared financial models and led feasibility studies on various urban plans, projects and programmes. She teaches at the Bartlett School of Planning where she also recently completed her doctoral thesis in Urban Sustainability and Resilience.

Rachna has taken on the role of Programme Manager for Strategic Sites at Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service, a recently formed joint service between Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Council. Her role involves delivering a complex programme of planning performance agreements across a diverse range of strategic scale planning applications throughout Greater Cambridge. She is also contributing to service-wide improvement projects to rethink practice and introduce new ways of working to development managers, planning policy and specialist consultancy teams.

#alumni
#greater-cambridge-planning-services
#planning-policy #project-management

RAFE BERTRAM

Prior to joining Public Practice, Rafe Bertram 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 environmental impact and enhance social benefit. Some of his most recent projects are smart sustainable cities in California, a masterplan for an evolving university campus in England and innovation in prefabricated buildings.

As part of the third cohort of Public Practice, as Sustainability Lead for Meridian Water, Enfield’s flagship £7bn regeneration programme of an 85-hectare site, Rafe worked with Directors, Heads of Service, the community and partners to drive Enfield’s vision for Meridian Water as the greenest development in London. He formulated and implemented 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.

Rafe is now Sustainability Facilitator at Enfield Council, continuing his work on embedding climate strategy at each stage of the project process. He developed a Job Description Template to aid Authorities in defining the role of a Sustainability Facilitator in their own teams.

You can contact Rafe via his LinkedIn account.

You can watch Rafe's Associate Story video here.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#sustainability

RAMIRO LEVY

Ramiro is a 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 organisation recognised for its leading role on walkability and active design in Brazil.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Ramiro joined Westminster City Council as a Placemaking Officer. He contributed to developing the Council’s sustainable, place-shaping strategies across key priority areas such as Paddington, Victoria and Harrow Road.

#alumni
#westminster-city-council
#meanwhile-use #placemaking #public-realm #urban-design

RAUL BIELSA PEREZ

Prior to joining Public Practice, Raúl was an urban designer with an interest in global urban and territorial transformation and a focus on urban research, interactive cartographies, policies and landscape. At Prior + Partners he was involved in projects in the UK and the US focusing on strategic visions, urban frameworks, masterplanning and urban and landscape design.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice as Urban Designer at St Albans City and District Council, Raúl provided specialist urban design expertise and capacity on the development briefing, masterplanning and detailed design guidance for a series of major urban extensions, including Hemel Garden Communities. His work involved negotiating with landowners, developers and professional teams to achieve improved design outcomes, as well as facilitating and contributing to design review and community consultation.

You can contact Raúl via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#st-albans-city-dc
#design-review #new-settlements #pre-apps

REBECCA ENG

Rebecca is an architect with experience in multidisciplinary coordination and strategic oversight, most recently working in the Heritage & Culture team at BDP on the renovation of a prominent Grade II-listed building in Belgravia. She has previously coordinated Harrow Council’s Design Review Panel, and worked with CarverHaggard and Karakusevic Carson Architects on a variety of residential, estate regeneration, community and public projects. Rebecca also sits on the board of Action on Empty Homes, advocating to bring empty housing into use for people in need, and mentors on the Built By Us FLUID Diversity Mentoring Programme.

As Heritage and Conservation Lead for Kingston, Rebecca is lead advisor in respect of heritage and conservation – including any development or works to listed and historic buildings and other heritage structures and Conservation Areas – liaising with internal and external clients, stakeholders and the general public to manage change. Placed within Kingston’s Regeneration & Economic Recovery Team, her primary focus is to support the council’s significant heritage-led regeneration and renewal programme, together with feeding into the new Local Plan and other forthcoming spatial strategies.

Contact Rebecca via LinkedIn.

#associate
#royal-borough-of-kingston-upon-thames
#heritage

RENZO CAMPISI

Prior to joining Public Practice, Renzo was an architect who had worked in the housing sector for almost a decade. He has experience of housing projects at a range of scales – from an award-winning new neighbourhood on an ex-industrial site in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to re-knitting the urban fabric through infill sites in south London. He focussed on affordable housing for the elderly in London, developing expertise in designing for vulnerable residents.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Renzo took on the role of Strategic Planning and Design Officer at LB Enfield to promote cross-cutting work across areas of place-based planning, planning policy, heritage, urban design and development management. He helped to guide schemes through the development management process, preparing major mixed-use development feasibility and site capacity studies and formulating design policy, guidance and codes.

You can contact Renzo via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#planning-policy #urban-design #pre-apps #heritage

RICHARD DIEU

Richard has a unique technical skillset that lies at the intersection of urban planning, civil engineering, and environmental science. He has worked on projects in various geographies – from Western to Eastern Canada, the Arctic, Central America, Europe, and Japan – offering him a distinctive perspective on urban issues. As a licensed Professional Civil Engineer, Richard has successfully managed a portfolio of 35+ real estate and infrastructure development projects totalling $30 million. Additionally, as a part-time student at the University of Oxford, Richard is undertaking a Sustainable Urban Development masters program, where he intends to apply his education from academia to the public sector and vice versa.

