Chris has been with HLN since its formation over 20 years ago. He has worked on a variety of projects, large and small, private and public sector covering space planning, planning submissions, new build schemes and refurbishments.
Chris currently heads up the Custodial sector projects, working closely with both the Ministry of Justice and its construction partners. He has a proven ability to build excellent working relationships with Clients and Contractors alike, born out by the volume of follow-on projects in this and other sectors.
Chris also currently heads up our Principal Designer department and has recently assisted the Nationwide Building Society with their national Branch Transformation rollout alongside projects for Rockwool and numerous other clients.
Chris obtained a BSc (Hons) degree in Architectural Design Technology at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff and worked for a local authority and had a lead technical role in a range of projects before joining HLN in February 2018. He has been involved in working on a range of projects across the Custodial, Financial, EducationHealth & Social Housing sectors.
Chris’ ongoing work includes the development of various projects for the Ministry of Justice nationally, alongside a social housing scheme in South Wales. He was project lead on a number of branches in the Role out of branch transformation for Nationwide Building Society.
Chris trained at the University of Sheffield, School of Architecture before joining AXIS in 1995. He became a Director of the Practice in 2001 and is also a board member of Four Architecture & Design.
Alongside working on a number of residential and regeneration projects, including work for several housing associations, Chris has been involved in high-profile projects across England. He was influential in the development of HSBC’s new UK headquarters in Birmingham and has worked with the global bank across the UK.
Chris has also taken the lead on ‘The Bothy’ spa at Heckfield Place, a hotel dubbed ‘Most Impressive Country Hotel in England’ by Forbes Magazine. He has experience taking on challenging projects and delivering exceptional results.
Chris has undertaken a range of work across the financial, residential and hospitality sectors, demonstrating his versatility and diligence as an architect.
Within AXIS, Chris has overall responsibility for IT facilities and Chartered Practice Management. Chris is a qualified Eco Homes/Code for Sustainable Homes assessor and is a certified member of the Association of Project Safety.
Chris qualified from Edinburgh College of Art in 2010 with a B.Arch (Hons) in Architecture and a Diploma in Architecture.
Chris has been with Fouin + Bell Architects since 2011 and in that time has completed his Professional Practice and is now an ARB registered architect.
He has experience of a wide range of projects, from residential developments of all scales for small private clients, to large multi-unit proposals for volume housebuilders including Mactaggart & Mickel and Westpoint. He has project management experience from clean sheet design through to successful delivery on site. Chris’ experience includes work on commercial projects and retail design. He has been involved in retail banking sector work on the Lloyds Banking Group framework carrying out projects for Halifax, Lloyds, BoS and TSB. Recent projects include bespoke residential developments in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Perthshire along with bringing a multi-use development to completion on site this year.
David has more than 18 years’ experience across the oil & gas and construction industries involving extensive travel throughout the world notably USA, Europe, South East Asia, Russia and the Middle East working for both consultancies and contractors.
In 2009 David joined HLN and is currently acting as Managing Director overseeing engineering operations, commercial contracts and Bid Management for the Group whilst also playing a key role in the organisation’s future growth strategy.
Prior to 2009, David held various roles at GE, Foster Wheeler and Bechtel acting initially as a project design engineer and then later as a project manager responsible for the design and project engineering/management, construction, installation and commissioning phases for various multi-million-pound projects both onshore and offshore.
David has been a Director of A&Q Partnership since 1995, with a track record that has included heading up Framework contracts for national roll-out programmes in the Financial Services and Retail sectors, office development and fit-out projects, as well as commercial banking projects in the UK and Asia. David has led work on our separate joint venture, Four Architecture and Design, providing a wider resource and geographical coverage for clients.
Emyr is a Chartered Architect with 25 years’ experience. He joined HLN in 2019 and has been an integral part of the Nationwide Branch Transformation Programme alongside the role of project architect for The Urdd’s - Camp Llangrannog extension in West Wales.
Prior to joining HLN he had extensive experience in designing public buildings both as part of ‘in house’ county architects departments and as a consultant architect. Emyr’s expertise covers a wide range of building sectors including nursery, primary and secondary education, sport and leisure, housing, retirement apartments, office accommodation, food processing plants, industrial buildings and within the finance sector.
Ewa graduated from the Academy of Fine Art in Warsaw, having studied Interior Design and Exhibition Design. She then worked as an Interior Designer in the Hotel and Leisure sector and Retail sectors in Poland and mainland Europe.Ewa permanently located to the UK in 2008 and has subsequently worked in the Retail, Exhibition and Leisure sectors in this country.Ewa joined A&Q Partnership in 2017, and has been working in retail banking projects since joining the practice.
