AIA International Conference
London 2022: Transformations
Sept 29 – Oct 3, 2022

Speakers

Click on the image below to open a PDF of speaker biographies.

Alison Brooks
Founder and Creative Director of Alison Brooks Architects

Alison Brooks, founder and Creative Director of Alison Brooks Architects, is internationally recognized for her inventive and multi award-winning designs. Born and educated in Canada, she moved to London in 1987 and established her practice in 1996. With built works ranging from high density urban design and housing to cultural buildings and private houses, she is the only UK architect to have received the profession’s three most prestigious building awards: the RIBA Stirling Prize, the RIBA House of the Year/Manser Medal and the Stephen Lawrence Prize. Alison’s architectural approach reflects her commitment to the unique histories, communities and landscapes in which she works. This is beautifully exemplified by her recently completed Cohen Quadrangle at Exeter College. The first Oxford College to be designed by a female architect, this building demonstrates the conceptual rigour, sculptural quality and ingenious detailing that is her practice trademark.

Gerard Carty, FRIAI
Director, Grafton Architects

Grafton Architects was established in 1978. It is a Dublin based practice with a strong national and international profile whose work has been recognised, exhibited and published widely.

Founding Directors Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara are both graduates of UCD, are Fellows of the RIAI, International Honorary Fellows of the RIBA and are elected members of Aosdána, the eminent Irish Art organisation. Teachers at the School of Architecture at University College Dublin from 1976 to 2002 and appointed adjunct Professors in 2015. They have held the Kenzo Tange chair at GSD Harvard and the Louis Kahn chair at Yale University and have been visiting professors at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland; Accademia d’Archittettura, Mendrisio, Switzerland.

Director, Gerard Carty is Fellow of the RIAI, and has been with the practice for over 25 years, contributing to the ideas, ethos and management of the practice during this period. He qualified in 1987 with a diploma from DIT Dublin, and a degree from University of Dublin, Trinity College. He has been involved in architectural education since 1993, as both teacher and invited critic, to architecture schools in Ireland, as well as abroad. He currently teaches part time as a Senior Lecturer at SAUL, the School of Architecture, University of Limerick, located in the south west of Ireland.

Grafton Architects are winners of numerous international awards including: the World Building of the Year Award 2008 for their building for the Universita Luigi Bocconi in Milan, which is widely acclaimed and recognized as a seminal contemporary work. They are currently working on the commission to design the new Marshall Building for the London School of Economics, United Kingdom; the new School of Economics for University Toulouse 1 Capitole; the new Town House Building at Kingston University London; and the Parnell Square Cultural Quarter Project – The New City Library in Dublin, Ireland.

Phil Coffey
Founder, Coffey Architects

Phil Coffey founded Coffey Architects in 2005 to pursue a passion for architecture, natural light, and the environment. He is a hands-on studio leader and enjoys the process of building strong client relationships to deliver exceptional projects, both large and small that inspire and delight. Phil’s involvement runs from design conception through to completion. He has led Coffey Architects to win numerous major design awards and recognitions. Phil is a regular contributor to the debate on architecture and urbanism, including public speaking and written and broadcast commentary for press.

Karen Cook
Founder, Spice Design

Karen Cook and Jean Le Lay, collaborators of two decades, are opening a new architectural practice, SPICE. Both partners have extensive experience designing complex projects, Karen initially as a partner at KPF London and then a founding partner of PLP Architecture London; Jean initially at Renzo Piano Building Workshop and later as a director at RFR.

At SPICE, Karen and Jean will continue to focus on design fundamentals, creating places and buildings that integrate into their environment and embrace architecture’s changing nature socially, environmentally and with the spirit of modernism.

