People

Ewa Effiom

Ewa joined ADP with experience in the residential sector. With a master’s degree in both architecture and urbanism, Ewa has a particular interest in public spaces, and their importance to the quality of life and sense of belonging in urban areas.

He has particular experience of working on masterplans and feasibility studies, and has been involved in projects at a variety of scales.

Ewa is also a New Architecture Writer with the Architecture Foundation, and has a recurring role as a visiting critic at the Manchester School of Architecture.

Outside of ADP, he is a writer, runner and oenophile.

Sarah Birkby

Sarah is our business development director, responsible for identifying and researching growth opportunities. She supports our directors and sector specialists in developing strategies for specific industries, managing national public sector frameworks, and curating research and insights for the practice.

One of Sarah’s greatest strengths is her ability to build relationships, in particular with consultants and contractors – many of which have led to long-lasting collaborations and new work.

In her spare time, Sarah aspires to be a dressage-to-music diva!

Richard Foster

Richard is an experienced senior architect who has delivered a number of projects across a wide range of sectors, particularly in the higher education sector. His projects include the refurbishment of a Grade II listed building at the University of Leeds, and a £12m science teaching laboratory at the University of Huddersfield.

He also has expertise in masterplanning, and has worked on masterplans for Liverpool John Moores University and University of Leeds.

Richard’s strengths lie in delivering BIM Level 2 projects, and he operates an advisory role across the practice.

He aspires one day to have his name in lights – be that for architecture or music.

Tracey Thomas

Tracey works as part of ADP’s EMS team, and is a qualified BREEAM Assessor and BREEAM Advisory Professional. Her role involves liaising with the design team, collating information for BREEAM reports, and carrying out BREEAM assessments.

Tracey has worked on a varied range of education and healthcare projects, as well as other diverse building types. She has been involved in the Elmsbrook Local Centre, which is an exciting zero-carbon development; she has also helped with the development of a Scheduled Monument at Fort Bovisand, providing conservation advice to the team.

Outside of ADP, she aspires to complete her fiftieth parkrun this year.

Graeme Feechan

Graeme is our commercial architecture specialist, and studio director in our Edinburgh studio.

With over 20 years’ experience in commercial architecture, Graeme has established an efficient and effective design methodology and is adept at quickly exploring, testing and communicating design solutions.

One of Graeme’s greatest strengths is his ability to focus on the wider planning and physical context of a project, communicating its benefits to stakeholders. This has allowed him to deliver buildings which surpass clients’ expectations in terms of their scale, impact and profitability.

Gabriella Lynch

Gabby joined ADP after completing her qualifications at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, bringing particular experience in the commercial and healthcare sectors.

During her time at ADP, Gabby has taken on the Revit Superuser role for her studio. She has been involved with healthcare and education projects throughout a range of RIBA stages.

Gabby is currently working towards her UK architect’s registration, and has a keen interest in travel and graphic design.

Amrit Naru

Amrit is one of our studio directors, and leads our Newcastle studio.

He has extensive knowledge in the healthcare sector, and has worked on a range of primary health care, specialist care, mental health and acute hospitals. His interest in healthcare design is further strengthened by his outside academic interests in medical health planning and elderly care in Europe and America.

Amrit also has extensive experience in the hospitality sector, delivering architectural and interior-led hotel projects.

Outside of ADP, Amrit is a talented saxophone player, who enjoys food, travel and rugby.

Roger FitzGerald

As executive chair, Roger is responsible for the board’s composition and performance, ensuring that the practice has a clear strategic vision. He is also on the board of ADP’s subsidiary, Corde.

Roger has a passionate commitment to ADP’s design output – an interest reflected in his ten years as awards assessor for the Civic Trust. He has also been an awards assessor for the RIBA.

Responsible for numerous award-winning schemes, he has overseen ADP publications such as Education and Contextualism and the AJ’s ADP at 50.

A member of the Society of Artists in Architecture, Roger donates paintings to Article 25 for fundraising events. He has written and illustrated books on the buildings of Britain, London and New York.

Karen Ward

As our head of finance, Karen is responsible for the timely and accurate reporting of financial information to the board, and is supported by our accounts team.

Karen is particularly involved with the financial element of projects, including fee schedules and profit monitoring.

Outside of work, Karen is a governor of a local secondary school and a trustee of a charity that helps homeless and vulnerable people; she also volunteers as a debt counsellor. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, and cooking and entertaining with friends.

Michelle Fletcher

Working as part of the vibrant ADP marketing team, Michelle is an experienced bid manager. She gets involved in all aspects of the bid process from inception to completion, working closely with directors and sector leads.

Her role also extends to organising and managing client events, conference exhibitions and photography shoots.

Outside of work, Michelle loves to practise her Riverdance-style footwork.

Herpreet Rayet-Boughey

Herpreet is responsible for managing client relationships and developing new business, and was instrumental in setting up ADP’s studio in Delhi NCR.

Herpreet has a real affinity to the city which she grew up in, and  is interested in the growth of the city as a diverse and inclusive community through the delivery of considered and sustainable development proposals.

She has experience in the residential, offices, education, healthcare and commercial sectors in the UK and internationally.

Herpreet is a trustee for Marudyan UK, which supports children who live below the poverty line in India by giving them access to education. She also mentors and tutors at several schools of architecture and is active in local diversity outreach programmes.