Contact Richard via LinkedIn

#associate
#greater-london-authority

RICHARD SCHUNEMANN

Richard is an experienced architect, having spent the last 13 years with Penoyre and Prasad where was involved in masterplanning, public realm design, affordable housing, innovation in prefabrication, extra care and care home design. He led the team that co-created the Andover Estate Development Plan together with residents, a multidisciplinary team of professionals, officers from various LB Islington departments and thirteen different organisations. The masterplan won the Placemaking Awards in 2013 and is now under construction.

Taking on the role of Principal Planning Officer, Richard is guiding the development masterplans for Harlow and Gilston Garden Town, an ambitious new community led by a partnership of five Authorities informed by TCPA Garden City principles. His role also involves managing the planning and delivery of the Princess Alexandra Hospital – the first post-COVID hospital.

#alumni
#epping-forest-dc

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.

#alumni
#oxford-city-council
#estate-renewal #council-led-housing

ROSA APPLEBY ALIS

Prior to joining Public Practice, Rosa was an architect with experience from the scale of the one-off residential project to masterplanning new neighbourhoods. In her most recent role as project architect at ZCD Architects, as well as architectural work, she mentored junior members of staff, and prepared community engagement sessions. Before joining ZCD, she was employed at Farrells, contributing to masterplanning Old Oak Common and advocacy for Gatwick Airport. She has also produced site specific installations and films exploring how expectations of space influence behaviour and is keen to find ways to enhance sustainability and aesthetic appeal in the built environment.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, as Senior Urban Design Officer at Oxford City Council, Rosa joined the Urban Design and Heritage team to raise the profile and standard of design across the city. Her role involved inputting into major residential and regeneration projects as well as planning policy, and providing mentoring and advice on design for team members.

#alumni
#oxford-city-council
#planning-policy #urban-design #pre-apps #heritage

ROSE SHAW

Rose is an architect with experience across community and civic projects for both public and private sector clients. She brings experience from multi-award winning architecture practices, most recently at Jan Kattein Architects (JKA) where she has been actively involved in delivering a range of projects from strategic design to construction. Prior to working at JKA, she worked at Hopkins Architects on prestigious cultural, education, and sports projects.

At Westminster City Council, Rose is part of the Place Shaping team responsible for developing sustainable place strategies for areas of impending change, growth, and development including Strand & Aldwych, Victoria, Paddington, Thames Riverfront, Pimlico, and Soho. As Place Shaping Officer her role involves community and stakeholder engagement and embedding design quality alongside long-term management strategies to ensure change is aligned with longevity.

#alumni
#westminster-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.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority
#sustainability #community-led-housing #small-sites

ROSIE SARGEN

Prior to joining Public Practice, Rosie was a designer with experience working as a Landscape Architect at LUC, Studio Egret West and Spacehub - taking projects from concept through planning and into planning and construction. She has a particular interest in the transformational potential of landscape design for urban public spaces.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Rosie took on the role of Landscape and Ecology Officer at Epping Forest District Council, joining the Policy and Implementation Team to facilitate the negotiation and delivery of the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Communities. In particular, Rosie focused on mitigating the impact of development on the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation.

#alumni
#epping-forest-dc
#new-settlements #ecology-biodiversity #landscape

SAM OXLEY

Sam has 20 years’ experience working across PR, production, business development and placemaking. She is a Co-Founder of PlaceLabs, a series of events and podcasts that cross-pollinate perspectives on placemaking, better cities and public spaces, and was previously Managing Director of event and placemaking production company Produce UK. Her recent focus has been working with artists and creatives and exploring how art and experiential placemaking can enhance and engage with communities to create better places to live, visit and work. Prior to working in placemaking and production Sam co-owned a PR and events agency for more than 16 years working with clients such as Tourism New Zealand, the BBC and Discovery Channel

Sam has joined the GLA’s Infrastructure team as Principal Communications Officer to develop innovative and creative ways to communicate their work, challenges and successes, as well as raising the profile of infrastructure as a key piece of the puzzle in planning and designing places. Her role involves proactively communicating infrastructure coordination messages across streets, planning, development services, and to a diverse audience including Londoners, businesses, works promoters and local authorities – helping to change behaviours and win hearts and minds.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority
#placemaking

SARAH CUSTANCE

Prior to joining Public Practice, Sarah was an architect with broad experience across scale and stages, previously at Gianni Botsford and Roger Stirk Harbour and Partners, and most recently as Director at Fourfoursixsix. Her experiences are diverse, from 1:1 scale bookshelf joints in Costa Rica to 1:1000 scale of re-imagining the air space above New York's Bus-Terminal.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Sarah took on the role of Masterplan Project Manager at Waltham Forest, where she led on masterplanning two strategic growth areas: the A406 Corridor Strategic Location and the New Spitalfields / West Leyton Area of Change and Opportunity Area, with a view to influencing policies in the emerging Local Plan and the Strategic Site Allocations Development Plan Document. Her role involved building a strong relationship with stakeholders and acting as a bridge between the Council and the community, establishing a delivery programme of short, medium and long term interventions, and project managing the implementation of both masterplans.