Karen’s portfolio includes:

- 22 Bishopsgate, City of London’s tallest tower, with a Vertical Village of amenities that support the individual to improve tenant productivity, for AXA and Lipton Rogers. (PLP)

- 4 Cannon Street, awarded Best Contribution to Context, City of London, for Pembroke/ Fidelity. (PLP)

- Qatar Airways London Headquarters, Mayfair, a small modern piece that respects a historically sensitive site, for Qatar Airways. (PLP)

- Tour First, the first and tallest tower in Paris to achieve sustainability credentials, awarded MIPIM’s Best Office Refurbishment, for AXA. (KPF)

Claudia Farabegoli
Design Director, Thornton Tomasetti

Claudia is a chartered building engineer with more than 20 years of international experience in façade design and consulting for a wide range of building types. She joined Thornton Tomasetti in 2013 with experience in all stages of project development including initial feasibility studies, detailed design, structural and thermal analyses, specifications, tender appraisals, value engineering, contractor design, manufacturing reviews, testing and site installation monitoring.

Her projects include:

Shard Place, London, UK. Façade engineering services on a Residential project adjacent to the Shard, which forms part of the overall redevelopment of the London Bridge area. Architect: RPBW.

Cherry Park, London, UK. Façade engineering services for a residential-led mixed use development alongside a series of new public spaces, and will be one of London’s largest single-site Private Rented Sector schemes. Architect: PRP

Morwenna Hall
COO and Partner, Argent and Partner, Related Argent

Morwenna Hall is the COO and Partner of Argent and Partner of Related Argent. She joined the firm in 2011 and became a Partner in 2020.

In addition to her corporate leadership role, Morwenna led the design and delivery of several major projects at King’s Cross, including Coal Drops Yard. At Brent Cross Town, Morwenna is responsible for the ground plane experience, retail, leisure and public realm.

Cedric Hamers
Account Manager, Benelux, Nordics, Ireland and UK, Dow

Cedric graduated as a Chemical Engineer from the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven – Belgium – with a major degree in Chemical Technology and a minor in Plastics Manufacturing and Design.

He started his professional career at Dow as a Technical Support Engineer within the construction and solar industries immediately after graduation. He received additional responsibilities as a Field Application Engineer for the Benelux region, hereby giving regional technical support, consisting of making silicone joint dimension calculations for Structural & Insulated Glazing, giving project and testing advice, company auditing, giving customer training and organizing technical-commercial events such as Dow's yearly Construction Academy.

After four years he moved into the Business Developer role, promoting all types of innovation from Dow in the industry of Building and Infrastructure. He is also a proud member of one of Dow's Sustainability project teams and one of Dow's Employee Resource Groups that drive Diversity and Inclusion throughout the Dow company and beyond.

Will Lee
Director, AHMM

Will joined AHMM in 1999 after working as a freelance designer and visualiser for a number of London practices. Since then, he has worked on a wide range of projects including the Millennium Dome Live/Work Zone, Broadgate Club West, Union Street, Monsoon HQ, the Farmiloes Building, Raines Court and Adelaide Wharf. Experience he gained from the latter two projects has resulted in specialist knowledge of housing – private and public – and an interest in various forms of pre-fabrication.

Will was promoted to Associate in 2008, Associate Director in 2014 and Director in 2021. His most recent completed key projects include the Hawley Wharf masterplan in Camden Town and the Post Building in Central London. He is currently leading AHMM’s work on the sensitive redevelopment of the IBM Building on the South Bank, a new residential facility for St Mungo’s in Westminster and a significant mixed use scheme within the Canada Water masterplan for British Land.

Fiona McLachlan
Professor of Architectural Practice, University of Edinburgh

Fiona is Professor of Architectural Practice at the University of Edinburgh and is an architect and educator. She teaches architectural design and professional practice and is a past Head of the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA). In addition to journal articles, she is the author of three books: Architectural Colour in the Professional Palette, (2012), which was stimulated by the work of her own architectural practice– E & F McLachlan Architects– over a thirty-year period; a co-author of Colour Strategies in Architecture, (2015); and a new monograph Colour Beyond the Surface: Art in Architecture (2022) which considers the contribution of embedded artwork to architecture, with a particular focus on colour and the dynamic relationships between light, form, material surface, space and movement.