Torsten Bauszus

Torsten has worked on a wide range of projects, and has considerable experience in the higher education and science and research sectors.

He has acted as a lead designer on many large and complex projects, and understands the proactive role of design coordination.

Torsten has current experience of designing specialist laboratory environments at the Universities of Leeds and Lancaster, and for Daresbury Laboratories.

Joe Morgan

Joe is a board director with responsibility for design quality across the practice, covering sustainability, technical and quality management.

He has 20 years’ experience across a wide range of sectors, including workplace, education, research, healthcare and leisure. He has led a number of award-winning schemes, winning a national RIBA award, and has delivered significant masterplans.

Joe is a Civic Trust assessor and schools technical advisor, regularly contributing to education sector conferences.

Outside of work he enjoys rugby league and exploring the Lake District with his family. A keen runner, he aspires to run a sub-three-hour marathon – no harm in being ambitious!

Christina Smith

Christina works closely with the marketing team to create graphic design solutions that help communicate the ADP brand. Her role also extends to practice administration and keeping the studio running smoothly.

Christina is interested in how visual communication can help make things clearer, smarter, more useful and more beautiful.

Outside of work you’ll find Christina seeking out Kiwi-inspired coffee and brunch spots, where she’ll happily tell you the difference between a lamington and an Anzac biscuit.

Tudor Tenea

Tudor is an architectural assistant with a passion for designing high-quality details. He joined ADP with experience working on a number of complex commercial interior projects.

Tudor enjoys working on projects within a range of sectors, and is skilled in both digital and analogue construction techniques.

Graham McRuvie

Graham joined ADP with experience of healthcare, residential, community, railway, MoD and commercial projects. He has used this cross-sector experience to deliver a range of prestigious developments.

Graham now leads the Sherborne studio as studio director, and is the framework lead for a number of higher education clients. His key projects include the School of Humanities for the University of Bristol and a major £21m coastal regeneration project.

Graham is a passionate advocate of freehand drawing, but has also used computer 3D modelling for over 30 years – predating BIM!

Away from the studio Graham is a keen motorcyclist and sea kayaker (though usually not at the same time).

Matthew Jackson

Matt is a skilled architect with strong experience across a range of education projects.

He has successfully delivered a number of complex school projects, taking them from concept stage, through the client engagement process, to project completion.

Matt particularly enjoys working with the design team to create inspiring learning environments for pupils and staff, and is the project architect for a new SEN school. He has also been closely involved in projects for a number of universities, including the University of Reading, Oxford Brookes University, and Somerville College, Oxford.

Outside of work, he’s a committed hockey player for his local team.

Alex Macbeth

Alex is a Part II architectural assistant who has supported our teams in a number of education and healthcare projects.

He has particular experience of design development support and technical design packages. Alex has been involved in projects for the Universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Oxford, as well as supporting the delivery of projects for the Star Academies trust.

Alex is very proficient in Revit and CAD software, and is continuing to develop the BIM experience of the practice.

Outside of work, Alex enjoys going to gigs, and was a recent finalist in the ADP Art Challenge.

Stephen Miles

Stephen leads the global business plan and operational management of the practice on behalf of the board. His practice-wide role involves supporting public sector and commercial projects, as well as business development and client liaison. He has significant experience in a range of sectors – particularly the education and residential sectors.

Stephen is a Fellow of the RIAS, and a nationally elected trustee of the incorporation. He is also one of the 25 accredited sustainable design architects in Scotland recognised by the RIAS.

Stephen enjoys spending time with his family and friends, and keeping fit. He can often be found on the tennis courts or golf course.

Nailah Bakhsh

Nailah is one of our architectural assistants, and has worked on various education schemes while at ADP.

She is particularly skilled at using Photoshop, InDesign, AutoCAD, SketchUp, Revit, Rhino and model-making to communicate design ideas.

Outside of work, Nailah aspires to learn at least one musical instrument, and is currently working on her guitar-playing!

Liz Jarrett

Liz is a studio director who co-leads our London studio. She has extensive experience in the education, research and healthcare sectors, with particular expertise in leisure and community projects.

With a dual master’s degree in Architecture and Town and Regional Planning, Liz has eased projects through the planning stage in sensitive and difficult locations, often working with complex stakeholder groups. She is especially adept at working on masterplans, and taking forward early-stage feasibilities and design briefs.

Liz’s award-winning schemes include Augustine House at Canterbury Christ Church University, and the Forum in Southend.

Ben Wallis

Ben is one of our associate directors, and is responsible for ensuring design information is high quality and meets the aspirations of our clients.

He is a good listener, and keen to fully understand the nature of a problem from its cultural, social and environmental context before developing a solution which fits.

Ben has delivered successful projects in a range of sectors, including Clay Farm Community Centre, a suite of city-centre apartments for Lincoln College, Oxford, and the redevelopment of Oxford Castle.

Outside of work, Ben enjoys painting, drawing and strumming his guitar.

Alison McKerracher

With 30 years’ experience since qualifying, Alison has a wealth of expertise, particularly in the education, research and commercial sectors.

As well as Alison’s responsibilities as company secretary, she leads on HR for the practice, supporting ADP’s ongoing commitment to our Investors in People accreditation and all aspects of staff welfare, training and development.

