Rodrigo Cañizares

Director

Rodrigo Cañizares studied at the San Pablo CEU University in Madrid, where he received his M.Arch in Architecture, covering architectural design & urban planning, building systems, structures design & calculus and Art History (2001-2010). During his studies he collaborated with Madrid based practices where he worked in both national and international projects such as the AZCA office district in Madrid with Lamela. 

He joined UNStudio in Amsterdam in 2010 where he worked on international projects, from small to large scales and on many different stages such as the Qatar Railways or the Scotts Residential Tower. In 2013 he joined ACME, where he was involved in a wide range of projects both in the UK and abroad including the office, hotel and residential buildings at the Minories development in London. 

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Paula Ibarrondo

Director

Paula Ibarrondo studied in San Pablo CEU University in Madrid, where she received her M.Arch in Architecture, covering architectural design & urban planning, building systems, structures design & calculus and Art History (2001-2008) and a Humanistic & Professional Specific Degree (2003-2008). After graduating she worked as an architect collaborator in several Madrid practices such as Cero9 (Amid) or Lamela. In 2010 she moved to Amsterdam to work at UNStudio where she had the opportunity to work in a wide range of scales and international projects such as the Singapore University of Technology and Design or Raffles City mixed use scheme in Hangzhou.

Since joining ACME in 2013 she has mainly worked on the Mansell Estate residential development in the City of London, 60 Aldgate office building amongst other residential, hotel and offices schemes.

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Joshua Feldman

Joshua is originally from South Africa. He studied at the University of Cape Town and Yale University before completing his Masters of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2016. Upon graduating with distinction, he was awarded the James Templeton Kelley Thesis Prize for a design which proposed a combined waste-to-energy facility and housing in Johannesburg.

Joshua is a registered architect in New York State where he worked for Snøhetta for six years. During that time, he was involved in projects at all stages of development – from concept design to construction administration. He worked on a variety of projects from medium to large scale, with a focus on civic architecture - specifically the New Main Library in Charlotte, North Carolina and Vesterheim Commons, the National Norwegian-American Museum & Folk Art School in Decorah, Iowa. Having worked extensively on public projects, Joshua’s interests lie at the intersection of form and public culture with a particular focus on the geometric opportunities afforded by contemporary design methods. 

Joshua joined ACME after moving to London in summer 2022 and is Project Architect for Earls Court, London scheme. 

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El Mehdi Belyasmine

El Mehdi Belyasmine completed his postgraduate studies in MAS in Architecture and Digital Fabrication at ETH Zurich in 2022. His academic work focused on 3D printing using robotics and Augmented Reality. Furthermore, he graduated with a Master from ULB La Cambre Horta in Brussels (Belgium) in 2015 within a one-year Erasmus exchange at HEIA Freiburg (Switzerland).

After completing his studies in 2015, he moved to Mexico City and gained experience in cultural, residential, infrastructure, and master planning projects with FR-EE, Arroyo Solis Agraz Arquitectos, and Estudio Lamela | LAM arquitectos. Among them, the Cultural Corridor Chapultepec with FR-EE and the New Terminal Building at Tijuana Airport with Estudio Lamela | LAM arquitectos. He also worked in Qatar and Morocco.

El Mehdi joined ACME London in 2023 as an architect, and is part of the design teams for mixed-use schemes in China and UAE.

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Hanna Blazheieva

Hannah graduated from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture in 2016. 

She then gained a diverse experience on a variety of projects in Ukraine, delivering different stages from concept to construction, such as residential, workplace typologies with green architecture certification process as LEED and BREEAM; master plans of hi-tech cities adaptation; and interior design scopes. As a senior architect in Ukraine, she delivered private homes and led two heritage restoration projects in the city centre of Kyiv. Hannah was a key part of a remote design team for THG Arkitektar, delivering drawings for the construction stage.

Upon moving to the UK in 2022, Hanna worked at Rodic Davidson Architects prior to joining the ACME London team. Hanna has ArchiCAD, TeamWork, BIM and Revit experience and is gaining knowledge in mass timber construction at The Wood Institute. 

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Ginny Siu

Ginny completed her postgraduate studies in MA Architecture at The Royal College of Art in 2022, and has studied at the Architectural Association (2020) and The University of Sheffield (2015-2018). Her academic work is often reflected by autobiographical material. This includes exploring grassroot and banal interactions, negotiating between relationships fostered and the freedom and limitations of adapting in the domestic and the city.

Prior to joining ACME, Ginny gained work experience in both Hong Kong and London, at scales ranging from bridge to office towers and cultural projects, to masterplanning with WilkinsonEyre, and residential projects at Haworth Tompkins. She was in charge of planning, designing and executing an exhibition for WilkinsonEyre at the Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale. Ginny also collaborated with student-lead curatorial collectives, curating exhibitions during her time at the RCA.

Ginny joined ACME London as an Architectural Assistant in 2022, and is a part of the Bluewaters design team.

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Ji Soto

Ji is a registered Part II and Botanist, holding a MArch in Bio-Integrated Design from The Bartlett School of Architecture and a MSc. in Plant and Fungal taxonomy from Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Queen Mary University. 

Prior to joining ACME London in 2022, he worked in projects of an interdisciplinary nature,  including sustainable design, material research, advanced urban ecology, green infrastructures and plant phylogenetics. His work has been published in architecture magazines and scientific journals in Chile, Mexico, Korea, China, US and UK.

Ji is part of ACME’s Bluewaters Design team.

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Malin Bergman Purwanto

Malin studied architecture at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, with exchange studies at the University of Illinois, USA, and the National University of Ireland. After graduating with a Master of Architecture in 2017, she worked at design-led practices in Stockholm, Sweden, where she focused on urban infills, developing masterplans, and competitions. Malin was a key part of the international design team of the Swedish Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai. 

Malin joined ACME London in 2022 and works as an architect on Bluewaters Tower, a residential and hotel high-rise in Dubai, UAE.

