DESIGN SOUTH EAST - Key Persons
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- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
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- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
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- Catherine Phillips Phil Jones Associate
Ana is an urban designer and chartered landscape architect with more than ten years international working experience, eight of which have been in the UK.
She works best in the intersection between the two disciplines and has led projects of a range of scales - urban regeneration frameworks, residential capacity reports, town centre strategies and visions, residential and mixed-use masterplans, citizen engagement processes and landscape masterplans. Many of these projects were developed in the name of and in close collaboration with city and town councils, so ensuring they have the design, planning and legal weight to deliver high quality development has always been a key concern.
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Architect and a Recognised Expert in the Area of Housing and the Built Environment
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- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
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- Aaron Davis David Lock Associate
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- Andrew Cameron Andrew Cameron Associate
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Chairman of Design South East, Professor, University of London and Bloomberg Distinguished Fellow at LSE Cities
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- Ben Coleman Phil Jones Associate
- Portsmouth City Council
Bushra Mohamed is an architect, writer and educator. She is the Director of Msoma Architects, a London-based architecture and research practice that centres diasporic identities, cultures and people within the built environment.
Her practice is entwined with academia, where she develops research into architectures for diasporic communities and decolonial pedagogical frameworks at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and Kingston School of Art. She is an External Examiner at University of Cambridge
Bushra has contributed to several publications, including Sound Advice's NOW YOU KNOW, the Architectural Review, the AA Files, and the RIBA Journal. In 2020, she was named a RIBA Rising Star.
Job Titles:
- Aaron Davis David Lock Associate
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- Catherine Phillips Phil Jones Associate
Catherine is an urban design and heritage conservation professional with nearly two decades of experience in local government. She specialises in tall buildings and heritage impact, policy and strategic developments for both urban and rural environments.
Job Titles:
- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
Charlotte has been a Chartered Landscape Architect for 40 years. Charlotte's initial experience was with a New Town Development Corporation, and then moved to a City Council, then a County Council and was latterly employed as a Senior Landscape Architect in the Planning & Regeneration Directorate of a Unitary Authority identified as one of the major growth points in the South West. Charlotte has acquired extensive experience of reviewing, analysing and commenting upon the landscape impact of planning applications ranging in scale and scope from householder applications to major mixed use urban extensions. Charlotte is currently a volunteer Panel Member on the South West Design Review Panel.
Job Titles:
- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
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- Andrew Cameron Andrew Cameron Associate
Chris joined Design South East as its Director in 2008 having developed and managed the Architecture Centre for the Hull and the Humber. Prior to that he founded a digital media company specialising in the development of online 3d worlds for the built environment and arts sectors. In parallel Chris taught undergraduate and post-graduate architecture at a number of universities in the UK and Europe and jointly led an architecture unit at the University of Greenwich. Before that, he practiced as an architect for a number of years working on culture, education and housing projects.
Chris studied architecture at Edinburgh College of Art, gaining his BA in Architecture and then for his Diploma in Architecture he joined the Bartlett School of Architecture. After some years in practice, Chris gained a masters degree in Architecture from the University of East London where he researched and developed rule based approaches to the generation of urban form.
A passionate advocate for value of good design, Chris is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, a member of the Academy of Urbanism and a member of The Architecture Club.
Chris Schulte is an architect with experience in urbanism, public realm design, arts and infrastructure projects. Previously, at Allies and Morrison, Chris acted as design team leader for the legacy masterplan of London's 2012 Olympic Park.
Claire Taggart is an Associate at Hayhurst and Co with 11 years' experience in architectural practice and wide-ranging experience delivering projects across all RIBA design stages. She has delivered a number of award-winning projects across a range of sectors, including education, housing and mixed-use schemes and was recently named RIBA London Project Architect of the Year for 2023.