You can contact Sarah via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-waltham-forest
#engagement #planning-policy #urban-design

SASKIA BLAKE

Saskia is an architectural designer with four years of professional experience as in London and Copenhagen – most recently with Untitled Practice where she is part of a team developing the Aylesbury ‘Gardenway’ route – 13 miles of continuous green infrastructure parkland. Prior to this, Saskia worked on public realm projects across London at Publica. She also has the first-hand experience of community-led landscape design – developing proposals for the social and economic renewal of Treherbert, a post-industrial community in the Upper Rhondda.

At Westminster City Council, Saskia is part of the Place Shaping team responsible for developing sustainable place strategies for areas of impending change, growth, and development including Strand & Aldwych, Victoria, Paddington, Thames Riverfront, Pimlico, and Soho. As Place Shaping Officer her role involves community and stakeholder engagement and embedding design quality alongside long-term management strategies to ensure change is aligned with longevity.

#alumni
#westminster-city-council

SCOTT ADAMS

Scott is an urbanist with qualifications in urban design, architecture and planning. He has led projects in the UK, Australia and US, with particular expertise in promoting public realm-led design, leading multi-disciplinary teams and stakeholders, writing design guidance and developing urban design skills. He recently led design on large scale regeneration projects at HTA Design, including successful bids for Meridian One and Rochester Riverside, and contributed to Supurbia – HTA's approach to suburban intensification. In 2012, he was awarded the Australian Endeavour Executive Fellowship, joining the City Design Division at the City of Melbourne where he led the overall urban design vision for the new city centre.

As Urban Design Lead for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Scott is providing the first dedicated urban design expertise within the planning directorate to help the Government deliver against its commitment to improve the design quality of homes and places. His role involves bringing urban design, placemaking, masterplanning and public realm skills to the design team whilst working with local authorities across England.

#alumni
#mhclg
#planning-policy #urban-design

SEAN RUSHTON

Prior to joining Public Practice, Sean was a Chartered Landscape Architect with experience in masterplanning, urban design and landscape and visual impact assessment for residential and mixed-use schemes, ranging from 10 - 10,000 new homes across all stages of planning. He is an advocate of landscape-led masterplanning and the role well-planned green infrastructure can play in creating healthy communities. Sean is a member of the Landscape Institute Climate and Biodiversity Emergency Response Panel and is also a mentor for candidates on the Landscape Institute's Pathway to Chartership

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, as Strategic Masterplanner at East Herts District Council, Sean focused on the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town, leading on masterplanning work towards outline planning permission in mid-2020. His role was to ensure placemaking remains at the fore, providing professional support and coaching to colleagues in design.

You can contact Sean via his LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#east-herts-dc
#new-settlements #landscape

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.

#alumni
#lb-barking-dagenham #befirst
#community-led-housing #small-sites

SHAMISO ONEKA

Shamiso is a spatial practitioner and designer, and joined Public Practice from We Made That where she has been part of the Urban Research team, applying her diverse skill-set to synthesise research outcomes, most recently for the GLA High Streets - Adaptive Strategies report. She has experience in research, establishing briefs, developing strategic frameworks and delivery of architectural projects, with previous roles at The Decorators, LSE Cities and Bennetts Associates. Shamiso has also written articles for FRAME and Blueprint magazines, and exhibited her work at Tate Modern and the London Design Festival.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, as Urban Design Officer at Haringey, Shamiso led on providing urban design expertise for both development management and policy formation within the Wood Green Opportunity Area, in particular steering developments at the pre-application stage. She also supported the running of the Council’s Quality Review Panel.

You can contact Shamiso via her LinkedIn account.

You can view Shamiso's Associate Story video here.

#alumni
#lb-haringey
#design-review #urban-design #pre-apps

SHARON GIFFEN

Sharon Giffen was 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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Sharon took on the role of Design and Quality Manager at TfL. Her role was instrumental in building the Management team within the department and developing architectural and design briefs. She attended design team meetings, and secured quality and design priorities for individual projects across Private Rental Sector led projects, Commercial Development planning team and their Joint Venture partner. These included mixed-use, PRS led projects of between 300 and 2,000 homes.

#alumni
#transport-for-london
#design-review #urban-design #council-led-housing

SHEEBA SHETTY

Sheeba is an urban designer and has worked with the State Urban Development Department as an Urban Planner-Designer at the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), in Bangalore, India. Here, she built and led the design team and worked on projects pertaining to place-making, transit-oriented developments and street design.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Sheeba joined the Urban Design Team at TfL as an Assistant Urban Designer. In this role, she provided design input and advice on a range of projects and schemes from area planning documents to streetscape designs. She inputted into urban integration and local connectivity strategies, and supported the development of project design principles for a range of projects. Sheeba was also involved in establishing and implementing design assurance systems for TfL, which included the establishment of a new protocol on the use of design reviews. She worked across teams and provided design input to tender briefs for various TfL led projects.