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Cherry Cheung

Cherry graduated from University of Hong Kong and was an exchange student at ETH Zurich. Upon graduation she worked in Hong Kong as research assistant and architect involved in hospitality and commercial projects mainly in China and Korea, before she set off for Berlin, with her primary research interest in participatory and inclusive design, where she is qualified as architect since 2019.  

Prior to joining ACME, she has been working in Berlin at Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos and Sauerbruch Hutton, taking part in winning competition design of Guangzhou Science Museum and Luisenblock the Bundestag parliamentary office in Berlin respectively; furthermore playing a key role as project architect in the refurbishment and extension of Beethovenhalle in Bonn and timber housing complex at IBA'27 Stuttgart, from which she consolidated her interest and expertise in building reuse / heritage refurbishment as well as prefabricated timber construction.

Cherry joined ACME Berlin in 2022 as part of the Metro Campus design team.

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Juan Cantu

Juan graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture (hons) from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2019 and received an Architectural Design MAarch (distinction) from the Bartlett School of Architecture UCL in 2022, where the implementation of machine learning and procedural design tools in the investigation of contemporary ecological notions in architecture awarded his thesis project the computational design medal. 

Prior to joining ACME London as an architectural assistant in 2022, he gained professional experience working at JL-Office, in Chicago, USA and Barcelona, Spain, where he was involved in a variety of projects ranging from installations, public competitions and research. He has been an assistant instructor for IIT’s architecture summer program and he currently is a design skills tutor at the B-Pro MArch Architectural Design program at the Bartlett UCL.

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Taro Bean

Taro joined ACME London in 2022 after completing his Bsc in Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture. Since joining he has been part of ACME’s Folkestone design team.

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Alexandra Totoianu

Alexandra holds a MArch from The London School of Architecture and a BSc from VIA University in Denmark. She also studied at Politecnico di Milano. Her academic work centres around speculative narratives focused on a sustainable, social and political dimension. 

Alexandra gained valuable experience at Piercy and Company working on two office buildings in London. In Copenhagen, she worked with Vilhelm Lauritzen and COBE on an office building in Ørestad, two major residential schemes in Carlsberg, and an exhibition centre in Bella Centre. During her time at the Copenhagen Architecture Festival, she co-curated a 1:1 exhibition of Lacaton & Vassal’s modernist estate transformation of 530 dwellings in Bordeaux together with Ruby Press and Space 10, amongst curating films and the architecture programme. 

Alexandra also worked on a few research projects across Europe such as the WTC from Brussels, living/working typologies in Porto, and a masterplan in Zürich. She was shortlisted for the LFA competition in Wilcox Road together with other LSA friends, and exhibited their gingerbread Des(s)sert Ville at the Museum of Architecture as part of the Gingerbread city competition.

Alexandra joined ACME London in 2022 and is part of the Folkestone design team. She is also a member of the sustainability, library and the social teams.

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Ryan Hart

Ryan completed his BSc in Architecture at Queen’s University Belfast in 2018 before moving to London to finish his Masters at The London School of Architecture in 2022.

Prior to joining ACME London in 2022 he worked for ZGF Architects in Portland, Oregon followed by 2 years at Carmody Groarke in London, where he worked on a range of cultural, heritage and community focused projects. Ryan’s keen eye for visualisation and communication in architecture has also seen him engaged in various competitions and graphic projects.

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Tobias Himawan

Tobias received his BA (hons) Architecture at Newcastle University in 2019, and recently completed his MArch Architecture with distinction at the Bartlett School of Architecture in 2022. Prior to joining ACME, he has gained experience working in Indonesia at Hadivincent Architects and Studio TonTon, as well as at Farrells, London.

He joined ACME London in 2022, and has been involved in Euston Over-Station Development Masterplan, assisting on multiple stages from concept design to BIM modelling. In the office, he is a member of the ACME coffee team.

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Ruby Roberts

Ruby completed her BA hons in Architecture at Arts University Bournemouth 2020 and is currently studying for her MArch at The London School of Architecture. Prior to joining ACME London in 2022 she completed an ERASMUS+ internship in Lisbon and worked at David Morley Architects. 

Ruby is part of ACME’s Daedalus Waterfront design team.

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Jeremy Priest

Jeremy received a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Auckland in 2019, where his thesis project was awarded first place across New Zealand in the NZIA Student Design Awards. After graduating he worked at Herbst Architects in Auckland, while leading second and third year architectural design studios at the University of Auckland. 

Jeremy joined ACME London in 2022 as a Part II Architectural Assistant. 

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Yaroslava Dubova

Yaroslava graduated with a Master in Architecture from the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture in 2018. After and during her studies she worked at BURØ architects, where she was involved in the design of different scale projects ranging from housing, public buildings to large scale masterplans

Yaroslava moved to Berlin in March 2022 where she joined ACME. She was a key member of the team developing the new Millie hotel concept for Adina, and the Mell Square Masterplan in Solihull, UK. Her role within the IT team includes responsibility for testing and evaluating alternative render approaches. 

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Alina Vovkotrub

Alina received her BA in Architecture from Kyiv National University. She worked as an interior architect at balbek bureau and as a product designer in propro furniture. Her practice includes a range of commercial and residential projects worldwide, including design guideline of the renovation of Kyiv City Express railway stations, numerous interior design projects of residential, hospitality, and corporate spaces, concrete games, ceramic dishes and furniture pieces.

Alina joined ACME Berlin in 2022. She is working with Adina Hotels to develop the new Millie concept and the first trial prototype in Berlin, as well as the new Hotel Interior concepts for Bluewater Tower in the UAE. 

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Emma Buckley

Associate

Emma studied Fine Art at Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. She gained extensive and varied experience at several multi-disciplinary design practices.

Emma joined ACME London in 2021 and leads on communications and bid management. She is also part of the new work, sustainability, management and coffee team.