Claire is passionate about socially and environmentally sustainable design, with a particular interest in MMC technologies and innovative retrofit strategies. She has worked on and delivered several projects with ambitious sustainability credentials, including MMC and off-site construction, Net Zero Carbon, Passivhaus and Biodiversity Net Gain. Claire is the Environmental and Sustainability champion for Hayhurst and Co and leads the practice's environmental policy agenda.
Clare joined Design South East in March 2024.
Previously a Project Architect at Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, she has led a variety of education, housing and community projects for Local Authorities, Housing Associations and Charitable Trusts. She is experienced in the design and delivery of high-quality places which put people and planet first, with particular expertise in community engagement and building retrofit.
Clare was recently named ‘Emerging Individual of the Year' at the Thornton Education Trust Awards 2023 and brings Equality, Diversity and Inclusion expertise from her time as ‘Diversity Champion' in architectural practice. She is currently a mentor for the London Festival of Architecture and Arts Emergency.
Job Titles:
- Stephen Hill Hyas Associate
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- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
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- Ben Coleman Phil Jones Associate
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- Head of Programmes in January 2021 and Works Closely
Dr Helen Goodwin joined Design South East as Head of Programmes in January 2021 and works closely with our local authority clients and their stakeholders to oversee and develop the design support and enabling programmes, championing our values of collaborative, multi-disciplinary dialogue and cross-sector knowledge sharing. One of Helen's previous roles was as a Design Advisor within our team, bringing an understanding of the multiple opportunities to influence design quality through the planning process.
Eleanor provides administrative support to the team, including the delivery of our design advisory services.
Eleanor previously attended Canterbury College and more recently completed her Business Administration NVQ II.
Job Titles:
- Panel Coordinator
- Programme Manager at NLA
Eugenia joined Design South East in March 2024.
She has an architectural and curation background, with an interest in collaboration, community engagement and co-design.
Most recently a Programme Manager at NLA, Eugenia has managed a variety of events, exhibitions and research reports including the RIBA published ‘Great Estates: Models for modern placemaking', for a wide audience from children and students to professionals.
Job Titles:
- Ben Coleman Phil Jones Associate
Geoff combines research, strategic thinking and hands-on interventions to increase active and sustainable access. Particular interests include behaviour change and the interaction between development, transport, accessibility and health.
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- Catherine Phillips Phil Jones Associate
Harriet is driven to enhance the longevity and social value of places through sustainable, quality construction and considered, contextual, people-centred design. As an Associate Director at Morris+Company she has worked across a range of sectors including housing (market, affordable and estate regeneration), education and mixed-use developments. She led and delivered two phases of a new extra-care community at Wilderness Estate in Sevenoaks, including a timber-vaulted restaurant pavilion.
Prior to qualifying as an Architect, Harriet studied Architectural History at Edinburgh University and has written for various publications, including the Financial Times. She is a visiting critic and lecturer at several universities and is passionate about how we communicate the built environment beyond the industry, leading outreach activities with local communities and young people.
Job Titles:
- Andrew Cameron Andrew Cameron Associate
Helen joined Design South East in July 2022, and manages the Brighton & Hove DesignPLACE panel.
She studied Architecture at the University of Bath, the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, and the London Metropolitan School of Art, Architecture and Design. She has worked for architectural practices across the residential and commercial sectors and for the Cass Cities research group, where she studied the impacts of planning policy on industrial accommodation.
Helen is also a British Powerlifting coach and referee, and competes nationally in the sport.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Director, Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design
Ibrahim Buhari is an architect and urban design practitioner working at the forefront of current research and design within key sectors relevant to Brighton & Hove City Council, including housing, mixed-use urban regeneration and heritage conservation.
He combines years of private sector experience working as an architect in award-winning practices with his public sector experience as a Senior Urban Design Officer at the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea to further his commitment to supporting high standards of design and shaping a high quality everyday built environment for all.
Jane is an urban designer, architect and chartered town and a founding director of Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design.
