Richard Owers is a director of Owers Warwick Architects, and the former Chairman of the Cambridge Association of Architects. He has also acted as a design panel member for both SHAPE East and the Cambridge Design and Conservation Panel and on the editorial board of the Cambridge Architecture gazette.

Richard studied at the University of Edinburgh and trained at Edward Cullinan Architects. From 1992 he worked in private practice in Berlin. As an associate at Wuttke & Ringhoff he collaborated on two competition-winning schemes for public buildings: Weimar City Hall and Meiningen Town Hall. He returned to England in 1997 and joined Penoyre and Prasad Architects where he worked as an associate on a number of arts, education, health care and housing schemes, including a sustainable housing development for the regeneration of Gravesend in Kent.

Richard set up Plastik Architects in London in 2002, was short-listed for “Young Architect of the Year” in 2007 and joined forces with Nicholas Ray to create NRAP architects in 2007. He has been a visiting tutor and internal examiner at the University of Wales in Cardiff and has acted as an independent design consultant to the Kent Architecture Centre. He has written articles on urban design and sustainable architecture for “EcoTech” magazine, developed a design module for the Open University and contributed to professional journals in Britain and Germany. Since September 2006 he has been living in Cambridge where he continues to combine full-time professional practice with occasional teaching.

After working for over 20 years in London, I joined the practice in 2018, having decided to relocate professionally to Cambridge, where I live with my family.

I am now a co-owner of Owers Warwick Architects. Over the last few years, I have enjoyed growing the commercial and educational sectors of the business together with modernising our practice.  I am proud to have been part of building an excellent, talented and enthusiastic team.  I am passionate about promoting sustainable architecture, in particular, reuse of existing structures.   I have been fortunate in my career to have worked across a variety of industry sectors including residential, education, workplace, office, hotels and transport.

Before moving to Cambridge I was an equity director at ORMS where I designed and led several large, high-profile projects including the Standard Hotel in Kings Cross, the refurbishment of 160 Old Street and 3 Broadgate.  Working for 3 years in a multi-disciplinary practice I gained experience on Crossrail and low-energy schools.  For 13 years I was an associate director at a Bennetts Associates. For my year out I worked in Kingston, Jamaica.

Outside running our practice, I am an RIBA Part 3 tutor at Westminster University, a member of the Architectural Association’s Part 3 examining board, tutor on the Cambridge University Part 3 course and examiner at RIBA North West. I am an active member of Design: South East panel and review schemes across the south of England.  I am also happy to be a committee member of BCO East Anglia Chapter and a school governor at a local primary school.

Laura is an Architect with over 5 years’ experience who joined Owers Warwick Architects in March 2019. She studied at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a First-Class Honours, and qualified as an Architect at RIBA North in 2018.

Laura has experience working on commercial buildings, private and developer led residential design, and educational projects. She is a Young Ambassador for the Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry, a volunteer for Form the Future and a BCO NextGen member.

Arthur joined OW Architects in May 2021. He qualified as an Architect in 2019 and has six years of experience working in London. He graduated from the University of East London with a nomination for the RIBA President’s Bronze Medal. Through his Part II and Part III experience, Arthur built up the contractual and technical knowledge and skills needed to carry a diverse range of projects through their late stages, with an emphasis on leading design team coordination, and liaising with the contractor team.

Rachel joined OW Architects in August 2019, returning to Cambridge where she studied as an undergraduate. She graduated from Newcastle University with distinction in her part II studies and completed her RIBA Part III qualification at the University of Cambridge.

Rachel’s PART II thesis project explored alternative means of architectural representation, using physical model making and hand drawing to create installation pieces which aimed to challenge and highlight the societal dependence on social media images. Whilst at Newcastle she was also part of a live build with a team of MArch students designing and building a timber pavilion in a rural peatland location near Kielder water. Rachel has previously worked at a London based architecture practice, where she gained experience working on a variety of projects, ranging from small scale housing renovation to a larger commercial leisure complexes.

David joined OW Architects in November 2020. After completing his MArch at the University of West of England he relocated to Shoreditch, London. He gained a large amount of technical experience over 3 years at the practice, taking projects from stage 4 through to practical completion. David has experience working on commercial, healthcare and education projects, delivering a range of construction packages in coordination with the main consultants information.

Aimée relocated to Cambridge from London to join OW Architects in 2017. Prior to her move she was Practice Manager at London based architects and exhibition designers Nissen Richards Studio. .