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Amanda Callaghan

Senior Architect

Amanda graduated from the Royal College of Art, London in 2012 with an MA Architecture and completed her professional studies at the Architectural Association in 2015. Initially working at Squire & Partners and then at Will Alsop’s studio, she gained a broad range of experience internationally, working from Chongqing, China & the UK. Prior to joining ACME she worked in Melbourne, Australia on OSD Melbourne Metro at HASSELL. Amanda has gained experience working with timber in both design and construction in Australia and the UK.

Amanda joined ACME London in 2019 and is a Senior Architect. She is a leader within ACME’s Sustainability Task Group, responsible for producing ACME’s annual carbon audit and for skill sharing and championing best sustainable practice within all office projects. 

Since joining Amanda has been part of the team on H1 Elephant Park, Southern Cross, 60 Aldgate, Umweltbank and Castle Square.

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Luwam Woldu

Luwam studied at City and Islington college in Angel, London where she completed her BTEC Chemistry, Physics and Biology course finishing with a MMM.

Luwam joined ACME London in 2022.

As front of house, she is a key part of the Admin team, ensuring the office is beautiful and running smoothly. 

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Argyrios Delithanasis

In 2019, Argyrios graduated with a Diploma of Architect Engineer from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In 2021, he graduated with Distinction from the Architectural Design MArch from The Bartlett and was awarded a B-Pro Silver Medal for his thesis focusing on automated housing platforms.He has worked at UNStudio, 3XN, DaeWha Kang Design and Gilles Retsin Architecture. 

Argyrios joined ACME London in 2021 where he worked on Metro Campus and is currently part of the Euston OSD design team. He is also part of the social and library task groups of the office. Argyrios has a keen interest in exploring new technological mediums, such as computer vision and robotics, to automate the process of collaborative design, construction and inhabitation.

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Chuxiao Wang

Chuxiao completed her undergraduate degree at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China, and graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture with distinction in 2021. Prior to joining ACME, Chuxiao gained experience at Vector Architects, MAD Architects and KSP ENGEL, working on Haibing Center of Nankai University, MAD Office and Shenzhen Art Museum New Venue & Shenzhen Second Library.

Chuxiao joined ACME London in 2021 where she has worked on Hohhot MixC, Penny Market and the Mell Square Masterplan in Solihull. She is part of the library team and IT team. Chuxiao has a keen interest in woodcrafting, goldsmithing, glassblowing and ceramics and applying this to architectural model making. In addition to this, she writes short fiction stories, and has finished her first illustration book called 'Lost in London'. Chuxiao is a trained paraglider, always looking forward to the next take-off.

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Laura Portici

Laura graduated in Economics at the University of Padua, Italy in 2010 and completed the AAT Advanced Diploma in Accounting in 2022.

After working for an accounting firm, she moved to London in 2014 where she worked as Admin Assistant in an interior design company, assisting the Design Team.

Laura joined ACME London in 2017. She works as Finance Assistant providing financial support and operational support with HR, R&D, Health and Safety, ISO 9001 and IT contributing to the smooth running of the business on the day to day as well partaking in special projects.

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Elli Liverakou

Elli studied Architecture at the University La Sapienza in Rome and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) where she received her Bachelor & Master’s in Architecture & Engineering. She worked for Domos in Athens, as well as Lightarchitecture and Thomas Heatherwick in London, where she had the opportunity to participate in several high-profile projects in the UK and abroad. 

In 2017 she joined ACME and is currently involved in the Northgate project in Chester.

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Adriana Zurera

Senior Architect

Adriana Zurera studied at the University of Rome La Sapienza and the University of Tokyo and graduated with a Master in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. After graduation she worked for TORAFU Architects in Tokyo and CRAB Studio in London.

Since joining ACME Berlin as an architect in 2017, Adriana has been involved in a wide variety of projects and competitions. She contributed to the successful competition design of the IQL Pavilion, Deira Central and Hohhot Mix C and has worked on several masterplan projects, most notably Chester Northgate, Dubai City Walk, Southern Cross, Euston Station and Dublin Central, a project she delivered from concept stage to planning submission. In 2019 Adriana moved from our London office to our Berlin office, and has increasingly focused on German Projects, including the Quartier Am Humboldthain competition and Penny Future Store. 

Adriana has been a key member of ACME’s Design Review Panel since 2018, reviewing internal projects and providing design feedback and guidance.

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Ohyun Kwon

Ohyun studied at the Royal College of Art in 2016, where he received his MA degree in architecture. His thesis project titled short-term housing for new labour in Seoul has been published by Dezeen, PLAT Journal and Wallpaper. He participated in the publication ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ with DOGMA, exhibited in the British Pavilion at the 15th Venice Biennale. During his studies, he was a participant in RCR Arquitectes LAB-A in Spain and worked for a pavilion project for Barbara Hepworth sculpture exhibition at Tate Britain in 2015. 

Ohyun joined ACME London in 2016 and is an Architect and one of IT task group members. He has been mainly working on Folkestone Seafront projects. Other projects that he was involved in  including the Wave Plaza, Elephant E1, Memorial Laagberg, Vorwerk Headquarter, Minories Hotel, Swansea Central Phase 2, Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel, Silvertown Meanwhile Scheme and Ice Rink Annex.

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Tim Laubinger

Managing Director

Tim graduated from Stuttgart University in 1994. During a 5 year stay in Cape Town he worked with SAOTA and ACG Architects. In 1999 he joined RHWL Architects in London and became Principal Director of the Berlin office. He delivered a number of notable projects including, the TUTIMA watch factory in Glashütte, Germany, and as EA for Arata Isozaki - the Qatar National Convention Centre, leading a team of 24 architects in Berlin and London.

Tim joined ACME in 2015. As Managing Director of ACME Berlin he is responsible for business development and the management of numerous projects in Germany, bringing with him a wide range of experience in office design, retail and masterplanning. He has led and contributed to a number of completed award-winning ACME projects such as the Sächsische Aufbaubank (SAB) in Leipzig (2018) and REWE Market of the Future - ACME’s prototype for a timber market with aquaponic roof farm in Wiesbaden (2021). 