Her focus is on the interface between design and planning, and achieving quality through the planning process at a range of scales, from strategic through to detailed design. Her interests include the distinctive character of different places, particularly historic environments, the relationships between new and existing, and placemaking.
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- Catherine Phillips Phil Jones Associate
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Finance Sub - Committee Chair
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- Andrew Cameron Andrew Cameron Associate
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- Catherine Phillips Phil Jones Associate
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Director of Inward Investment at the London Borough of Waltham Forest
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Founding Director of Brand Consultancy Dn & Co
Andy von Bradsky Architect and a recognised expert in the area of housing and the built environment
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- Event Marketing & Operations Coordinator
Julie coordinates our events programmes, maintains and develops our stakeholder communications programmes and shares the responsibility of co-ordinating design review panel meetings and BHL Assessments.
Before joining Design South East Julie worked in an architectural and creative environment in London, specialising in hospitality and events, marketing and bid support, in addition to studio, office and residential building management. Julie has an Adobe certified diploma in Graphic Design, and a degree in Printed Textile Design, she enjoys photography, and generally being creative in her spare time.
Job Titles:
- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
- Chartered Landscape Architect
Kathryn Whitmore is a Chartered Landscape Architect with over 25 years of experience of landscape architecture and environmental planning. She is engaged in all aspects of landscape architecture, from strategic planning documents and impact assessment to all stages of design development through to implementation and management. Kathryn holds degrees in Botany, Landscape Architecture and Historic Conservation, specialising in the planning and design of green infrastructure networks, and delivering projects which address the climate and biodiversity crises. She sits on the Climate Change Group for the Landscape Institute and is an experienced Green Flag and Green Heritage judge, the international standard for parks and open spaces. Kathryn is currently London and South Regional Landscape Lead at AECOM, based in London.
Job Titles:
- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
Job Titles:
- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
As an architect with over eighteen years' experience, Kevin has led architectural and urban design projects for public bodies and private developers both in the UK and abroad.
Kevin has worked in Australia and led projects globally, specialising in water-sensitive urban design, ensuring city masterplans are both resilient to climate change in the long term and preserve precious water resources.
Kieran joined Design South East in July 2019 from the social enterprise Create Streets where he worked with Local Authorities, Housing Associations and community groups to help them positively influence the built environment through urban design, strategy and advocacy; and undertook a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research on the built environment in relation to wellbeing, happiness, popularity and value.
He previously worked for Hounslow Council on policy, strategy and implementation around transport planning, public realm and cycle infrastructure. Prior to that he worked for Copenhagenize Design Consultancy in Copenhagen, specialising in bicycle culture, urban policy, and communications, making the case worldwide for cycling.
Kieran serves on the steering committee of the Academy of Urbanism's Young Urbanist organisation.
He has a master's degree in Urban Studies, jointly awarded by Universities in Vienna, Brussels, Copenhagen and Madrid, which involved living and studying in each of these cities over 2 years.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Senior Planner, Gillings Planning
As Head of Sustainability, Laura leads Purcell's sustainability strategy and processes, driving innovation across the practice. As a qualified architect with over 14 years' experience, she has developed a broad range of skills, working on many projects from large-scale urban masterplans to sensitive historic sites. Her role is to educate and advocate for environmentally and socially conscious design, at every stage of a project.
Laura is passionate about working with all members of a project team to find innovative solutions to adapting and conserving our built heritage, against the backdrop of the climate emergency. She works closely with project teams to advise and guide our clients on achieving sustainability through the decision-making process.
Laura is also driving the sustainability agenda at an industry level, participating in a number of initiatives, including LETI (London Energy Transformation Initiative) where she has contributed to the LETI Client Guide for Net Zero Carbon Buildings, and numerous other short publications. She has sat on the working group for the Skills for a Sustainable Skyline Taskforce which is working to understand current barriers, identify solutions, and promote the green skills needed for our transition to net zero. She is also a coordinator for the Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN).