Alison is also a director of our collaborative company Corde, and a trustee of the Marudyan UK charity.

Outside of ADP, Alison is Vice Chair of Governors at King Edward VI Handsworth School, and a Trustee on the board of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham.

Joerg Poeschus

As an experienced project architect, Joerg has extensive experience in the education, community and healthcare sectors.

He has been involved in a range of major new build and refurbishment projects for schools, further education colleges and universities across the South East.

Natalia Lopez

Natalia is one of our senior architects. She particularly enjoys working with clients and design teams to create imaginative designs which can be delivered to budget.

Natalia understands the pressures faced by school projects, and is experienced at managing the design process to deliver inspiring learning environments. She has an excellent track record of delivering projects on time and to budget, and has completed a number of successful schools.

Jade Sturmey

Jade is an architect with a particular interest in designing education buildings. She is passionate about providing pupils with a creative and supporting environment in order to transform their experience and positively impact their development.

During her career, Jade has worked on a number of primary schools from the initial project stages through to construction. She enjoys working within a collaborative environment, engaging with multiple stakeholders to develop a design that exceeds expectations for the people using the final building.

In her spare time, Jade enjoys travelling and uses these opportunities to practise her photography skills.

Tristan Rabaeijs

As an architectural assistant, Tristan has experience of working on projects across multiple sectors including residential, education and commercial. He enjoys communicating with a design team, and helping to visualise a project throughout the various stages of its development.

Tristan’s interest lies particularly within the public realm. He enjoys considering the environmental, economic and – most importantly – social benefits that the design of public spaces can have, including the effects on our ability to interact with the city at a more human scale.

Out of the office, he is an avid trampoline and gymnastics coach, having been introduced to the sport when he was just six years old!

Naomi Simon

Naomi works closely with our marketing and bids team, bringing 20 years’ experience of marketing and graphic design.

She supports directors, sector specialists and the marketing team in the creation of bespoke bid submissions, and on a wide range of graphic design tasks. Naomi’s role also involves the administration and running of our busy Sherborne studio.

When not working or juggling a busy family life, she loves all things design, including graphic design, sculpting cakes and interior design. She also enjoys cooking, spending time in the country and going on coastal walks.

Hannah Brewster

Hannah has wide experience delivering healthcare projects across the country. She has developed a thorough knowledge of complex healthcare brief gathering, particularly with multi-stakeholder clients.

Hannah provides a practice-wide support role for healthcare expertise, and has been instrumental in the success of a number of complex healthcare schemes.

By working closely with user groups in sensitive, occupied, operational areas, she has become especially adept at innovating with space planning and derogation.

Adam Pearson

Adam has a passion for design and creative problem solving, with experience of running projects from conception to completion. He has worked across the education, healthcare, commercial and residential sectors.

In delivering a number of complex higher education schemes, he has gained invaluable experience of working with multi-headed client teams to design innovative teaching facilities.

Adam’s experience leading commercial projects includes a new customer information centre for a major international bank.

Adrian Bower

Adrian leads our residential sector, bringing 20 years of experience within this field. He has developed significant expertise in the masterplanning, planning and building of new communities and relishes the challenges of mixed use, urban regeneration projects.

Prior to ADP, Adrian had long-term involvement in a number of major regeneration projects including Kidbrooke Village and Goodman’s Fields with Berkeley Homes, East Village and Fitzroy Place.

He has worked with private clients, local authorities and registered social landlords across a range of scales, to plan and deliver all types and tenures of housing, including market, affordable, build to rent, student housing and hotels.

Adrian has detailed knowledge of residential planning requirements and leads negotiations with client bodies, planning authorities and community interests, achieving commendable results in sensitive environments.

William Allen

Will has extensive experience of projects within the health and education sectors.

He was involved in the client engagement and design of a new emergency department, leading the project team in developing the BIM model.

Will has also worked as an integral part of the ADP team on a number of projects for the Universities of Lancaster, Stafford and Leeds, and has developed extensive knowledge of delivering schools via the ESFA framework.

Will is a BIM and NBS Create Superuser for the practice, with expertise in delivering coordinated design solutions at BIM Level 2.

Nicola Murphy

Nicola is an architectural assistant with experience across a range of sectors – particularly education and healthcare. She enjoys the challenges of both sectors, and always looks to push the boundaries of design. Working collaboratively within the design team, Nicola works hard to meet the aspirations of the people who will use the new spaces.

Outside of work, Nicola enjoys music and theatre, where you can often find her in the audience (although maybe one day she’ll be on the stage).

Arvind Bawari

Arvind is an accomplished architect with good site experience. He uses his expertise to ensure his projects are well managed.

Arvind was born and brought up in the eastern part of India, and has spent a lot of time being close to nature. He therefore has good experience of hill architecture and using local sustainable materials. He has mainly worked within the commercial, residential and public sectors.

When Arvind manages to escape his computer screen he enjoys sightseeing and cycling in the hills.

Elfride Krings

Elfride is responsible for identifying and developing growth opportunities for the Indian side of the practice. She has vast international experience in designing and working closely with clients. Her charismatic nature and enthusiasm help build strong, long-term working relationships.