Tim has contributed to prize-winning competitions such as Brent Cross South (2019), Gedenkstätte Laagberg, Wolfsburg (2020), METRO Campus, Düsseldorf (2021), Nollendorfplatz, Berlin (2021), Invalidenstraße, Berlin (2022) 

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João Brás

Senior Architect 

João Brás studied in Politecnico di Milano and graduated from the Universidade Lusofona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (ULHT-Lisbon) in 2009. He worked with RRJ and TMP in Lisbon, with Guilherme Torres in Sao Paulo-Brazil, and with Zwimpfer Partner in Basel-Switzerland.

Since joining ACME London in 2015, João has been involved in several project themes, with a particular focus in public spaces and residential. Being one of the Senior Architects in the office, João is also part of ACME’s Technical Review and IT teams. He is currently the Project Architect overseeing the construction of the Shoreline development, the first residential plot part of the Folkestone Harbour & Seafront Masterplan. 

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Michel Bosauder

Associate 

Michel studied at the University of Auckland New Zealand were he received his BAS and BArch with honours in 2007. This included design exchange programs to Italy, Brazil and Australia. 

He worked for Architectus Auckland from 2008, where he gained a wide range of experience on award winning schemes such as the University of Auckland Science Centre, Wellington University Student Hub, the Long Bay Village Centre and the Treasury Research Centre & Archive. 

Michel joined ACME London in 2014 and is an Associate. Notable completed works at ACME are the UK’s first Canopy by Hilton in London City, Watermark WestQuay in Southampton and the John Lewis Building in Leeds as part of the Victoria Gate development. As well as delivering projects, he also leads the BIM task group / Architectural Standards within the office and is involved with HR. 

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Azizah Sulor

Senior Architect

Azizah Sulor graduated with a BA Architecture from the Glasgow School of Art and a Diploma in Architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture.  Prior to joining ACME London in 2014, she collaborated with Rafael Vinoly Architects, Foreign Office Architects, Farshid Moussavi Architecture and JKMM Architects in Helsinki. 

At ACME, she is a Senior Architect working extensively on ACME’s key hospitality projects which include Fendi Hotel Citywalk, Evado Hotel Dubai Water Canal, Lowndes Hotel London, as well as the award winning first UK London Canopy Hotel by Hilton which she followed from an early stage through to completion. 

She is currently delivering the Haydon Gardens Residence. Apart from her hospitality experience at ACME, she contributed to the technical research on the iconic timber framed IQL Pavilion and has lead the Northgate Chester Market Project where she was responsible for the technical research experimenting paint powder pigment onto the artistic design of the market acrylic soffits.

She is part of the Material Library and Coffee Group.

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Thomas Soo

Senior Designer

Thomas Soo graduated from the Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia in 2006 with Bachelor of Architecture (Honours). Upon graduation, he moved to London and started his career in Zaha Hadid Architects where he was involved in the London 2012 Aquatics Centre project from planning to Legacy completion. 

Thomas joined ACME London in 2014 and is a Senior Designer and has a wide range of project running experience across scales and typologies. Thomas led several projects including the Chester Northgate hotel, Dubai City Walk mixed-use masterplan, Victoria Gate hotel from concept design to planning approval, MixC Hohhot shopping mall and is currently leading the Daedalus Waterfront masterplan development in Lee-on-the-Solent. Thomas is Chinese bi-lingual and was involved in several projects in China as the main liaison between the client and ACME. He is also a part of the new work task group on scouting new opportunities for the office. 

Other key projects include: Minories residential in the City of London, Jumeirah Central Market mixed-use development in Dubai, Marina Galleria competition in Athens, Westquay Phase 2 development in Southampton and MixC Shenzhen refurbishment competition in Shenzhen, China.

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Dirk Mueller

Senior Architect

Dirk Mueller studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Stuttgart and the Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto (FAUP). After receiving his Diploma in Architecture in 2005 he worked for several years with Behnisch Architekten (Stuttgart/LA) where he was leading the design team for the main building of the new Harvard University campus. At Brisac Gonzalez Architects (London), Dirk worked as a Project Architect on several residential projects in the UK and abroad and was part of the design team for a large mixed-use project in central Paris (ZAC Batignolles) and the White Cube Gallery, Hong Kong.

Dirk joined ACME Berlin in 2014. After leading several competitions (Kaufhof Cologne, Great Hall Southampton) he joined the design team for the SAB project as Senior Architect. Dirk was part of the leading team and coordinated the delivery of several key design packages.

Since 2018 Dirk has been the Project Architect for the new REWE Market Scheme (Market of the Future), leading the design and execution phase of this innovative timber project in Wiesbaden, Germany. After the project was successfully delivered in 2021 Dirk is now in charge of developing the Design Guidelines for the national roll out of this award-winning scheme.

Other key projects include:
- Great Hall Southampton
- Kaufhof Cologne
- Novo Riga
- SAB Leipzig
- REWE - Market of the Future

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Eleni Meladaki

Associate Director 

Eleni received her Bachelor and Masters in Architecture & Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA); and received her MSc (Emergent Technologies & Design) with Distinction from the Architectural Association. 

Eleni joined ACME London in 2013 and is an Associate Director. She has gained extensive construction experience, delivering the UK's first Canopy by Hilton Hotel, London City in 2021. Prior to her City of London work, she led a number of schemes including Robina Town Centre in Australia, completed in 2016, the H1 Elephant Park timber office building in London; masterplans in Marseille and Toulouse, France; and luxury hotel and residential schemes in Dubai, UAE.

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Charles Pigott

Charles Pigott was trained as an architect at the Portsmouth School of Architecture and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, receiving his AA Diploma in June 1992. He has worked in Chicago and London for the office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, being involved in the building of international office and residential schemes. In the 90’s, Berlin became his second home, for architectural experimentation and freelance architectural work.

Charles joined ACME London in 2013 and is our document controller and a core part of the team. He manages, amongst other things, the Coffee Group, maintaining a team of cleaning barista’s for our office golden spirit coffee machine and the Space Group, overseeing and carrying out the required maintenance of the ACME office and its building. Since 2016 Charles has been leading ACME's Research & Development Group.