#alumni
#transport-for-london
#public-realm #urban-design #active-travel

SILVIA AMOROS

Sílvia is an architect and urban planner, she joined Public Practice from the Urban Development Office at Viladecans’ City Council, Barcelona. With 18 years of experience in public planning, she has actively participated in the definition and management of major processes of urban transformation in Barcelona’s Metropolitan Area. Most recently, she managed multidisciplinary teams to regenerate an industrial area to deliver an innovative new district.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, at Waltham Forest, Sílvia worked on a range of regeneration projects in town centres across the Borough, with a focus on community-led regeneration in the north of the borough. She worked with local community groups and stakeholders to commission new public realm and develop high street strategies – scoping a pipeline of deliverable regeneration projects. In parallel, she fed into wider placemaking policy for the area and delivered small to medium-scale high street regeneration projects on the ground.

You can contact Sílvia via her LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-waltham-forest
#engagement #public-realm #town-centres

SILVIA KERSTE

Prior to becoming an Associate, Silvia was a sociology professional with a degree in Advertising and a Masters in Sustainable Cities. She had almost a decade of experience managing and consulting on behaviour change campaigns in the sustainability area, working for public sector clients including the Dutch Government and local councils in Amsterdam and St Albans, as well as private sector organisations. Outside of her work, Silvia is a Board Member and Treasurer of a social justice charity, which has successfully initiated a community energy project in North London.

Through the Associate Programme, she joined the London Borough of Barnet as a Sustainable Business Engagement Officer. She had a key role in supporting businesses and residents to shift towards more active travel across Barnet, with a particular focus on creating healthy streets. As part of the Barnet's economic recovery strategy following the pandemic, Silvia managed the Borough's £350k+ allocation of Reopening High Streets Safely Funding and co-ordinated a campaign to support the re-opening of the high street. She delivered on a range of Healthy and Accessible Streets initiatives, including a scheme for a business parklet, town centre pedestrianisation, a community toilet scheme, and an active travel campaign. Watch Silvia talk about her experience on the programme.

Contact Silvia on LinkedIn.

#alumni
#lb-barnet
#active-travel #sustainability #town-centres #wellbeing-healthy-places

SOPHIE BEAGLES

Before becoming a Public Practice Associate, Sophie was at Jestico + Whiles Architects, where she worked 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.

In her first placement with Public Practice, Sophie joined the Greater London Authority and London Borough of Newham’s joint delivery team for the Royal Docks as a Planning and Design Advisor. Her role involved 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 involved proposing options to improve the strategic offer of the Enterprise Zone and providing design input to the new Custom House interchange.

Sophie entered the Associate Programme again in Spring 2020, when she was placed with the London Borough of Ealing as Principal Economic Growth Officer. She worked on two key Opportunity Areas at Southall and Northolt, assisting with S106 negotiations, leading on public engagement and developing a place-based strategy for delivery.

After completing the Associate Programme, Sophie continued her role at Ealing and has since led the Council’s successful bid for multi-million pound Levelling Up funding. She also joined the Public Practice team part-time as Learning Facilitator to share her knowledge and experience with new Associates joining the programme.

Contact Sophie on LinkedIn.

#alumni
#lb-ealing #royal-docks
#engagement #placemaking #economic-development

SOPHIE PALMER

Sophie is an architect with experience ranging from designing mixed-use city sites, mapping urban strategies, to master-planning for thousands of homes. Before joining Public Practice she worked in urban research and in several award-winning architecture practices, most recently AHMM; working on mixed-use and residential schemes across London.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Sophie joined the Growth & Regeneration team in Bexley Council as their Design and Delivery Coordinator. In this role she led on the OAPF for Erith and Slade Green town centres, forming master-plans and site-specific strategies, as well as securing high-quality design on council-led regeneration sites, identifying acquisition opportunities in growth areas, and procuring and directing consultants.

#alumni
#lb-bexley
#urban-design #industry

STEPHEN LOVEJOY

Stephen is an architect and urban designer with expertise in mixed-use, residential-led and urban regeneration projects, and a specific focus on the creative revitalisation of urban centres. His most recent role has been with the Reef Group, a specialist developer working closely with local councils and stakeholders on strategic regeneration, using good design to have a lasting impact on local communities. Stephen is also a senior lecturer in Architectural History and Theory at London South Bank University and has previously been a studio tutor at Manchester School of Architecture. Stephen volunteers for the Mlambe Project, a charity using earth construction techniques to build educational infrastructure in rural Malawi.

Stephen’s placement with Southwark leads on renewing the Council’s approach to Town Centres and High Streets following the adoption of Southwark’s Local Plan. This includes developing an innovative research project on the impacts of COVID-19 for Southwark’s town centres, and developing policy recommendations to support a healthy and equitable recovery – focussing on Peckham, Camberwell, Walworth, Elephant and Castle and Lordship Lane.