Elfride has an architectural background which adds strength to her discussions, and means she can bring an extra layer of insight on projects.

In her free time, Elfride loves to travel the world and collect souvenirs.

Dianna Fletcher

Dianna is one of our studio directors, and an RIBA accredited Conservation Architect.

She is particularly interested in the sensitive conservation and renewal of the historic built environment, and has extensive experience of restoration and regeneration projects.

Dianna also has a strong track record of producing masterplans for existing estates and campuses. Her masterplans build on existing and historic qualities, allowing strategic growth for the future.

When not in the studio, Dianna enjoys travelling, trekking and using her new teppan.

David Jovetic

As a studio director, David is closely involved in managing the Birmingham studio. He has extensive experience of managing client relationships and business development, particularly in the education sector.

His education experience spans both city centre and campus sites, and he has led strategic masterplan projects with extensive consultation and engagement processes.

David also led the award-winning St Marks Student Residences project for the University of Leeds.

Robert Gittins

Rob is an experienced project architect who has been involved in a number of projects, mainly within the education and healthcare sectors.

He has delivered a number of social care projects, developing a detailed knowledge of the key challenges in delivering residential and day care accommodation. He has also designed a number of specialist SEN facilities for schools.

Outside of work, Rob can be found scaling new heights on a climbing wall or enjoying the great outdoors.

Praveen Bahadur

Praveen is an essential part of ADP, ensuring the studio functions smoothly. As studio support, he makes sure all parts of the office are organised and presentable. He provides the required help and support to all his colleagues on varied tasks – from an early morning coffee to help on a late-night submission. He’s found that working at ADP has helped bring out his inner creativity.

In his free time, Praveen channels his creativity into cooking and handmade crafts.

Paula Botezatu

Paula is an experienced Part II architectural assistant. She has worked on a range of projects, particularly in the residential sector, and on large development schemes.

As a dedicated designer, Paula has excellent attention to detail and enjoys learning new technical skills.

In her spare time she loves cooking and life drawing, and aspires to be a painter.

Jon Roylance

Jon leads our higher education and science and research sectors.

He has advised 30+ university clients, delivering sector-leading facilities. His projects have won awards including the Guardian Higher Education “Facility of the Year”, the CUBO “Student Project of the Year”, S-Lab, SCONUL University Library of the Year, the Higher Education Academy, and several RIBA awards.

Jon promotes knowledge share amongst universities, science and research institutions, and our own technical teams. Jon’s role involves chairing best practice groups, and offering new ideas in space optimisation, project social values, teaching and learning environments, sustainability and wellbeing, student experience, and the smart campus of the future.

David Heslop

As managing director, David has overall responsibility for the financial operation and business strategy of the practice. He is also managing director and chairman of Adpak and Corde. Adpak is ADP’s subsidiary offering multi-disciplinary services, and Corde is a joint venture company set up between ADP, AKS Ward and KJ Tait, delivering an integrated design service enabled through BIM.

David is also chair of our Indian subsidiary, and a trustee of Marudyan UK, our charity that supports educational projects for below-poverty-line children in India.

David steered the practice though its transition to employee ownership, and is a director of the practice’s employee ownership trust.

Mohd Farhan

Farhan’s skills lie in detailed design development. His role as architect requires him to understand the technical aspects of a concept design. He works extensively with the project engineering consultants to ensure that our buildings function well.

Farhan’s particular interest lies in healthcare design. Healthcare – and health – play a very important part in his life: he spends much of his free time either at the gym or advising his friends and colleagues about leading a healthy lifestyle.

Natalie Stylianou

As one of our associates, Natalie is responsible for the business development of our new Cyprus studio. She has particular experience within the education sector and masterplanning.

Natalie’s greatest strengths are her philosophy for uncompromised quality and passion for what she does, which gains clients’ trust from the very first meeting.

She is an RIBA, ARB and Cyprus ETEK member and is keen to promote ADPs experience in Cyprus and the EU.

Travelling, exploring, hiking, exercising, socialising – everything that is not standing still – is what Natalie enjoys in life.

Vicky Knowlden

Vicky leads the marketing and bids team in delivering and continually improving ADP’s tender submissions. Working with the team, she helps to raise the profile of the practice through the delivery of external communications – including awards, the website, events and PR.

Vicky is also the current Employee Director, chairing employee council meetings and representing staff views at board level.

Outside of work and in between studying towards her CIM Marketing Leadership qualification, she aspires to be the England netball team’s next wing defence.

Jake Smart

Jake is a senior architect with strong technical knowledge. He has acted as design team leader on projects across a number of sectors, including multi-unit and private housing, education, healthcare, retail and leisure.

Chairing ADP’s Superuser group for the specification writing software NBS Create, Jake has a strong technical knowledge base. He passionately believes in taking a rigorous approach to design, and seeks out the most effective solutions at every stage of a project’s life.

Outside of work, Jake aspires to finish building his house one day, and actually live in it!

Joanne Turley

Joanne is our credit controller, and part of the ADP accounts team. Her role is to ensure prompt payment of debtors on the sales ledger, and she takes great pride in achieving financial targets.

Joanne is currently working towards her CICM (Chartered Institute of Credit Management) Level 3 Diploma, which she will complete this year.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her daughter – and is a keen cake baker when time allows.

