Experience
I am a qualified Chartered Architect having studied at the University of Bath and gaining degrees in Architecture and Building Engineering (BSc) and Architectural Design (BArch).
My career started at a small Architectural Practice where I gained experience designing commercial projects and retail projects, light industrial and residential schemes.
During this time I acted as Project Architect and ran schemes on site, dealing with JCT contracts, specifications, working drawings and Contractor engagement
After qualifying as an Architect I took the decision to seek greater experience and moved to Broadway Malyan where I progressed to become an Associate Director.
During my time at Broadway Malyan I was involved with many national and international design competitions, the design of Business Parks and Industrial schemes and I was instrumental in putting the Business on the map through the work I undertook for the likes of St George.
Internationally I helped set up the operation in South Africa which led to the Company becoming the worldwide organisation it is today..
Smugglers Wharf, Riverside Road, Wandsworth
As a result often work I was doing for the Berkely Group I was headhunted in to St James where I became Design and Technical Director for some of the Industries leading projects in London.
Many of the projects were high end developments with specifications and marketing approaches that were revolutionary at the time. We put in place the first schemes with car clubs and home delivery lockers for instance and used specialist yacht fitters as interior manufacturers
Kew Riverside Mortlake Road Kew
The work we were undertaking at that time was highly noted and I was headhunted into Fairview New Homes with a remit to run the Planning and Design teams as Operational Board Director .
It was a big challenge as Fairview's are well known for their Cultural challenges, but their focus on profitability is second to none.
My time at the Company was defining for the Business as it was when PPG3 came to the fore, so the delivery of high quality design came firmly into determining bodies psyche, which for Fairview at the time was an anathema. I therefore needed to work to demonstrate how quality could lead to greater development opportunity, which could lead to increased profitability. We achieved multiple success on a wide variety of fronts, sites that were very different to the previous vanilla arrangements they had looked to the past
Horton Kirby Paper Mill, Darenth, Kent
In 2008, I joined Howarth Homes and shortly afterwards in 2009 Inland Homes Plc.
My role at Inland has been as Planning Director and Senior architect for the Business where I have seen my team deliver initially s around 50 to 100 units per annum, up to the present where in 2023 we will deliver nearly 3000 units of approvals.
The projects have been wide ranging from single plots up to 2000 unit masterplans and everything in between. We have worked on schemes that have been complex technically, promoted sites through local plans, delivered legal test cases in London, won appeals in the green belt and along the way delivered high quality designs
Meridian TV site, Southampton
Curriculum Vitae
Broadway Malyan Architects - Associate Director
Broadway Malyan is an Architectural Practice that pushes the boundaries of design and combines skills sets in Masterplanning, Urban Design, Commercial, Mixed Use and Residential developments, as well as being a Business that is commercially astute.
During this period I became an Associate Director and designed and helped deliver a wide variety of schemes including amongst others, Citywest Business Park in Dublin, the BP Headquarters at Sunbury, the Canon Headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, the refurbishment of a number of Retail Malls and also the logistics centre for Random House books in Essex
I designed and helped develop the first Berkeley Homes River Thames Development at Mendip and Sherwood Wharf in Wandsworth. I was Instrumental in the design and delivery of well known developments such as the now iconic St George Wharf in Vauxhall, where we built directly over the underground on a site that was allocated for commercial, Smugglers Wharf in Wandsworth and the first phases of Imperial Wharf in Fulham, which included the first discussions about a new station which has now been delivered
I was part of the team that enabled the Business to develop from its parochial background, into an International operation working on overseas projects including in South Africa where I helped set up a new Office for the Company.
St James Homes - Design and Technical Director
In my latter years at BM I recognised my particular interest in residential design and was fortunate to be headhunted to become Design and Technical Director at St James Homes - a JV between Berkeleys and Thames Water
St James are well known for the quality of their designs , the levels of specifications, architectural detailing and high profile sales and marketing campaigns.