Contact Stephen via LinkedIn.

#associate
#london-borough-of-southwark
#planning-policy #town-centres

SYLVIA MOFFAT

Sylvia is a planner with a background in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). She has worked on numerous projects in research and academia where she has applied her GIS skills, notably for an environmental research project at McGill University which investigated the spatial distribution of coastal habitats in North American, documenting ‘blue carbon’ sinks and possible threats to these habitats. Recently, as a planning consultant in the private sector, she has helped modernise how data is visualised and shared across the company using GIS. Outside work, Sylvia is leading an initiative to create a green corridor along a busy thoroughfare in Sheffield, as part of a strategy to encourage closer interaction between community groups and the council on built environment issues.

As Project Officer in the GLA’s Infrastructure team, Sylvia is working with the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) – an innovative pilot project that began as a digital map of London’s underground assets to improve the safety and efficiency of utilities works and development. Now expanding nationally, Sylvia’s role is focused on stakeholder engagement, maintaining existing relationships and building new ones, demonstrating the tool, supporting new partners to use the platform. She is also providing GIS support and visualisation across the wider infrastructure team.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority

TAMARA KAHN

Prior to becoming an Associate, Tamara was an architect who specialised in designing for historic settings and protected environments, with experience on listed buildings and new mixed-use urban developments. She supported Architecture Sans Frontières-UK as an associate since and is worked in London on community-based projects, as well as in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on Community Action Area Plans in informal settlements.

As part of the fourth cohort of Public Practice, Tamara took on the role of Central Area Design Guidance Project Officer at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Together with fellow Public Practice Alumna, Mariana Schiller, she supported the delivery of an urban characterisation study and developed a set of urban design guidelines that help to deliver growth through the urban intensification of the borough. In July 2021, her work was published in the Central Area Good Growth Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). The document aims to support developers, designers and Council case officers in delivering sustainable growth whilst respecting the character of the area. Read more about the project in their case study on how Authorities can promote context-led design.

After successfully delivering the project and completing the Associate Programme, Tamara was appointed Place Shaping Design Officer and continued contributing to Tower Hamlets' urban development.

Contact Tamara on LinkedIn.

#alumni
#lb-tower-hamlets
#planning-policy #urban-design #heritage

TARA CLINTON

Tara is a chartered structural engineer, most recently with Arup’s Buildings Engineering Group where she has spent the last 6 years, including a year in the Advanced Technology & Research group working alongside existing building and timber specialists developing guidance and skill-sharing tools. Tara also co-leads the Urbanistas London network which aims to bring together women across the built environment industry. She is a visiting tutor at the London School of Architecture and the Bartlett.

As Senior Project Officer in the GLA’s Infrastructure team, Tara is playing a key role in identifying and delivering collaborative street works which aim to bring works promoters together to 'dig once' rather than in isolation, reducing disruption for Londoners. She is involved in reviewing potential collaborative opportunities, refining the review methodology, tracking the progress of schemes, and advising partners on maximising collaborations.

#alumni
#greater-london-authority

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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Tara joined Epping Forest as Sustainability Officer. She provided specialist technical advice on masterplans and planning applications; and developed a Sustainability Checklist to inform Local Plan policies and guide the development of strategic sites and Harlow & Gilston Garden Town.

#alumni
#epping-forest-dc
#urban-design #new-settlements #sustainability

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 Manager 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.

In July 2021, Ted helped to launch Broad Meadow, a temporary meanwhile project promoting active travel, biodiversity and arts & culture in the public realm. The space helped to increase footfall in the town centre and aims to inform the development of longer-term regeneration projects.

#alumni
#oxford-city-council
#town-centres #project-management #heritage

TESS WARBURTON

Tess is an architect with over 10-years of experience across public realm, masterplanning, culture, and accommodation, ranging from brief development, concept, masterplanning, delivery and construction. Most recently, she worked for Muf Architecture/Art LLP as Project Architect on both the Wonderlab children’s gallery at the Science Museum and the public realm design for Chobham Manor, Phase 1 Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Legacy Development.

As Town Centre Senior Project Officer for LB Barnet, Tess has joined a newly formed Skills, Employment and Economic Development Team who are responding to the impact of COVID-19, as well as reimagining the borough’s town centres in a way that puts ‘new localism’ at their heart. Central to Tess’ work is to engage with communities and embed design quality to proactively lead the development of assets and scope new projects.

#alumni
#lb-barnet

THOMAS SMETHURST

Thomas Smethurst is an architect, joined Public Practice from 51 architecture, where he 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 took 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 also introduced new ways of working across the joint planning service.

You can view Tom's Associate Story video here.

You can download Tom's case study on Agile Procurement in the resources section.