Patrick Baldwin

Patrick joined ADP as a project architect, and has been mainly working on projects within the healthcare sector. He also brings a range of experience in the residential and education sectors.

Patrick has worked extensively with timber frame construction, and has a keen interest in sustainable and ecological design.

Outside of work, Patrick likes to go and watch rugby matches, having spent much of his youth involved in club rugby. He also enjoys hill-walking and skiing, although he would like to be able to do more when time permits.

Siddhant Jain

Siddhant’s organised and composed way of working ensures that all projects are efficiently managed, and that clients, end users and consultants are consistently happy with our deliverables. He brings stability and trust to the organisation, always leading by example. This has resulted in a congenial working environment, and has steadily grown our Delhi studio’s reputation. Siddhant also brings a clear understanding of design and project management to the practice.

Siddhant would love to travel to nearby lands on a magic broom to explore the culture, people and their cinema – but for now, he enjoys exploring on four wheels.

Gráinne Nestor

Gráinne recently joined ADP as a senior architect, and has wide-ranging experience delivering projects across the education sector. Before joining ADP, she worked on projects including a building with the largest timber roof in Europe, and designed the UK’s longest aerial walkway.

While at ADP, she has worked on several projects at University of Bristol. These include a lecture theatre complex, and a Grade II listed building upgrade and remodelling project.

Outside of work, Gráinne is attempting to start her own vegetable patch – with varying levels of success.

Utkarsh Bhargava

As a project architect, Utkarsh is responsible for the entire design process – from concept to delivery on site. His core experience lies in designing commercial, industrial and religious buildings. Utkarsh displays great enthusiasm, and diligently works towards fulfilling every challenge from conception through to completion.

In the future he would like to design, build and run his own school that provides primary education to less fortunate children.

Ben Russell

Ben is an architect with a focus on quality and materiality. He is experienced across a diverse range of building types, and enjoys all aspects of designing and delivering architecture. He has a key focus on creating architecture which has a sense of playfulness, responds intelligently to the environment, and dissolves the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces.

In a world increasingly dominated by technology, Ben loves making by hand, and can often be found in his workshop creating something out of concrete or wood. He brings this appreciation of material quality, craftsmanship and handmade objects to his work in the practice.

Michael Lane

Michael has played an important role in the development of a number of projects in the healthcare, higher education, residential and heritage sectors.

He has previously worked as a cabinet maker and a visiting tutor of architecture, as well as for international practices in South East Asia. Michael brings strong attention to detail and a flair for design to the team.

Michael prioritises happiness, balancing a creative job he enjoys with life outside of ADP in the sunny South West.

Glen Moses

Glen is an experienced senior architect with wide-ranging experience, particularly within the commercial and rail sectors. He is used to undertaking complex architectural projects from concept to completion as both architect and lead consultant.

Glen enjoys working with everyone involved in projects, including the design, procurement and construction teams. He is passionate about extracting the most out of each and every project, ensuring the best value for the client, contractor and end users.

Outside of work, Glen is a keen tennis player and sport enthusiast.

Kristie Papaleontiou

Kristie has worked on a diverse range of building types and sectors. She enjoys working with the design and construction teams to create a final design which exceeds the expectations of the client and end users.

Kristie has experience delivering all aspects of a project at design and construction stages.

Claire Mantle

As ADP’s school sector lead, Claire leads the practice’s school strategy. She shares lessons learned, best practice and specialist knowledge across our studios and the sector more widely.

Claire believes that the only way to create responsive, inspiring learning environments is to put pupils at the centre of the design process, consulting closely with user working groups to understand staff requirements.

This year, she has been working to incorporate ‘design for wellbeing’ into all of our school briefs and designs, using an evidence-based approach. She is also leading post occupancy evaluations of our schools to appraise their performance and gain feedback from pupils and staff.

Simon Beaumont-Orr

Simon is an associate director, and a member of ADP’s sustainability group. He has a wealth of experience across the education, commercial and residential sectors.

Simon’s key interests include addressing the issues of climate change by focusing on the critical performance of buildings. He also enjoys the technical aspects of design, and the challenge of seeing early architectural concepts through to their realisation on site.

Outside of work, Simon likes to practise what he preaches – from building bikes out of bamboo to castles out of cardboard (with his son)!

Mel Jacobsen Cox

As an associate director, Mel has developed key client liaison and management skills along with extensive site experience to support project delivery teams. She has worked within a range of sectors, with a particular focus on healthcare.

Mel was one of our original BIM champions, and recently began leading technical compliance with fire regulations across the practice.

She has a passion for realising clients’ aspirations, and will tenaciously collaborate to deliver a coordinated design. Mel also enjoys working with junior team members and developing their working practices.

Outside of work, she enjoys public speaking, creative writing, and roaming the lanes of Dorset on horseback with her daughter.

Chris Thornton

Chris leads our healthcare sector work. He has completed over 130 projects for Macmillan Cancer Support, and built many strong relationships with public and private healthcare providers across the country.

His understanding of patient needs and the clinical challenges that face many healthcare institutions is extensive. As a result, Chris is an important practice-wide resource for furthering our work in the healthcare sector. He is on the executive board for Architects for Health and is an active member of IHEEM and the DiMH network, often participating in speaking slots at conferences.