Being a document controller has had Charles involved in a large variety of ACME’s built projects, including Victoria Gate and John Lewis in Leeds; Watermark Quay in Southampton; IQL Pavilion in Stratford; Swansea Arena; Hilton Canopy Hotel in Aldgate, as well as maintaining many projects now that are on the boards or in the process of construction.

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Gemma Serra

Senior Architect

Gemma Serra graduated from EtsaB -School of Architecture in Barcelona- of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, where she was first invited to participate as an assistant professor and then became a professor of Urban Design. She completed her studies at the National School of Architecture of Belleville in Paris. She worked with DEGW-Milan, TH1-Villien Studio, Estanislau Roca Architects, Calderon-Folch-Sarsanedas Studio, Daniel Modol and TAU-Jon Montero leading the New Visual Arts Center in Donostia, Spain. 

Since joining ACME in 2013, Gemma has been involved in two schemes; a new market hall for a shopping centre on Australia’s Gold Coast, and a landmark mixed use scheme in Southampton city centre.

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Lizy Huyghe

Associate

Lizy Huyghe studied at the University for Science and Arts in Ghent, Belgium where she received her Diploma in Master of Architecture with Honours. In Paris she worked for several small design-led practices before joining the London office of Populous where she was involved in the design of the new stadium for Olympique Lyonnais in France as well as the Olympic park for the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.

Since joining ACME London in 2011, Lizy has been involved in numerous projects and competitions such as New Market Starnberg, Victoria Gate in Leeds, Sage Hotel and Eastland Masterplan in Australia. As Project Architect Lizy has been involved in a leisure led scheme in Marseille, a private residence in Chamonix and Swansea's Copr Bay Phase One. She is ACME's Project Architect for Cambridge North Masterplan and for a high end residential and mixed-use scheme in Dubai.

Lizy is a core part of ACME's HR, management and Research & Development team.

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Mark Broom

Associate Director

Mark studied architecture at the University of Sheffield (1998-2005). Prior to joining ACME, his practice experience includes Grant Associates, Singapore; Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, London; and Studio Pei Zhu, Beijing.

Mark joined ACME London in 2012, and was appointed Associate Director in 2022. Over the last 10 years at ACME, Mark has led a wide range of award-winning ACME projects including £135m Copr Bay Phase One - Swansea Bridge, Swansea Arena and the 1.1 acre Copr Bay Coastal Park (2022); IQL Pavilion - an iconic timber framed pavilion on the edge of London’s Olympic Park (2021); and Watermark Westquay - a landmark mixed-use scheme in Southampton, UK (2016).

Mark is a directorial lead for ACME’s sustainability task group - championing best practice and innovation within the built environment.

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Keigo Yoshida

Associate

Keigo Yoshida received his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering at Tokai University. During his university career, he won the outstanding performance prize in the Residential Design Assignment Award competition. His diploma received the prestigious Tokai University KD award. He worked at Kengo Kuma & Associates in Tokyo, designing the Visitor Centre in Shimonoseki, City Hall in Nagaoka and the Performing Arts Centre competition in Spain. 

Keigo joined ACME London in 2010 and is an Associate. Over the years, he has worked on a variety of our most complex and innovative projects. As Project Lead, he developed the Victoria Gate Car Park in Leeds from Concept to Detail, and then took it all the way to completion.

Since then, he worked on Swansea Central Phase One Masterplan and led the facade and interior design development of Swansea Arena, Swansea UK, detailed the complex geometry of timber hybrid structure, metalwork and parametric timber clad for Stratford Pavilion for the compilation, London UK. Keigo has extensive experience in workplace design and has been a core part of the team for H1 Elephant Park, Nollendorfplatz, and 60 Aldgate. Keigo is a key part of ACME’s Design Review, IT and BIM task groups.

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Penny Sperbund

Associate Director

Penny studied at the University of Cape Town School of Architecture. A Project Architect since 1980, she has been administering contracts for the past 40 years. Penny was Associate Partner for EHH Architects in Cape Town and worked at Chapman Taylor and Foreign Office Architects in London where she led a number of large and complex international projects.

In 2010 Penny joined ACME London and was appointed an Associate Director in 2012. With her wide experience in construction, she heads up the technical and QA reviews for all projects, giving in-house CPDs on building regulations, and ‘lessons learnt’. Drawing on her early role as Project Architect running traditional contracts, she advises on Appointment contracts and assists the admin team in achieving ISO 9001 accreditation and PI Insurance renewals.

As Technical Director Penny is involved in all of ACME's major projects. Some of the ones in which she took a more active role include: The Royal Institute of Human Development - Bahrain; Khams Shamat Visitors’ Gallery – Damascus; The Beirut City Centre Shopping Mall - Lebanon; Swansea Central Development, Chester Northgate Development, H1 Elephant Park, London, UK; and 60 Aldgate, London, UK

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Heidrun Schuhmann

Director

Heidrun graduated in Architecture from the Technical University Berlin and worked at David Chipperfield Architects on the Ernsting Service Centre and at Foster + Partners on a major office development. At Allford Hall Monaghan Morris she designed the awards winning Westminster Academy at the Naim Dangoor Centre in London and took it from concept to completion.

Heidrun has worked at ACME London since 2010. As Associate Director since 2012 and Director since 2022 she is responsible for business development and the management of numerous projects nationally and internationally. Heidrun develops projects from the initial concept and idea stages to manufacture and construction, leading multidisciplinary teams in the process and works regularly on architectural design competitions.

After ACME won an international competition for the Sächsische AufbauBank (SAB), Heidrun was a key part of the team establishing the ACME Berlin office. Heidrun has recently led the work for the SAB Leipzig headquarter, the Golda-Meir-Steg in Berlin, H1 Elephant Park and P20 Brent Cross Town, both multi-storey timber office buildings in London, and 60 Aldgate.