#alumni
#greater-cambridge-planning-services
#planning-policy #digital-data #project-management

TILLY FORD

Prior to joining Public Practice, Tilly was a sustainability design professional with international experience spanning engineering and environmental design. She joined Public Practice from Atelier Ten, where she worked for over 6 years in London and San Francisco implementing low-energy and low-carbon design solutions across educational, residential and institutional buildings.

During her placement as the London Borough of Enfield’s Sustainability Advisor, Tilly helped to put implement Enfield's Climate Action Plan. Tilly developed methodologies for carrying out climate action tracking, carbon accounting and impact assessment in-house, and drew on her experience of implementing low-carbon design solutions for educational buildings to pilot a scheme for decarbonising the Council’s schools estate. She has also helped to set up a cross-cutting Enfield Sustainable Buildings Board in collaboration with other officers including fellow Public Practice Alumnus, Rafe Bertram.

After completing the Associate Programme, Tilly was appointed as Enfield's Climate Action and Sustainability Lead Officer.

Contact Tilly via LinkedIn.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#planning-policy #digital-data

TOBY O’CONNOR

Toby has over 10 years experience in architectural and urban design roles in London, most recently with Sean Stephen Ltd where his work spanned all stages from brief-writing through construction. He is a founding member of Okra Studio CIC, a multi-disciplinary collective based on the Old Kent Road specialising in architecture, urban research and educational outreach. In Southwark he also works with the Old Bermondsey Neighbourhood Forum and the Southwark Planning Network. In these roles he has developed expertise in community engagement and collaborative placemaking processes. Toby is also an undergraduate studio tutor at the Bartlett School of Architecture.

Toby has joined Dartford Borough Council as a Senior Urban Designer to boost the council’s in-house capacity for design, contributing to masterplanning work around four key stations along the AW2E corridor. His role involves producing capacity studies for strategic sites, as well as contributing to the growing design culture within the Placemaking Team – boosting the council’s ability to be proactive and deliver projects in-house.

#alumni
#dartford-council
#placemaking #urban-design

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 joined Lewisham as Growth Manager with responsibility 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.

Lewisham's Small Sites Supplementary Planning Document is out for consultation from 19 Mar 2021 and closes 1 Jun 2021. The consultation and related documents are available at Lewisham's consultation hub.

#alumni
#lb-lewisham
#council-led-housing #small-sites

TOM FOX

Prior to joining Public Practice, Tom worked at Hawkins Brown Architects and Territorial Agency on projects spanning architecture, urban design and research. He has also taught architecture at Central St Martins and the Architectural Association and held a research fellowship at the Jan van Eyck Academie.

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, he helped facilitate cross-boundary working in the establishment of Hemel Garden Communities and the development of design guidance for urban extensions.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Tom took on the role of Principal Urban Design and Project Manager in LB Bexley’s Strategic Planning and Growth Division. He led the borough’s work on the intensification of industrial land, characterisation and design guidance and masterplanning associated with the extension of Crossrail to Ebbsfleet study.

#alumni
#lb-bexley #st-albans-city-dc
#urban-design #new-settlements #industry

TOM SYKES

Tom is an architect interested in the ways that the built environment affects socio-cultural behaviour. Prior to joining Public Practice, Tom was an associate at Burd Haward Architects on a variety of schemes, from infill housing for the London Borough of Camden’s Community Infrastructure Programme, to addressing the nature of landscape for the National Trust, to larger community and housing-led schemes on inner-city sites.

Part of the first cohort of Public Practice, Tom joined TfL’s Property Development Team as Projects Design Manager. In this role, he ensured that the principles of ‘Good Growth by Design’ are followed throughout all projects across London, from establishing the development concept through scheme development and critical decision making, but also challenged on design excellence. Tom was responsible for the development and adoption of Property Development’s Design Review Protocol, he worked closely with the MDAs to advise and guide design decisions within the Property Development department.

#alumni
#transport-for-london
#design-review #urban-design #council-led-housing

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 Healthcare. Umi led Banking Without Barriers, a design research project which was partnered with the Royal College of Art, NatWest and Age UK.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Umi joined Newham as Housing Engagement Manager and played 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 involved 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.

You can contact Umi via her LinkedIn account here.

#alumni
#lb-newham
#engagement #council-led-housing

VANESSA CORDERO

Vanessa is a landscape architect with architectural training who has gained international experience working with leading practices in Mexico City, New York City, Washington D.C., and London. Her project experience ranges in scale, from high-profile international projects such as the Acuario Xochimilco Masterplan in Mexico City to the public gardens of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. Her most recent work in the UK has focused on improving the quality of open spaces. She has undertaken projects including the transformation of a school car park into a biodiverse courtyard garden, as well as a community engagement project to regenerate a pocket park into a vibrant and inclusive space.

Contact Vanessa via LinkedIn

#associate
#royal-borough-of-kensington-chelsea

WALTER MENTETH

Walter Menteth is an architect, planner, writer and educator, director of Walter Menteth Architects, Project Compass CIC, Trustee of the North Southwark Environment Trust and a senior lecturer at the Portsmouth School of Architecture. His practice has received a number of architectural awards and been nominated for the EU Mies van de Rohe award. He has been a visiting critic, external examiner and lecturer at various UK architecture schools, and a recent member of the Cabinet Office SME Panel.