Before becoming a Practice Manager, Aimée worked for London architecture, education and community engagement experts The Building Exploratory.

She has an MA in Arts Management and studied History of Art at the University of Nottingham. During her MA she developed an interest in audience development and learning outreach in the Arts.

Aimée works closely with the Directors and is responsible for the smooth running of our studio.

James joined OW Architects in spring 2023.

An architect with seven years experience post-part III, James has a drive for the technical development and delivery of projects and a strong understanding and experience in BIM.

Rory joined OW Architects in July 2020, after graduating from the University of Sheffield with Distinction in his master’s studies. He completed the Collaborative Practice course while working for 2 years at BDP in Birmingham, combining his academic studies with practice-based experience on a number of education and residential development projects. He used his studies to develop his interests in the future role of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the construction industry and understanding of how technology can improve productivity and sustainability.

Rory previously worked at AFL Architects in Manchester on several of Healthcare projects, and at Rodney Melville + Partners in Leamington Spa on the conservation of a series of listed churches and stately homes. He completed both his BA Architecture and his RIBA Part III at the University of Cambridge.

Having completed her Part 1 placement with us 2021/2022  Mia returned to OWA for Summer 2023 and continues to assist the team on occasion whilst she continues her part 2 studies in Sheffield.

Isaac joined OW Architects in August 2021 after completing his MArch at the University of Westminster. Isaac’s final project explored the traditional construction methods of thatching and bricklaying and combined the modern parametric design methods to design architecture which celebrates the craft history of Clerkenwell.

Isaac has a passion for crafts and making, which he has continually explored for many years with his father, a cabinet maker and joiner. Through this interest, he has gained extensive practical experience working on several bespoke timber frame projects often involving conservation and renovation work on oak framed barns. This covered a range of crafts and trades using both traditional and modern methods.

Ruby graduated in 2022 from The University of Sheffield after studying a dual degree in Architecture and Landscape. Before joining Owers Warwick, she gained a year’s experience working at a landscape architecture practice in Manchester where she worked on a variety of scales of landscape projects, ranging from a small-scale temporary workshop space to larger scale city centre schemes and public parks.

Additionally, she spent 6 months working as an architectural and horticultural assistant in Seville which enabled her to further appreciate the importance of contextual design. Her final year project at university focused on the design and part retrofit of a Street Art Gallery for the Kehlam Island region of Sheffield, focusing on reconnecting the site with the city centre and creating new opportunities for community space.

Charles joined OW Architects in August 2021 after relocating from Australia. Charles previously worked in Melbourne at Cox Architecture on a variety of project types that included residential, commercial, cultural, sports and infrastructure. Projects varied in scale and included the 6.5 million-pound conversion of the historic Nicholas Hall into a boutique commercial tenancy, the 18.0 million-pound refurbishment of 150 Lonsdale Street which included podium extension, lobby and communal occupant spaces and the approved 150.0 million pound 383 Latrobe Street comprising 44,000sqm of A-Grade office space over 33 levels and the Elizabeth Street North development consisting of 70,000sqm of biomedical, office and retail space.

Charles graduated from Monash University in 2016 with a Master of Architecture, he has bachelor degrees in Arts and Architecture and commenced an MST in Built History at the University of Cambridge in 2020.

Charles is passionate about adaptive reuse and the role of architects in the ensuring a more sustainable future.

Tim joined Owers Warwick in Spring 2022 and brings as wealth of architectural experience to the team.

Architecturally he is inspired by the patterns in natural structures and evolutionary nature of all living things. Tim believes the distinct spirit of a place and environmental stability are very important and people that will use a space should be involved in the process of the design themselves as much as possible.

Tim enjoys music and playing music with friends. He plays a number of musical instruments including the Northumbrian small pipes, he sings and runs a folk club at weekends.

Sam Harrison joined OW Architects as a bookkeeper and general administrator in 2008. She is responsible for our day-to-day financial administration.

Ross joined Owers Warwick Architects in March 2022. She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Alghero (Sardinia) and qualified as an Architect at Cambridge University in 2020.

Ross comes from a 5-year experience in the residential sector with private developers, housing associations and Local Authorities as clients. Her experience includes medium to large residential and extra care developments, and hotels in Cambridgeshire and Essex. 

Meli joined OW Architects in 2019 and is experienced in office security and people management. Her interests outside of the office include a passion for food and sleep.