Gerry O’Brien
Founding Partner and Design Director, AKT II

A founding partner and Design Director of AKT II, one of the UK’s foremost engineering consultancies, Gerry has decades of experience delivering outstanding buildings for the most demanding of clients and architects. A vocal exponent of the value design brings to any situation his talent marrying design with cutting edge engineering can be seen in his practices work.

His collaboration with some of the world’s most prestigious and stylistically diverse architects, including David Chippefield, Will Alsop, Herzog de Meuron, Norman Foster, Thomas Heatherwick and Zaha Hadid, on projects that range from world class city centre office developments schemes, towers, footbridges and theatres, to masterplanning and regeneration projects worth several hundred million pounds underscore his ability. He has delivered projects within many countries, benefiting from his exposure to diverse approaches to construction and cultures.

Benedict O’Looney
Founder, Benedict O’Looney Architects

Benedict O’Looney runs an architecture studio in south London, working on new build and conservation projects, particularly in Southwark, including the renovation of the Grade ll listed Peckham Rye Station for Network Rail and Southwark Council. Other recent work includes a new women’s and children’s wing for the Croydon Mosque, a new Mosque for Purley and the restoration and extension of the Grade ll listed Victorian Royal Bell Hotel in Bromley.

Since obtaining his Master of Architecture degree from Yale University, Benedict worked with Grimshaw and Alsop Architects, where an interest in new architecture in historic settings was developed. Benedict taught architecture history and sketching for 11 years at the Architectural Association, at the Kent School of Architecture, the Canterbury School of Architecture, and for New York University’s London program. He is chairman of Southwark’s Conservation Areas Advisory Group, on the Victorian Society’s Southern Building Committee and a past president of the London Sketch Club.

Audun Opdal
Architect MAA, Senior Partner, Head of Design, 3XN

As a senior partner, Audun Opdal is responsible for leading the oversight and delivery of 3XN’s major projects. He is currently leading 2 Finsbury Avenue in London, a 35-storey tower targeting net zero carbon; Sydney’s new Fish Market, which is projected to become one of the most visited attractions in the city, second only to the world-famous opera house; and Green Solution House 2.0 in Bornholm, one of the most environmentally friendly hotels in Europe.

He is a keen advocate of integrated design methods and believes that great architecture can only be achieved through a collaborative effort between designers, engineers, and specialist consultants at all levels from partners to interns. Audun is closely engaged with academia as a mentor and external examiner at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen, and he places a high value on the symbiotic relationship between industry experience positively shaping students’ futures in the architectural field, and the importance of young talent in the development of the profession itself.

John Robertson
Founder, John Robertson Architects

John is the founder and senior director of John Robertson Architects (JRA), a London based studio for architecture, with its roots in sustainable design.

Since it was established in 1993, the practice has evolved and been responsible for a wide range of projects in London ranging from masterplans, retrofit and redevelopment projects, to the restoration of listed buildings. Major projects include 33 King William Street, Wells Fargo’s London Headquarters, and BLOOM Farringdon, one of the new oversite office redevelopments on London’s Elizabeth Line. Recently completed projects with which he has been closely involved include the restoration of Great Arthur House in the Golden Lane Estate, awarded an RIBA National Award in 2019, and the retrofitting of Bracken House – The Financial Times Headquarters. His Cannon Green redevelopment won The Chartered Architects Company ‘City of London Building of the Year’ award in 2019. John has a particular interest in working on listed buildings and has recently successfully completed the refurbishment of five Grade II listed Robert Adam designed buildings for the Mercers’ Company in the City of London.

John is an expert assessor for New London Architecture’s annual awards and an expert panel member on the NLA’s Technical Competence Committee.

Julian Robinson
Director of Estates, London School of Economics

Julian is Director of Estates at the London School of Economics, responsible for the delivery of all capital development, facilities and property management. He has delivered many high-profile projects including the RIBA London Building of the Year 2014, when the LSE was also named AJ100 Client of the Year. He is currently overseeing £0.5 billion transformation of the LSE estate in Aldwych.