Leo is an urban designer and town planner with 20 years' experience of producing urban design strategies, regeneration strategies, visioning strategies, outline planning applications, design codes and guidance, and feasibility studies for sites across the South East and the UK.
Contexts include small infills for 10 homes in inner city contexts, to large mixed use masterplans for 1,000s of homes across range of tenures and typologies as urban extensions or new settlements. While Leo's work is grounded in urban design and planning, it also touches regeneration, public realm design, community engagement and co-design, housing design and layouts, heritage and active travel.
Leo is on the Executive Committee of the Urban Design Group (UDG) as well as being the past Chair, a UDG Recognised Practitioner, a Chartered Town Planner, a member of the Greater Cambridge Design Review Panel, and a visiting Urban Design Tutor at UCL.less
Job Titles:
- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
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- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
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- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Planning Barrister and Founding Partner of Town Legal
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- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
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- Andrew Cameron Andrew Cameron Associate
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- Ben Coleman Phil Jones Associate
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- Aaron Davis David Lock Associate
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- Sustainability Consultant
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- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
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- Stephen Hill Hyas Associate
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- Aaron Davis David Lock Associate
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- Andrew Cameron Andrew Cameron Associate
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- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
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- Catherine Phillips Phil Jones Associate
Richard Portchmouth Birds Portchmouth Russum Architects (BPR)
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- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
Ross leads on our learning programmes and design training, which empower built environment professionals to deliver well designed, sustainable places.
Ross is an Urban Designer and Planner. In previous consulting roles at Urban Initiatives Studio and Dar, he supported local authorities with community engagement and urban strategies in the UK and Africa.
As a passionate sustainability advocate, he runs a podcast called the Green Urbanist and holds a voluntary role as a London National Park City Ranger, where he supports urban greening initiatives and knowledge sharing.
Job Titles:
- Andrew Cameron Andrew Cameron Associate
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- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
Sarah coordinates all of our design advisory work. An excellent communicator, Sarah ensures that all stakeholders are regularly updated and will rapidly unlock any issues to make sure contracts progress to schedule and are delivered on time. Sarah liaises with clients and coordinates our operations and finance. Sarah also provides project support for Design South East's training programmes, including Kent Design.
Sarah joined us from school as an administrator and has developed with the organisation to play this pivotal role.
Job Titles:
- Jane Wernick Jane Wernick Associate
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- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
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- Ben Coleman Phil Jones Associate
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- Counsel
- Chairman of the Historic Towns
Steven established Steven Bee Urban Counsel in 2010, providing advice, guidance and expert support to those planning and developing better places. He has 40 years' experience at local and national level, in the public and private sectors.
His experience embraces community planning, urban renewal, tourism development, public transport planning, environmental assessment, masterplanning, planning briefs, town centre development, research and policy formulation. He specialises in the integration of new development into historic contexts.
Steven is Chairman of the Historic Towns and Villages Forum and former Chairman of the Academy of Urbanism. He is a member of the Urban Design Group, and of several Design Review Panels.
He was previously a Board member of English Heritage (now Historic England), Director of Planning at Winchester City Council, a Director of Llewelyn-Davies Planning, and began his career at LB Lewisham.
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- Stephen Hill Hyas Associate
- Priest Architects
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Director, Quod
Una is an architect and was an Associate Director with Allies and Morrison. Educated at University College Dublin and Arkitecktskolen Aarhus she has a particular focus on the contemporary in sensitive historic and urban settings. With extensive experience of complex constrained urban settings at detailed and masterplan scales on educational, cultural, public realm and mixed use development.
Una has taught at Manchester School of Architecture and led workshops on urban renewal for the festival of architecture.
Job Titles:
- Owen Reading David Lock Associate
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- Catherine Phillips Phil Jones Associate
- Transport
Job Titles:
- Catherine Phillips Phil Jones Associate
Job Titles:
- Aaron Davis David Lock Associate