All of the sites were technically challenging, combining live Water and drainage assets, and generally in high profile locations
Pushing the boundaries of excellence I was instrumental in developing significant schemes at One@SE8 in Deptford, where we designed a four storey sales suite from portakabins, Kew Riverside, which including a state of the art swimming pool and high end marketing supported by the likes of Denise Lewis and Bruce Oldfield, Wycombe Square in Kensington, where we hand crafted interiors using boatbuilders and developed and underground tennis arena, Hampton Gardens in Worcester Park developed in the green belt, and the renowned Grosvenor Dock in Chelsea..
Boundaries were pushed to limits at St James and included projects such as 7 storey timber frame schemes in Woolwich, the first home delivery lockers and the first car clubs
Fairview New Homes - Planning and Design Director
As St James became an Industry leader and our projects became well known I was Head hunted into Fairview New Homes to act as Design and Planning Director. Fairview New Homes is a highly rigid commercially focussed design and delivery house builder, that enables some of the most successful profit levels throughout the Industry.
I arrived at a time when PPG3 was changing the face of design, and the Company was going through a profit drive to repay a significant loan taking the Company back from the Public to Private sectors.
I ran and managed the Design and Planning teams with a staff of 20 in house Architects and Planners, delivering schemes of considerable variety for up to 2500 units per annum.
The discipline of the Fairview operation is intense, with full accountability, full disclosure and processes that are refined to the nth degree. Working in this environment, allowed me to be more creative, as solutions to design and planning, pushing the boundaries of costs and technical controls, needed to be ever more diverse..
Schemes included Crawley Leisure Centre in Crawley for over 800 units, where we developed the science of happiness, Horton Kirby Paper Mill in Darenth, Kent, which included a substantial number of listed buildings and a 50m high chimney, the former Met Office Site in Bracknell, a site that demanded a landmark scheme in an area of low sales values, Limeharbour on the Isle of Dogs, the Companies first foray into buildings higher than 4 storeys, Queens Hospital in Croydon, a project encapsulating the new world of renewables and the Code for Sustainable Homes and low parking ratios, Oaklands College in St Albans, which was in a conservation area an included a number of 1960's listed education buildings.
In 2008 I chose to take a change in direction to expand my experience and skills set and moved to Howarth Homes where I became Land and Planning Director.
Inland Homes PLC - Planning Director
In 2009 I was transferred into Inland Homes Plc where I became Planning Director responsible for all design and planning work for the Company.
Since starting with Inland the Business has grown from humble beginnings delivering small scale land trading opportunities for small schemes of 10 units, up today where the planning and delivery of complex masterplans,tall buildings, strategic land
promotions, single plots, multi level apartment schemes, housing developments and mixed use designs.
In delivering up to 2500 units per annum, I have managed an internal planning team, with management and delivery responsibility for large consultant teams, internally and externally, with a focus on technical compliance, cost efficiency, development understanding and quality of design.
Major Success at Inland have been Drayton Garden Village in West Drayton, where we delivered an ESCO and one of the countries first District Heat Networks with EON for a housing scheme, The Patchworks in Walthamstow, where we are delivering an 18 storey scheme alongside 2 storey houses, Hounslow Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow West, where we are delivering over 1500 units on a historic barracks site containing 32 Listed Buildings, Cheshunt Lakeside in Broxbourne, a masterplanned site across multiple ownerships for nearly 2000 units incorporating an Arsenal Condition submission, Chapel Riverside our tallest scheme at 22 storey's in Southampton which provides over 500 units a new sea defence, archaeological remains and a foul water settlement tank, and Meridian Waterside also in Southampton a new landmark scheme at the entrance to the City.
There are large complex projects which are headline grabbing such as the Master Brewer site in Hillingdon (GLA Tall Buildings Case Study) but sometimes the greatest wins are those where your professional skills are extended to their limits such as Maitland Lodge in Billericay (Green Belt Appeal win), Staines Town Centre (Tall Buildings Appeal win), Wilton Park in Beaconsfield Design Awards or St Johns Hospital in Chelmsford - Essex Design Guide Exemplar Project, where you can gain the greatest satisfaction in a job well done!
Inland has sought to be innovative and as part of the strategy we created a temporary homes modular brand and proposition HUGG Homes, which has enabled those not so well off to have a clean and safe living environment.
We were also one of the first advocates for Starter Homes and at the time the then Prime Minister David Cameron announced the programme off the the back of our development at Carters Quay in Poole.