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Stefano Dal Piva

Director 

Stefano Dal Piva studied at the IUAV Istituto Universitario Architettura Venezia, the HUT Helsinki Institute of Tecnology and the Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste in Vienna/ Austria. After graduating at the IUAV he moved to London to join Foreign Office Architects in 2006. Here he worked on the Olympic Park and Infrastructure commission for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Since joining ACME London as a Founding Director in 2007 Stefano has alternated early stages feasibility studies, successful design competitions and planning bids to the delivery of complex and fast paced projects. Notable completed projects include the ‘2010 House of the year’ Hunsett Mill and the multi award winning Victoria Gate regeneration project in Leeds opened in 2016.

Since 2022 Stefano alternates practice and academia having been invited to join INDA, the International Program in Design and Architecture within the Faculty of Architecture at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. At INDA Stefano teaches design studios and curates the international Design EXperimentation (DEX) workshops agenda.

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Ann Ravens-Bennett

Associate 

Ann studied at the University of Waterloo, Canada before completing her Masters of Architecture at l’École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville in Paris. 

She gained practice experience in Vancouver, London, Paris and Prague, working for  X-TU Architects, Wilmotte and La Seura Architects & Urbanists. Moving to London in 2014, Ann worked on a variety of large scale retail and hospitality projects from concept to construction including the Robinsons luxury department store in Dubai’s festival city and Galeries Lafayette in Shanghai.

Ann joined ACME London in 2018 and contributed to Klépierre’s Blagnac; Bastide Niel Masterplan and the redevelopment of the Cite Administrative in Toulouse; Cambridge North development. As Associate, she is in charge of the masterplan for the Euston Over-Station Development in London.

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Maria Perez Vera

María Pérez Vera received her Master of Architecture from ETSAE-Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena. She focused her final thesis on naturalising care environments in the treatment of oncology patients. After graduation she pursued her interest in architecture for health, and was part of the winning team for the Interior Design of La Arrixaca Children’s Hospital, in Murcia, completed in 2017. She worked for several small firms in Spain and WE architecture in Copenhagen.

Upon joining ACME London in 2017 she was involved in the Northgate project in Chester, before becoming a key member of the delivery team for the Canopy by Hilton Hotel, London City, completed in 2021. This meant a significant leap into construction experience for her, which she continues to expand currently working in the construction of Florattica Rooftop Bar and The Haydon Residential, both in Aldgate.

María complements this being part of the Sample Library team, bringing materials and lessons learnt together.

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Alvaro Madrazo

Senior Architect 

Álvaro Madrazo Bohigas studied at the University of La Coruña, where he received his Diploma in 2010. After his studies he joined the practices EFFEKT and Adept in Denmark and FREE in México where he worked in the Livsrum Cancer Counselling Centre, the Dalarna Media Arena Library, and the International Airport of México City in collaboration with Foster and Partners, respectively gaining experience in educative buildings, infrastructure, masterplans, and competitions. 

Since joining ACME London in 2016, Álvaro has been involved in a wide range of residential projects such as Mansell Estate in London, Folkestone Shoreline (phase 1) from the beginning of the project until completion, and Folkestone (phase 5) where he is currently the project-senior architect.

Other key projects include: Nollendorfplatz in Berlin and Vorwerk Now in Wuppertal Germany.

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Natalie Dubrovska

Natalie studied at NAU Kyiv, receiving her Master Diploma in 2015. After graduation, she worked for several small design-led practices and established her eponymous practice in Kyiv in 2018. Natalie worked on numerous bespoke residential, public interiors and architectural design projects worldwide.  

Natalie joined ACME London in 2022 and specialises in interior architecture. She is leading the work on the Adina hotel portfolio and the concept designs for Millie, a new format hotel concept, as well as the interiors of the Bluewater Tower project in the UAE. 

Natalie is responsible for ACME’s Social Media presence.

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Igor Gola

Igor has obtained his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Architectural Association in London. His academic research centres around material reuse in the context of large scale urban regenerations. 

Since joining ACME London in 2018 he has been involved in a number of office, residential, public and master planning projects - most notably the Elephant H1 office, Haydon Gardens, CityWalk masterplan and Bluewater Tower in Dubai, and Castle Square in Swansea. In parallel Igor takes care of the office 3D printer.

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Anatol Stathiou

Anatol graduated from the Architectural Association in 2017, after completing his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Brighton. During his AA diploma, he developed an interest in the practice of architecture and a critical approach towards the discourse. Anatol has gained experience in masterplan and concept design for offices and hotels in practices in Shanghai and London.

Since joining ACME London in 2018, Anatol has been involved in developing a mixed-use scheme for the regeneration of Central Dublin, a residential building on the Folkestone seafront and the concept masterplan for the Euston Over-Station Development in London.

Except for his architectural duties, he is also part of the Social Team, helping organise office events, the Coffee Group and involved in interviews for graduate positions.

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Friedrich Ludewig

Founding Director

Friedrich studied at the Technical University and the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and received his Diploma in Architecture with Distinction (Honours) from the Architectural Association.

He worked for Sauerbruch Hutton and Foreign Office Architects, where he delivered as Associate Director the Umraniye Meydan, JLP Leicester and the Masterplan for the London 2012 Olympics. 

He founded ACME in 2007 and has grown it into an international practice. Friedrich oversees the design direction across all projects in the office. Notable completed work include Melbourne Eastland (2015), Leeds Victoria Gate (2016), Watermark Southampton (2016), Bumpers Oast (2018); REWE Green Farming (2021), Stratford Pavilion, London (2021), SAB Leipzig (2021), Golda-Meir-Steg (2021), Canopy by Hilton, London City (2021) and Copr Bay Phase One (2022). 

Friedrich has taught and lectured as a Visiting Critic at The Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (2003-05), Harvard University Graduate School of Design (2005), Darmstadt University (2009), Berlage Institute in Rotterdam (2007-08), The Bartlett UCL (2008-11), Royal College of Art in London (2016) and the Architectural Association.