The majority of his healthcare work has involved remodelling projects with technically demanding requirements, while maintaining a strong patient focus.

Tom Gaskell

Tom is one of our associate directors. He has experience of projects across various sectors, including education, housing, healthcare, leisure and commercial.

Tom has worked extensively on school projects across the UK, and is known for his transformative school designs. He has excellent technical knowledge, and enjoys working on projects from the initial design concept stage through to the technical delivery and completion.

Nicola Cadogan

Nicola has worked on a range of projects in the residential, commercial and healthcare sectors, with a particular focus on education schemes. Her experience of education projects includes new university buildings, college campus redevelopments, school expansion programmes, and new nurseries.

Nicola enjoys taking projects from inception to completion, and is particularly interested in the early stages of concept design and the development of the client’s brief.

With a master’s degree in renewable energy, Nicola has a keen interest in sustainable design, which she incorporates into her projects. She is also qualified as a BREEAM Assessor, and is a member of ADP’s in-house sustainability and heritage teams.

Leo Bourke

Leo is one of our Part II architectural assistants, and is currently taking his Part III exams.

Leo is particularly interested in how innovation and technology can be integrated within our building designs. He enjoys graphical communication and visualisations, through developing physical models and the use of augmented reality.

Outside of ADP, Leo loves travelling, and has recently explored south-east Asia.

Tom White

Tom is a bid and marketing executive. He supports the marketing team in winning work for the practice, from finding new opportunities to managing bids. He also runs our social media accounts.

As an English Literature graduate and former copywriter, Tom brings strong writing skills to the team, and helps guide our tone of voice. He loves getting his teeth into a complex bid, and reading between the lines to understand a potential client’s needs.

Outside of work, he splits his time between running along Manchester’s many canals, reviewing punk gigs, and working on a dystopian novel.

Aadil Nagdawala

Aadil is a Part I architectural assistant, having graduated from the Manchester School of Architecture. He has helped to deliver work for projects throughout the RIBA work stages in the commercial, education and healthcare sectors.

Aadil has a keen interest in a more connected future and what this means for architecture, and is planning on using everything he has learned at ADP to aid his master’s studies, commencing later this year.

Outside of work, he can be found practising oil painting, sketching, and wandering around a city taking macro photographs.

Wayne Dobbins

As a studio director, Wayne is primarily responsible for managing the Oxford studio. He is also involved in the continuous development of the practice BIM strategy and our integrated design joint venture, Corde, as well as being a lead support for our India studio. Wayne’s key strengths are in the education and community sectors, and his expertise ranges from developing school briefs through to managing higher education frameworks.

Outside of work, Wayne is a school governor, captains a squash team, and occasionally shows glimpses of his former county-standard golfing. He juggles these with being a father of two amazing daughters while building a new house with SIPs.

Siobhan Davitt

Siobhan is a highly experienced associate director, with over 20 years of wide-ranging experience. During this time, she has led a range of highly complex projects from inception to completion within the public sector.

Siobhan has expertise in designing clinical environments and major healthcare refurbishments. She has managed contracts for both traditional and NHS frameworks.

She has a particular interest in sustainable design, and brings these principles to all of her projects.

Anna Praulitis

Anna has worked primarily on education, heritage and landscape projects during her time at ADP. She also has good experience with residential, commercial and leisure projects, from small private extensions to multimillion-pound commercial schemes.

Anna is particularly interested in heritage projects, and passionate about refurbishing and creatively adapting old buildings to ensure continued use and care. She enjoys actively working with stakeholders and design teams to deliver a client’s vision.

A Certified Passive House Designer, Anna continuously improves the sustainability credentials of the projects she is involved with.

Outside of ADP, Anna enjoys swimming, hill-walking and cycling.

Jessica Morrison

Jessica has successfully supported our teams on a number of education, commercial and residential projects, as well as several masterplans.

She is a team player with excellent conceptual and visualisation skills, including freehand sketching and computer-aided modelling and rendering. She also has excellent proficiency in ArchiCAD, SketchUp, Revit, and model-making, and is one of our BIM Revit Superusers.

Carmen Montes

Carmen is our APMP-qualified bid executive. She is experienced in managing complex multi-disciplinary proposals, supporting directors and a variety of stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of bids. She is also responsible for managing and maintaining ADP’s bid knowledge database, and for project managing the practice’s award submissions.

Outside work she aspires to be a quantum consciousness researcher.

Alex Proctor

Alex is an associate director, and has acquired a vast amount of experience across multiple sectors since joining the practice as a Part II assistant.

During his time at ADP, Alex has delivered innovative learning environments for a number of education projects. He particularly enjoys the engagement process and presenting initial concept ideas to a range of stakeholders.

Alex also plays a key role in our BIM task group, which drives innovation through BIM across the practice. He has delivered a number of BIM Level 2 projects, developing proactive working relationships with design teams and contractors as a result.

Ranjan Ray

Ranjan doesn’t take anything for granted – he researches every element of a project down to the last detail. Sustainability and “doing the right thing in the right way” are of utmost importance, and he believes that there is no greater motivation than a commitment made. As director, Ranjan runs our Delhi studio with zeal and determination. These qualities are recognised and appreciated by his colleagues, clients and consultants, helping him to develop strong professional relationships.