He holds the inaugural 2015 RIBA President’s Medal for Research and an RIBA President’s Award for Practice-located Research for his work on procurement reform.

Walter has joined London Borough of Enfield working across the Regeneration & Environment and Meridian Water teams as Regeneration Partnership Manager, taking forward the council’s action plan to amend procurement processes across the borough. A significant part of his role involves establishing two new procurement frameworks for housing and regeneration projects in a way that reflects the diversity of the borough. The work Walter is doing represents a step-change in the council’s approach to equality and diversity.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#economic-development

WEN QUEK

Wen has over 30 years of professional experience as an architect designing buildings, making places and leading, managing, supporting and collaborating with teams on a diversity of projects of various scales and complexities in UK and abroad. Her unique combination of working experience based in London, Edinburgh, Berlin and Singapore has given her a broad perspective and understanding of developments in different types of context inside and outside the city. She was previously a senior partner and director of Cullinan Studio, a well established award-winning practice known for its people-centred design and social ethos.

At Camden Wen has joined as a Senior Regeneration Manager, providing urban design expertise on large schemes and ensuring consistency in approach across the borough. Wen is deeply committed to the collective endeavour to create environments to enrich and transform how we live, work, rest and play. As a Haringey Quality Review Panel member, she seeks to improve the standard of developments in the borough with the belief that the key to designing quality Architecture is placemaking and long term sustainability.

#alumni
#lb-camden
#economic-development

WILLIAM MARR-HEENAN

William is an urban planner, most recently working as Senior Town Planner for Ove Arup and Partners London where he has coordinated estate regeneration projects in Wandsworth and led a team to deliver an Island Plan for Jersey. On secondment at Epping Forest District Council he took on the role of Senior Planner in the council’s Planning Policy and Implementation team, contributing to the new Local Plan. In particular, William’s expertise is in planning policy formulation, geospatial analysis, community consultation, and urban design.

As Lead Planner for Hemel Garden Communities, William has joined St Albans District Council to provide dedicated expertise to drive the delivery of sustainable, digitally connected and 'future' proofed developments for one of the largest areas of growth for England in a generation. Central to his role is overarching advocacy for distinctive, high quality, innovative and sustainable design, influencing key stakeholders including Highways England, the Crown Estate, and Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, and shaping major schemes at pre-application and planning stages.

#alumni
#st-albans-city-dc
#planning-policy #sustainability

XIMENA AGUIRRE

Ximena qualified as an architect in her native Bolivia, moving to the UK to pursue her interest in public space and architecture – most recently as Senior Urban Design at Grimshaw. She has a broad range of experience, from social housing and regeneration projects in the UK, to an award-winning mixed use, commercially-led adaptive reuse masterplan in Moscow. Most recently, she was part of the design team for the HS2 station at Euston, where she led the team working on the station’s public realm interface.

At Kensington and Chelsea Ximena has joined the Sustainable Design and Heritage team as Senior Urban Designer, providing urban design expertise on large schemes and ensuring a consistency in approach across the borough. She is also involved in running the Council’s Quality Review Panel and coaching colleagues to improve their capability and confidence in providing urban design advice. As the council embarks on its first homebuilding programme, Ximena is also working with the Growth and Delivery Team to produce briefs on a site and area basis to ensure high quality developments.

#alumni
#royal-borough-of-kensington-chelsea
#placemaking #planning-policy #urban-design

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 Masters 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 worked with a multidisciplinary team delivering 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 worked 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, affordable 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.

In addition, Yanni was the council lead for the Active Spaces Programme, an initiative designed to activate vacant indoor spaces across the borough. In July 2021, the programme successfully funded its first project — the Creative Land Trust's transformation of the Grade II listed Alice Billings House in Stratford into 30 affordable studios for the local creative community.

You can contact Yanni via their LinkedIn account.

#alumni
#lb-newham
#engagement #town-centres

YEMÍ ALÁDÉRUN

Yẹmí Aládérun is an architect, project manager and design, construction and quality manager. She has substantial experience of design management and project delivery in the residential sector and has a special interest in housing, community and social infrastructure projects. During her time at Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association she specialised in estate modernisation and redevelopment projects. Yẹmí has also served as an elected council member of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (2017–2020), and is an advocate for educational equality and broadening access to the construction industry. She is an ambassador for The Architects Benevolent Society and a non-executive board member of Women’s Pioneer Housing.

As Development Manager at Enfield, Yẹmí is working on The Meridian Water project – Enfield Council’s flagship programme to create a new neighbourhood delivering 10,000 new homes and 6,000 jobs over the next 25 years. She is managing the development projects at Meridian Water by taking them from concept, through design, procurement, delivery and into operation.

Contact Yẹmí via LinkedIn.

