The Crest Academies - a winning design

Between January and March 2011, I was closely involved in the writing of Wates and Capita's winning bid for The Crest Academies in Brent which is sponsored by E-ACT.  This is an exciting opportunity for the boys and girls academies to have modern learning facilities that support the academy's unique pedagogy.  In addition, the buildings will be set in an urban parkland landscape, which will be an asset for the whole community.

Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts

In March I was invited to join the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in London, based on my work with learning spaces.  This is a world-renowned organisation that promotes enlightened thinking and social progress.  I enjoyed my first event - led by Andrew Marr and Richard Layard on 'happiness.' I'm very much looking forward to getting involved with the RSA.


Here's a great video from the RSA.  Ken Robinson discusses changing paradigms in education.  

Design advice for Compton Schools

In December, I was invited by Compton Education Ltd. to be a part of their strategic advisory team for new schools.  Compton Education is supporting existing schools and new schools in India and other parts of Asia to provide excellence in education.  I will be providing design advice to make sure that their school environments support their model of learning with high-quality spaces and facilities - and that they are of excellent value.  I will be visiting India in the next few months to meet some of the schools there, and support them with ideas and advice on their design projects.

Workshop for schools about learning spaces

In March, I led a workshop at the UJIA with Gleeds advisory on school refurbishment.  The participants included free schools, existing schools and new schools who are planning to refurbish or extend their building.  The workshop was divided into four sections, focusing first on faith identity in design, then 21st century learning environments, then strategies for planning out the school and then finally examples of good school refurbishments.  We had excellent feedback, and have been talking with some of the schools on putting these principles into action in their upcoming school projects.

Recent news

It's been a busy several months since I launched my company website. The last few months have been busier than ever, and I haven't had a chance to update it with my latest news. So I thought that it would be useful to use this blog to let you know about the many different projects that I have been involved with recently, and the events that are coming up.  I intend to update my website in due course.