Ranjan likes to unwind by cooking, and he enjoys putting his amateur chef skills to test by experimenting with unconventional food.

Akshay Kalwar

Akshay ensures the details of every aspect of his architecture are of the highest quality. He works hard to resolve design issues by breaking them down to the basic elements first. This helps in simplifying the design process, and delivering a solution that always works.

When not putting his mind to work, Akshay enjoys putting his feet to work on the dance floor.

Prashilla Fisher

Prashilla is an experienced project architect with a particular interest in sustainable heritage.

She has worked on projects ranging widely in cost, scale and type, and enjoys manipulating space to create an architectural form that exceeds the aspirations of the people who will use it.

Prashilla has an enthusiasm for sustainable design, fostered through her MSc in Sustainable Building Design.

Outside of ADP, Prashilla enjoys keeping active – be it dancing, running or cycling.

Andy Nock

As a project architect, Andy is involved at all stages of a project, taking a lead after the client engagement stage.

Andy has experience in a number of sectors, but is particularly passionate about healthcare work. He enjoys the technicalities involved, and the detailed collaboration with other design team members that this brings.

Andy was the project architect on a combined student residential and teaching block project at Newman University, which won “Building Project of the Year” at the Celebrating Construction Awards.

Outside of work, Andy enjoys fitness training, and has a keen interest in sports and photography. His love of rugby has taken him as far as Sydney to watch the State of Origin series.

Phil Sawyer

Phil is our IT director, responsible for delivering our IT and BIM strategies. He supports our business processes and manages our IT outsourcing relationships, including our Citrix, collaboration and communication technologies.

As a BRE BIM accredited member, Phil is responsible for developing and implementing our BIM standards, ensuring we have the appropriate BIM authoring tools, templates and training. Under his guidance our practice has achieved BIM Level 2 maturity.

Outside of work, Phil aspires to play paradiddles as sharply as Taylor Hawkins, his drumming hero.

Rares Tugui

Rares is an architectural assistant involved in projects as varied as healthcare, higher education and masterplanning. His role is to support the architectural team in developing the design and taking the project to completion. His main strengths are his ability to adapt rapidly to new projects, and his keen eye for bespoke design solutions.

Outside of work he is studying for his Master of Architecture, and looks forward to becoming a qualified architect.

Craig Cullimore

As one of our board directors, Craig’s role focuses on the strategic direction and management of the practice. Alongside this, he continues his involvement in projects through leading design reviews and his role as an accredited RIBA Client Adviser.

Craig is particularly interested in the outcomes a project can achieve. By measuring key sustainability, belonging and engagement factors, he makes sure that we deliver aspirational projects which provide clients and communities with real value.

Outside of ADP, Craig is a member of the Construction Excellence Committee, coaches children’s rugby, and (when time permits) is also refurbishing his family home.

Keir McNeil

Keir has delivered projects across the higher education, schools and healthcare sectors.

He is leading the delivery of the new £96m Sir William Henry Bragg Building at the University of Leeds, which will enable the integration of engineering, physics, chemistry, and computing, while providing central teaching and social interaction spaces.

Zainab Malik

Zainab is a studio administrator who supports our London studio and central marketing team.

With a qualification in Interior and Spatial Design, she understands the design process well, and has a keen interest in the design element of every project she helps with.

She also supports our marketing team, working on tender submissions and organising client events. Zainab has developed excellent customer service skills; she can work on multiple studio tasks very well under pressure, and thrives on working to deadlines.

Outside of ADP, she loves to travel, and plans to adventure out to some exciting places in the future.

Eishan Jain

Eishan is a confident and pragmatic associate director with commendable leadership skills. He takes a simple approach to design, making it easy for his colleagues and clients to understand the complexities of the various design processes.

Eishan takes pride in ensuring that our design solutions are innovative, functional and aesthetically pleasing. His key works include projects in the education, commercial, residential and hospitality sectors. Eishan’s thoughts and views are well respected by his colleagues and clients.

A competitive sportsman at heart, Eishan is always game to try new things – be it a new book, alternative cinema, or adventure sport.

Neil Lister

As an associate director at ADP, Neil has worked on many prestigious projects across multiple sectors. He is skilled in masterplanning and urban design, negotiating planning consents, and producing efficient and innovative technical design solutions with enthusiasm and design flair.

One of Neil’s greatest strengths is bringing his knowledge from both the public and private sectors. This allows him to design bespoke, high-quality solutions which add value.

Outside of work, Neil spends much of his time nurturing his two children, and is currently teaching them to play piano and tennis.

Katie Thompson

Katie is our senior interior designer, and works on projects across the practice. She manages our interior design team, which is commissioned for standalone interiors appointments, as well as working as an integral part of our architectural teams.

Katie’s strengths lie in developing interior concepts, space planning, colour schemes, finishes and furniture packages. She always ensures that our interior schemes are fully aligned with the architecture.

Her designs can be seen in projects such as Spanish City, which received an international FX Award.

Katie is an aspiring artist in her spare time, and recently came second in the ADP Art Challenge.

John Newman

John is the practice’s landscape director. He leads our landscape team, supporting all of our UK studios.

His expertise can be seen in public realm projects at the University of Liverpool (a finalist project for the Northern Design Award), and historic projects such as Fort Bovisand.