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Sheena Seeley

Senior Architect

Sheena studied at the Architectural Association London and Technical University in Munich, qualifying as an architect in 2013. Sheena worked in several London based practices, joining Foster + Partners in 2015 where she managed design teams for Sydney Metro, Doha Airport and the Slussen masterplan in Stockholm.

Sheena joined ACME London in November 2017 as the senior architect for the REWE Supermarket of the Future project in Germany and is now working on the design guidelines for a national roll-out of this sustainable, timber structure supermarket. She contributed to the successful competition design of Plot 20 in the Brent Cross South masterplan and has worked on several feasibility studies in both London and Germany. Sheena moved to the Berlin office in 2019 where her role in the social team involves organising and coordinating events and communications between the two offices. 

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Matei Vlãsceanu

Senior Architect

Matei Vlăsceanu studied University of Architecture and Urbanism “Ion Mincu” in Bucharest and at KU Leuven. In 2010, after building the National Romanian Pavilion, Matei co-founded UNULAUNU. He has been working at OMA – Hong Kong and Rotterdam, as well as teaching at the University in Bucharest, assisting 2nd and 3rd year students in the design studio. 

Matei joined ACME Berlin in 2017, where he has worked on various competitions like Zlinic Prague and Vaclav Havel Airport. Up to present Matei has been part of the design team for key completed projects like SAB Leipzig and Rewe-Market of the Future, delivered successfully, as Project Architect, the planning application for an office building as part of a wider masterplan in Dublin Central designed by ACME, as well as a series of competitions with a couple of winning proposals like Brent Cross South and Metro Campus Düsseldorf.

Matei is also overseeing the IT department of ACME Berlin.

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Monica Capitano

Senior Architect

Monica Capitanio studied at the Politecnico di Milano, the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa and the Escola da Cidade in São Paulo. She received her Diploma in Master of Science in Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. She worked at EFFEKT in Copenhagen, where she was involved in several projects and competitions such as the New Carlsberg Brewhouse. 

Monica has worked at ACME London since 2012 where she's now a Senior Architect.

She has been involved in several projects, most notably the Chester Northgate masterplan, the Minoris scheme in the City of London, the concept masterplan for the Euston Over-Station Development in London, the mixed-use scheme for the regeneration of Central Dublin and the Canopy by Hilton Hotel, a 342 keys hotel in the City of London completed in 2021. 

Monica is a key member of the Social Team, she organises and runs the main office events for both the office staff and the public. Since 2019 she has run the Cooking Club. 

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Jude Bull

Practice & HR Manager

Jude joined ACME London in 2018 and manages the ACME People team.

She graduated with a first in Fashion Design BA (Hons) from Northumbria University in 2008, working in London and New York during her studies. After three years working in couture, she went on to become Studio Manager at an interiors and branding agency.

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Vojtech Nemec

Vojtech studied at Glasgow School of Art and the London School of Architecture.

He has worked in architectural practices in Germany, Paris, and Prague and developed and delivered multiple small scale installations internationally, most notably, at the Hello Wood architecture festival, where Vojtech acted as a project co-leader. Vojtech also regularly leads software workshops at NYU London.

Vojtech joined ACME London in 2017 as part of his studies at the LSA. During his time at ACME, Vojtech focuses on the early design stages and was part of the teams of Eastgate Quarter Masterplan, Brent Cross, Blackhorse Lane, Vaclav Havel Airport competition and others. He also plays an active role in the New Work, Sustainability and Social teams within ACME.

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Nicholas Chrysostomou

Nicholas received a BSc and MArch from the Bartlett School of Architecture. He has gained previous experience in design and visualisation firms in Cyprus and London. His work has been exhibited internationally including a contribution to the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. 

Since joining ACME London, he has been involved in delivering projects to planning in both the UK and abroad, including 60 Aldgate; Cambridge North, Dublin Central and Daedalus. Beyond his architectural work, he is part of ACME’s social team, organising our social event programme.

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Matteo Modenese

Matteo studied at the IUAV in Venice and at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile where he received his Master Degree in Architecture in 2015. While living in Santiago de Chile he collaborated with MilM2 collective and with Mapa AC office. In 2017, after a working period in Italy, he joined EMBT in Barcelona where he was involved in several competitions in Hamburg and Shanghai.

He joined ACME London in 2018 and he is a Senior Designer and BIM Lead involved in the construction stage of Haydon Gardens, a residential project in the City of London.

He collaborated with the teams of H1 Elephant Park, Copr Bay Phase One, Blackhorse Lane. He delivered the facade's construction packages for the UK's first Canopy by Hilton Hotel in the City of London, completed in 2021. Matteo is very active within the IT task group ensuring the Tabernacle Street office is working at its best. As a keen cyclist he organises the ACME cycle team for the London to Brighton charity rides.

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Alanoud Al-Radaideh

Alanoud studied at the Canterbury School of Architecture, graduating with a Master of Architecture with a Distinction. In 2018 she was admitted to take part in the Venice Biennale and her work was exhibited at the City Centre in London. Over the last two years, Alanoud has been a guest critic at the Canterbury School of Architecture.

Alanoud joined ACME London in 2018 and has worked on several projects including proposals for the Leas Lift, a grade II* listed funicular lift in Folkestone; a mixed-use proposal in Bordeaux combining residential, commercial & retail; a masterplan for the seafront and harbour area in Folkestone; and the Euston Over-Station Development. In addition, Alanoud is a member of the office social team.

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Loh Li Zhi

Loh Li Zhi studied at the Architectural Association in London and completed his RIBA part II there in 2019.

Having worked at ACME London as a student, Li has since returned to the office as an Architectural Assistant in 2019. Li is part of the social team of the office as well as the unofficial baking task group for the office. Li has worked on a range of projects from master planning projects such as Cambridge and Euston and has been part of the competition winning teams of IQL pavilion and Bluewater tower. 

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Alex Chan

Alex Chan graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and completed his RIBA part II there in 2019. Between 2016 and 2017, he worked at Amanda Levete Architects.