Gavin graduated for Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen in 2017 with a BSc(Hons) in Architectural Technology.
Upon leaving university Gavin joined Fouin+Bell Architects and was extensively involved in the Nationwide Building Society Framework projects gaining valuable experience in retail banking projects from inception to delivery.
Gavin left Fouin+Bell Architects in late 2019 and spent two years with architectural practice EKJN architects in Linlithgow working primarily on small domestic projects and gaining experience of dealing with private clients on a one-to-one basis.
Gavin returned to Fouin+ Bell architects in 2021 and is currently working on a number of projects in the residential and hotel sectors.
Hannah graduated from University of Plymouth with a degree in Architecture. She then worked in practices specialising in small to medium scale residential developments and Listed buildings before qualifying as a Chartered Architectural Technologist in 2013.Hannah joined A&Q Partnership in 2014 and has been working on residential and retail banking projects since then.
Ian joined F+B back in June 2013, arriving have gained a vast amount experience of working in Architecture for some 40 years, to initially supplement the Commercial team at that time, starting work on HSBC Banks across the country upgrading their Branches or the ATM Facilities. Thereafter has worked on a variety of commercial, retail and residential projects, including a leading role in the Nationwide Building Society workstream. Used to working to tight deadlines and Budget constraints, he is comfortable leading by example and forging close relationships with both clients and contractors.
Ian joined Fouin+Bell Architects in 2000 and brought a wealth of experience across a wide and varied range of commercial and residential projects. Ian became a director in 2018 to reflect his wealth of knowledge and leadership of multiple successful projects across many sectors.
As Director, Ian is responsible for the day-to-day client interface and overall project delivery and heads up the residential team. This has involved Ian working for a wide range of private and public clients on large scale and multi-site projects across the UK.
Ian is our in-house planning experience with detailed knowledge and experience of taking projects through planning to a successful outcome for our clients. Ian has a key role delivering large scale masterplan led projects for residential, mixed use and commercial sites from initial client discussions through concept, developed design to construction on site.
Over the years Ian has also completed various retail and commercial projects for clients within Banking and Retail sector throughout the UK.
Isobel has been a Director of HLN Group since 2016, having spent 10 years as an Associate and then Director at TP Bennett in London.
Isobel is a chartered architect with over 25 years post qualification experience in design and construction. Her portfolio crosses multiple sectors of the commercial architecture and design. Notable projects include leading the project team for the fit out of 700,000 sqft of office space for UBS headquarters in London whilst at TP Bennett Architects, along with several notable office fit outs in London and Europe.
Over the past two years Isobel has led the national roll out of the new Branch Transformation for the Nationwide Building Society. Working in association with the 3 other architectural practices which form 4AD we have now completed the transformation of over 250 branches.
Jane joined A&Q Partnership in 2015, and has worked on retail banking and residential projects. She has had particular responsibility for the setting up and administration of the comprehensive online Technical Design Manual for Nationwide Building Society.Jane brings a varied design background starting in a furniture design studio in Denmark, followed by extensive architectural design experience, in the UK and Canada, in the Commercial, Retail, Hospitality, Healthcare, Education, Residential and Conservation sectors.
Katherine is a senior architectural technician with over 25 years’ experience and has been with Fouin+Bell since 2010 where she has worked on a variety of projects from design through to completion. Katherine has extensive experience in residential, retail and leisure sectors and has headed up many private and social residential developments as well as retail banking rollouts for TSB, Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and HSBC including a flagship Halifax branch is Aberdeen. Katherine is Fouin+Bell’s in-house social housing specialist and is currently working on several multi-unit housing developments alongside a conservation project in Perth creating new headquarters for YMCA Tayside.
Prior to joining Fouin+Bell, Katherine worked at several large commercial practices in Edinburgh where she worked both as part of a team and lead multi-million-pound projects throughout the UK which included retail parks, football stadiums, new primary & secondary school rollouts and police training accommodation.
Kirsten joined A&Q Partnership in 2006, going on to run the Dorchester office, and become a Director in 2015. Kirsten has led a variety of retail and commercial projects for clients with national property requirements, including Banking, Building Societies, Pubs and retail outlets. She has strong working relationships with both clients and contractors, and has developed expertise in the design and management of highly pressured retail schemes.