Holding post graduate qualifications in Town Planning and Surveying, most of his working life has been spent as a client-side project manager. He was a CABE Enabler and is Trustee and Immediate Past Chair of the University Design Forum.

He is Vice Chair of the Northbank Business Improvement District and a Director and Trustee of Eko Multi Academy Trust in East London.

Julian is a passionate advocate of the power estates and buildings have to transform the student experience and has commissioned both national and local research on this topic, including ‘Estates Matter!’ for HEDQF in 2013, the first study of its kind in UK higher education.

In September 2016, Julian was made an Honorary Fellow of the RIBA and appointed to the National Panel for the Civic Trust Awards in 2017.

Deborah Saunt
Founding Director, DSDHA

Deborah Saunt is a Founding Director of the architecture, urban design and spatial research studio DSDHA. Known for their high-profile urban strategies, landscapes and innovative buildings, often in complex  and sensitive environments, as well as widely-acclaimed research, they have been recognised with 19 RIBA Awards to date, shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize, and twice nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award.

Recent and ongoing projects include the reinvention of the National Youth Theatre’s London headquarters, the refurbishment of London’s iconic Economist Plaza in St James and a new mixed-use building on Piccadilly for The Crown Estate. Urban scale work includes the redesign of the public realm around the Royal Albert Hall, the public realm framework for the West End including the reimagining of Tottenham Court Road, and Exchange Square – a new park for the City of London above Liverpool Street Station.

Much of her current work is concerned with democratising architecture, having set up the Jane Drew Prize in Architecture, and helping to redefine the role of architecture in the 21st century – addressing people’s emerging needs in the context of rapidly shifting environmental, technological and social conditions. She is a Trustee of the London School of Architecture, of which she was a Founding Director.

Deborah gained her PhD with the RMIT Practice Research Programme, a Fellowship in the Built Environment from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and has held academic appointments at Yale School of Architecture, Universidad de Navarra, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne and the University of Cambridge.

Julian Sutherland
Partner, Building Services, Cundall

Julian joined Cundall as a Partner in 2016.

He has over 30 years’ experience designing high-performance buildings and low-carbon neighbourhoods around the globe.  

Originally qualifying as a Mechanical Engineer from Auckland University NZ, he has since worked across a number of high-profile design practices in the UK. Julian provides strategic advice to clients developing project briefs and is design director for the practice’s most complex building projects.  Julian is a champion for Passivhaus and the role of building physics in design.  He lives in his own much published Passivhaus in Hampshire. 

He leads our Digital Engineering development programme where our project delivery is increasingly automated, digitised and data driven.  He is also Board sponsor of our Zero Carbon Design 2030 programme, which seeks to drive all our projects globally to Net Zero Carbon. 

Julian is Project Partner for a number of Innovative Net Zero refurbishments across London and will use these to illustrate how Low Carbon Retrofit can breathe new life into existing assets.

Bertie van Wyk
Insight Programme Manager, Global Insight Group, MillerKnoll

I am a critical thinking Workplace Specialist with a quick grasp of emerging trends and changing business processes. I have demonstrated competency in innovative strategies, continuous improvement and client focused solutions. Through my understanding of humancentric design and workplace development, I can effectively equip organisations and individuals with the knowledge and skills to become more productive, healthy and connected in work.

Ascanio Vitale
CEO, Stop CO2

Aerospace and electronic engineer by training, Ascanio is an environmentalist, a former activist and Climate&Energy campaigner for Greenpeace, WWF, ISES and KyotoClub; an entrepreneur and TEDx speaker.

He has dedicated his life to debunking greenwashing and helping people and companies walk the path towards sustainability.

Currently, he is the founder and CEO of Stop CO2, a highly innovative consulting company dealing with energy efficiency, renewable energy, and environmental sustainability.