Since joining ACME London in 2019, Alex has worked on different scale projects, from the Masterplan project in London Euston and Lee-on-Solent to the revitalisation of Castle Square in Swansea. He is now in the team designing a mixed use tower in Bluewater Ain Vista in Dubai.

He also worked in competition teams creating new visions for shopping mall of Hohhot MixC, office building opposite Berlin Nollendorfplatz station,and Greece waterfront redevelopment of Marina Galleria.  

Alex is part of ACME’s IT team.

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Cesar Cruz Gomez

César received his Masters in Architecture from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura of Seville (ETSAS) in 2014. After graduating, he moved to London to join Mangera Yvars Architects where he gained experience in different stages of mixed use, community, residential and commercial projects in the UK and the Middle East, including the Salaam Centre in Harrow, London. Between 2017 to 2019 he worked at Echo Architecture and Rolfe Judd Architecture where he was involved in a number of residential and mixed use projects.

Since joining ACME London in 2019, César has worked on the Phase II of Victoria Gate - Eastgate Quarters Masterplan in Leeds, a competition for a commercial building in the context of the Oxford Rail Station Redevelopment Masterplan and is currently part of the team working on the concept masterplan for the Euston Over-Station Development Masterplan in London where he is involved in multiple aspects of the project.

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Wendy Smith

Senior Architect

Wendy graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2012 with an MA Architecture. Wendy brings a range of valuable work experience to ACME. Past experience includes working at multi-disciplinary design studio Droog in Amsterdam, Foster + Partners and Heatherwick Studio in London where she worked on a number of high profile projects. Prior to joining ACME, she lived in Hong Kong, working for the company Linehouse leading the redevelopment of a 10,000sqm office building in Macau.

Wendy joined ACME London in June 2021 as a Senior Architect and has been predominantly involved in the Folkestone Harbour masterplan, namely Folkestone Plot A. Wendy is actively involved in a number of projects at the competition and RFQ stage, developing the concept for the Palm Island project as well as more recently, Bluewater.

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Kayu Chan

Kayu graduated from the Architectural Association in London with commendation in 2019, where he gained his RIBA Part I and II accreditation. For his studies, he focussed on ecological and sustainable approaches in design, his thesis project was awarded the AA student choice honours award. He gained experience at Heatherwick Studio, Integrated Design Associates, and Cave Studio. Along with working at ACME, Kayu has taught at the AA summer school and is currently a diploma 3 unit tutor at the Architectural Association.

Kayu Joined ACME London in 2020 as an architectural designer. He has since worked on Mell Square in the UK, HohhotMixC in China, feasibility studies, and master planning in Germany. Kayu also worked on the waterfront cafe design and main halls renovation for The Foundry, Berlin; and he was also involved in developing the digital sculpting technique of the stone facade for Nollendorfplatz, Berlin. Currently, he is working on developing a future supermarket design concept in Germany. Alongside projects, he is currently a member of the IT-, Library-, coffee-, and mushroom- task group. Kayu is exploring the benefit of reusing coffee grounds for alternative uses and as a reusable material. Kayu has also been developing the latest ACME paper covers and is excited to see them being published soon.

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James Denner

Director 

James studied architecture at Sheffield University and The Bartlett. Prior to joining ACME London he was a Director at Squire and Partners, where he was responsible for delivering 5 Hanover Square and the design for Landmark Pinnacle, Island Point, and St John’s Wood Barracks. He has over twenty years of architectural experience including fifteen at Director level leading teams of up to twenty, including residential and commercial projects from individual buildings to large scale masterplans. 

James joined ACME in 2020 and was appointed Director in 2022. He is the directorial lead for ACME’s finance and sustainability task groups. His extensive experience with mixed use schemes and planning applications, leading large multidisciplinary teams on complex projects, has been invaluable. At ACME he has been responsible for several complex projects including the masterplan for Southern Cross in Melbourne; Dublin Central, a masterplan for offices, retail, and residential; and delivering the early phases of the Folkestone Harbour & Seafront Developments masterplan, with the first residential phase due to complete in 2023.

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Laura Vitzthum

Laura obtained her B.Sc. at the Technical University of Innsbruck and her Diploma in Architecture at the Architectural Association in London. 

She collaborated with Ron Arad, working on the Beit Shulamit Project, a Cancer Care Hospital in Afula, Israel and the Holocaust Memorial Competition in London, UK. After completing her studies, she worked for Atmos, designing the renowned sculptural staircase for Hide Restaurant in Piccadilly Circus.

Laura joined ACME London in 2019. She was involved in various projects within the extensive Swansea Phase 1 and 2 Regeneration Scheme, such as the recently opened cycle and pedestrian bridge. She has been part of the team working on ACME’s office expansion project in Tabernacle Street as well as the Rooftop Bar Project within the Minories Canopy by Hilton Hotel in the City of London. Most recently, Laura has been involved in various Masterplan projects in the UK, such as the Cambridge North Masterplan, and a Grade II* Listed Manor House and Estate for a private client.

Laura is a member of the Sustainability Task group within ACME.

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Ana Rodriguez

Ana studied architecture at the University of Seville, Barcelona, Hanover and Bartlett University in London and received her Masters in Architecture in 2013. After graduating, she worked with Raumlabor and the artist Philip Beesley in Berlin and Farshid Moussavi’s team in London. She worked as project manager for Embassy Gardens in Nine Elms from 2017 to 2020. 

Ana joined ACME London in 2020 to oversee the delivery of Swansea Copr Bay Phase One. Her role in Swansea consisted in supervising the development of the stage 4 information into construction, reviewing the contractor’s proposal and execution through benchmarks and often putting forward on-going adjustments to meet the design intent. During these two years, Ana has remarkably extended her experience in the construction stages. Since completion of this project, she has worked on Swansea Castle Square and the Bluewater Tower in Dubai.  She is curently architect for plot B2 in Folkestone.

Also she is ACME’s person of contact with the Architects Benevolent Society, organising workshops and events focused on Mental Health. 

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