Leanora is an RIBA Chartered Architect who has been with the practice since 2004. She has delivered projects in a broad range of sectors including residential, commercial and retail, with experience in Conservation, Listed Buildings, Planning and Construction. Leanora has over 10 years’ experience working with HSBC as well as a range of commercial projects throughout Sheffield and the U.K. She has also delivered a series of complex change-of-use schemes, some being Listed Buildings and all requiring a sensitive and thoughtful approach. The latest of these sites also includes a substantial new-build portion with challenging site constraints.
She is President of the Sheffield Society of Architects, who are regularly consulted by the Local Authority over proposed planning reform. The SSA also provide training and networking opportunities for local Architects, which have enabled Leanora to build relationships across our local design community. Family events and schools programmes have also enabled Leanora to share experience and knowledge as well as gain insight into our community’s needs.
She is also a regular tutor at Sheffield University, and enjoys seeing the 3rd year student’s projects develop between the technical support sessions she provides.
Leanora is organised and efficient, with a keen eye on the smallest details as well as achieving overall quality of design and service for our clients. She enjoys motivating her team and is passionate about our Employee Owned status; encouraging everyone to give their best in order to achieve design quality as well as quality of life for those occupying our architecture, for our clients, and for ourselves.
She is a keen park runner, enjoys lengthy walks (between pubs) in idyllic European cities, and, as a Lancashire–Yorkshire migrant, discussing the modern war of the roses – Blackpool versus Bridlington. Away from her desk she can most often be found sampling the latest beer in the family’s microbrewery, planning more foreign adventures or larking about in tents in the Peak District.
Peter graduated Scott Sutherland School of Architecture in Aberdeen in 1983 and joined Aberdeen practice Thomson Craig & Donald where he gained experience as a Project Architect working on large scale office developments and industrial projects. After a brief two year role as a Project Architect for W H Smith working on DIY stores for Do It All he re-joined TCD working on site at the luxury hotel development at Cameron House, Loch Lomond for two years before running the Edinburgh office of the same firm for 10 years as an Associate Partner.
Pete joined David Bell to form Fouin+Bell Architects in 1999 and is a founding Director and Board Member of 4AD.
Peter’s experience includes extensive work in the retail banking sector on framework projects for the likes of HSBC, RBS, Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Halifax, TSB, Clydesdale Bank and Nationwide. He also has extensive experience of leisure and industrial projects.
Peter joined HLN in 1991 and has over 25 years construction industry experience. He has developed an excellent reputation for delivering quality projects from inception through to completion on a wide variety of diverse projects.
Peter has worked on a wide variety of projects, including New Build and Refurbishment, in the Commercial, Financial, Retail, Leisure, Residential and Historic & Listed Building sectors.
Peter’s responsibilities include Client liaison, consultant co-ordination, technical details, preparation of specifications, submission of local authority consents, Landlord approval licenses, on site management and ensuring that challenging project timelines set by our clients are achieved
Piotr graduated from Wrocław University of Science and Technology in Poland in 2007, having studied Architecture and Urban Planning. He joined Fouin+ Bell Architects shortly after arriving in Edinburgh later that year and has been working with the practice ever since. He gained his full ARB architect’s qualifications in 2017.
Piotr has been an integral part of the Fouin+Bell team for 13 years and worked on a wide range of projects. He has extensive experience in the retail banking sector having been involved in framework projects for HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, TSB, Williams & Glynn and Nationwide Building Society. His involvement covers inception to onsite completion including rebranding works and extensive ATM projects.
Piotr’s other project experience includes private residential, developer residential flats and leisure projects including major refurbishments of Victorian swimming pools and associated leisure facilities for Edinburgh Leisure. He is responsible for design, implementation and on-site supervision of projects.
Rose has over 20 years of design experience encompassing interior architecture, furniture, and product design. She has a broad range of experience, but at the heart of each project she works on, is a determination to understand the clients needs and translate this into spaces which are functional, enriching and underpin a company’s spirit or Brand whilst taking into account budgets and site conditions.
Rose came to interior design through a slightly unusual route. After studying Architecture she undertook an MA in Furniture Design, and subsequently set up a small contemporary furniture design business, which she ran for 8 years. She exhibited at 100% Design and had work chosen for exhibitions at the V&A and the Design Museum in London. Her pieces were published in the likes of Blueprint, Crafts magazine, Dwell, Elle Decoration, The Guardian magazine, and the New York Times.