#associate
#lb-enfield
#new-settlements

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.

Part of the second cohort of Public Practice, Yiorgos joined Bexley’s Strategic Planning and Growth Team as Strategic Research Coordinator. He helped to develop a robust evidence base and innovative policies that helped secure the Council’s Growth Strategy. He worked across internal teams and in the field to gather, collate, present and interpret data; researched emerging policy approaches and best practice; and implemented research findings through new policies, strategic plans and design solutions.

#alumni
#lb-bexley
#placemaking #planning-policy #urban-design #digital-data

ZAHRA HAIDER

Prior to becoming an Associate, Zahra was an architectural designer with experience working on complex strategic, cultural and historical projects. She joined Public Practice from East, where she worked on landscape-led housing projects and stakeholder engagement, including the Custom House co-design regeneration project for the London Borough of Newham. Zahra is also the founder of a not-for-profit mentoring organisation, OurGirls, working with young students from marginalised backgrounds to encourage diversity in various professions.

Zahra took on the role of Regeneration and Development Architectural Assistant, providing architectural support for new development opportunities across Enfield. She also provided innovative architectural solutions to stimulate growth, and assisted with policy writing for Enfield’s housing design guide. As part of her placement, she helped to launch an ideas competition inviting teams to suggest design solutions for intergenerational housing provision, with a focus on creating an inclusive process that attracted a diverse range of submissions. The winners of the competition were featured in The Architects' Journal. Read her case study to learn more.

Contact Zahra via her LinkedIn.

#alumni
#lb-enfield
#estate-renewal #community-led-housing

ZEINA AL-DERRY

Zeina is an architect with experience across residential, healthcare, education, workplace, and urban design projects – ranging from small-scale office refurbishment to strategic regeneration masterplans. Most recently at Gort Scott, Zeina helped establish the studio’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion group to support individuals from BAME and disadvantaged backgrounds. In 2019, she co-created the third Migrant Connections Festival in Grow, Tottenham; a migrant-led family festival that aims to provide a space of solidarity for migrants from diverse backgrounds.

As Town Centre Senior Project Officer for LB Barnet, Zeina has joined a newly formed Skills, Employment and Economic Development Team who are responding to the impact of COVID-19, as well as reimagining the borough’s town centres in a way that puts ‘new localism’ at their heart. Central to Zeina’s work is community engagement and embedding design quality to proactively lead the development of assets and scope new projects.

#alumni
#lb-barnet

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.

#alumni
#lb-lambeth
#planning-policy #council-led-housing #sustainability #small-sites

Associates

PROFESSIONAL PLACEMENT PROGRAMME

HOW DOES IT WORK?

WHO CAN BECOME AN ASSOCIATE?

WHY JOIN THE PROGRAMME?

Types of Roles

WHAT TYPES OF ROLES DO ASSOCIATES TAKE ON?

APPLY TO BECOME AN ASSOCIATE

THREE STAGE APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLICATION GUIDANCE

ASSOCIATES & ALUMNI

ABRE ETTEH

ADAM SUMMERFIELD

AKIL SCAFE-SMITH

ALASTAIR CROCKETT

ALEC SCRAGG

ALFIE RODEN

ALPA DEPANI

AMANDA GREGOR

AMANDA RASHID

AMANPRIT ARNOLD

AMY LINFORD

ANDREA JUNG

ANDREJ MECAVA

ANDREW CATCHESIDE

ANKE BOEHME

ANNA JEFFERY

ANNA ROWELL

ANNA-LISA POLLOCK

ANNE POOLE

ANTONIO IRRANCA

ANTONIO REA

ARANZAZU FERNANDEZ RANGEL

ARCHIE BASHFORD

ARMAN NOURI

ASHLEIGH WATKINS

AZUL CASTANEDA

BALDEEP HEER

BELINDA GREENWELL

BEN SMITH

BETHANIA SORIANO

BLANKA HAY

BLAZEJ CZUBA

BRYONY HENSON

CARMEL KEREN

CATHERINE HOWE

CATHERINE MOLLETT

CHLOE RUTLAND

CIARA HANSON

CLARISSA YEE

CLAUDIA NICOLINI

COLIN ROSE

CONOR MORRIS

DAN DALEY

DAWA PRATTEN

DEBORAH EASTWOOD

DINA MNEIMNEH

DOROTHEE WOOLLARD

EI-LYN CHIA

ELENI KATRINI

ELERI THOMAS

ELIZABETH RAPOPORT

ELLEN HADDEN

ELOISE ROUSSEAU

EMILY BEAVAN

ESRA ABD ELRAHMAN

FRANCIS MOSS

FRASER MCQUADE

GEORGE BURGESS

GEORGIE DAY

GISSELLE CASIO

GRACE CRANNIS

GWENAËL JERRETT

HANA LOFTUS

HANNAH LAMBERT

HAZEL MEALY

HELEN EVANS

HELEN MARKIDES

HELEN SAYERS

HOLLY HAYWARD