John is particularly interested in how landscapes are developing, and how cities, towns and villages can move forward sustainably.

John likes to paint, regularly contributing to ADP’s Art Challenge and has taken part in several of the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year Wild Card events. He also has an allotment at the historic Edgbaston Guinea Gardens and tutors at Birmingham City University.

Karen Turnbull

Karen is the practice’s sustainability leader. She has worked on a range of projects in the healthcare, commercial and education sectors.

Karen leads a team of sustainability champions spread across every studio. She is a BREEAM Assessor and BREEAM Advisory Professional, and has also undertaken Passivhaus consultancy training. Karen supports staff in developing sustainability strategies on projects to enhance their environmental performance, covering low-energy strategies, ecological improvement, and health and wellbeing.

Karen is also involved in developing the role of additional software tools in optimising passive design performance. This includes using tools such as Autodesk Insight, and bespoke tools for daylighting and natural ventilation.

Jill Marks

Jill has worked on a variety of projects, predominantly in the higher education and healthcare sectors. She has delivered a number of complex remodelling projects for the Universities of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Abertay.

Jill has taken on the role of sustainability champion within her studio, encouraging and promoting ADP’s sustainability agenda at a project and studio level.

A keen runner, Jill has represented ADP at the Great North Run, completing the half marathon and raising funds for Marudyan UK.

Matthew Spencer-Smith

Matthew is a project architect who works across the healthcare, education and residential sectors.

His particular strengths lie in solving site issues, as well as the technical delivery of projects.

Matthew was the project architect for the award-winning Macmillan Cove project, which provides a relaxed, non-clinical environment for those living with or affected by cancer.

Matthew is a Marvel fan – and although doesn’t claim to have the IQ of Tony Stark or Bruce Banner, he does aspire to bring the same ingenuity and problem-solving acumen to his projects!

Helen O’Curry

Helen leads our successful Manchester studio team.

Through consultation and attention, she delivers designs for the people who live, work, play and study in our buildings. This approach was brought to the RIBA National Award-winning Laidlaw Library at the University of Leeds.

Helen spends time mentoring and supporting others in achieving their potential, and is a member of Women in Property.

She also has an acute interest in how we can all deliver on the country’s carbon-zero aspiration, and is working with the practice to move this forward.

Outside of work, and around raising a family, Helen rides bikes and runs in her local Peak District hills.

Louis Stocks

Since joining ADP, Louis has supported the interior schemes for a variety of projects. He mainly works within the healthcare and education sectors.

As an accomplished interior designer, Louis has supported Katie in delivering several award-winning projects, including the Stokes Centre for Urology at Royal Surrey County Hospital.

In his spare time, Louis still harbours a desire to graduate one day from his current role as a bedroom DJ.

Annabel Aucott

As our practice accountant, Annabel is responsible for managing the finance team, preparing month end accounts, HR and payroll. She also ensures that statutory requirements for payroll and finance are met.

Annabel is particularly skilled at communicating with different audiences, and handling sensitive situations compassionately. She is also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Outside of work, Annabel enjoys going to the theatre, seeing the Killers live, visiting New York (especially around Christmas time), making cheesecakes, and looking after her pet rabbits.

Amy Brazenall

Amy has worked on a variety of projects in the residential, commercial and healthcare sectors, with a focus on higher education schemes. Her experience covers the successful delivery of new build, refurbishment, spatial rationalisation, learning, social and workplace projects for a number of universities.

Amy particularly enjoys the stakeholder engagement process, developing an in-depth understanding of the client’s needs and challenging perceptions.

Her strengths lie in the visual communication of ideas during the design process, and in building relationships with the client and project teams.

Claire Hunt

Claire is a senior landscape architect, and a chartered member of the Landscape Institute.

Her experience ranges from public realm projects to landscaping for schools and universities. Claire enjoys all aspects of her job role, but is particularly interested in biodiversity and sustainability – she loves getting other people enthused about these topics!

She is also a visiting tutor on the Landscape Architecture course at Birmingham City University.

In her spare time, Claire enjoys parkruns, playing the piano, working on her allotment and singing in her community choir. She also sits on the board of trustees at Moseley Park and Pool, a Humphry Repton landscape in Birmingham.

Manbir Kaur

Manbir graduated from Edinburgh University with a Master of Architecture. Her thesis explored ‘Market’ as an urban catalysts, responding to the morphological, social, perceptual and temporal conditions of the city.

In 2015 she was shortlisted for the RIBA President’s Medals Bronze Award, an international award which celebrates outstanding design work at Part I and Part II stages of architectural education.

Having joined the practice shortly after graduating, Manbir has worked on projects in a range of sectors, with a particular focus on healthcare and mixed-use schemes. She is currently undertaking her postgraduate diploma in architectural practice (RIBA Part III).

Ellie Betham

Ellie is a part II architectural assistant, and has worked on a number of projects – mainly within the healthcare sector. She joined ADP after receiving her Part II qualification at the Centre for Alternative Technology, where she developed her knowledge and passion for sustainable architecture.

As an employee representative for her studio, Ellie takes an active role in ADP’s Employee Ownership Council.

Outside of ADP and in between studying for her Part III qualification, Ellie enjoys gardening and playing for her local hockey team.