This background, designing furniture and working with manufacturers, gave Rose invaluable detailing experience, which is integral to her approach to design. She delights in combining materials, colour, texture and lighting to create spaces which fulfil a brief. Rose is passionate about interior design and its capacity to affect end users in positive ways, which in turn can help to ensure that businesses are healthy and successful. She is experienced in taking projects from initial brief right through to completion on site.
Prior to joining us, Rose gained experience in small one-off interior design projects, from Harriet Kelsall, an independent boutique jewellery shop in Cambridge, to large brand roll outs such as Lakeland Ltd & the new and vibrant brand concept for Pizza Hut. As well as retail and restaurant projects Rose’s experience also includes the design of spas such as the SoSPA at Sofitel London St James, and hotels such as the W Hotel in Doha, Qatar.
During her role with us, she has worked on the concept for a new, and very funky, challenger bank, student accommodation projects, a high-end hotel in Hampshire and Grosvenor House for HSBC bank. Rose was largely responsible for the graphics and way finding concept at Grosvenor House and took great pride in designing and detailing the feature staircase which permeates the atrium in the centre of the building.
In her spare time Rose loves gardening. She also makes jewellery in precious metals combined with porcelain, selling her creations at Craft fairs.
Since joining us in 2014, Ryan has been heavily involved in many of our retail banking projects. This has led him to gain valuable knowledge regarding retail / commercial design and technical detailing, as well as implementing global design standards.
Ryan is currently heading up our Nationwide Building Society Account and has successfully delivered many projects, from small refurbishments to large acquisitions, with an attitude to always go above and beyond the client’s expectations.
Steve joined A&Q Partnership in 2016. Coming from a design-led background, Steve brings experience in conceptual development and implementation of architectural spaces across multiple business sectors including; retail, hospitality, workplace and commercial environments. Having completed projects ranging from large multi-site commercial retail developments to high-end boutiques, both in the UK and abroad. While working at A&Q Partnership Steve has been involved predominantly with Nationwide Building Society in the development and national roll out of their new retail design concept and architectural branding.
Tim has over 20 years’ experience as an interior designer after qualifying with a First Class degree at Ravensbourne, University London. Tim has worked on many offices nationally as well as globally. Over the past few years Tim’s focus has been on delivering high end projects for HSBC bank. These projects include the fit out of a new call centre in Leeds which was awarded LEED Gold, as well as the restack and refurbishment of the First Direct Headquarters in Leeds. Most recently Tim has delivered the restack of the HSBC offices in Birmingham and was part of the project team who successfully delivered HSBC Grosvenor House, Sheffield; the bank’s global IT hub. He was also involved with the new HSBC UK HQ in Birmingham, for which he was awarded the client’s Shine award for his ‘hard work and dedication at a challenging time of the project’.
As well as working with HSBC, Tim has also worked on offices for the The Environment Agency, AMA nuclear fuels, and Berneslai Homes. He has also had plenty of involvement in the retail and hospitality sector of the business, delivering new concepts for retail banking branches along with delivering retail units for H&M and Godiva Chocolates. Prior to AXIS, Tim worked on an array of office projects globally for clients such as, Amazon, Adobe, Babcock International, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Nvidia and Westfield Shopping Centres.
Tim has a proven track record of working with the project team and with end users, to design environments which are not only practical and contemporary but are designed to meet client and customer requirements whilst being mindful of budget and programme. Tim is passionate about design and thinks himself lucky that his hobby became his career. He is very proud of each project and the team’s approach to client needs. He is keen that every project looks different, that lessons learnt are implemented and that improvement continues through the interior design department at AXIS. Tim strongly believes that ‘ You are only as good as your last project’.
Outside of work his passion for creativity continues; his allotment keeps him busy and very mindful of the change in seasons and environment. He loves to see the seasonal cycle and gets plenty of enjoyment from not only eating home grown produce but from his children who help pick and eat the fruit, marvelling at the size of the vegetables as well as the weeds!
Since joining A&Q Partnership in 1993, and becoming a Director in 1995, Tony has developed an established track record within the Financial Services sector, embracing Retail Network Store programmes, Head Office buildings, Investment and Private Banking, Call and Cash Centres, Training Facilities and Data Centres. Tony leads the Workplace Team.
Tony joined A&Q Partnership in 1986, becoming a Director in 2015. He currently specialises in Retail Commercial Banking, leading the national retail banking team, based across several offices, developing and managing client relationships over a wide range of projects and contract types, including traditional, design and build and Global Framework activities.