Our people

Emma's experience spans social housing, commercial and retail projects. Her passion is designing residential projects that seek to unify built form with landscape environments. Emma has over 10 years of experience and before establishing Open Design Studio, she worked in London for two award-winning practices, Barr Gazettas and Holland Harvey. Emma believes passionately in architecture and design that improves the well-being of people’s lives. Whether this is public buildings that people enjoy, the commercial buildings that people work in or the homes that people live in.

James has worked in professional practice for a combined period of over 12 years with experience that spans major regenerative urban design, large-scale and high-end bespoke residential architecture and interior architecture and design. He has worked with a number of award winning practices in the north west of England and London, including Studio Three Architects, Paul Archer Design, Henley Halebrown and shedkm. He takes pride in a consistently high quality approach to project output and creating an enjoyable process of high quality design in our studio and alongside clients and wider project stakeholders. James has a passion for engaging and encouraging others to take more from architecture and design, along with the places, spaces and buildings that they visit and use and has promoted and presented at a number of industry exhibitions and seminars. Most recently he has been a guest speaker on the Interior Architecture and Design professional practice lecture series.

Before joining Open Design Studio, Susie’s career spanned design, marketing, and business development, always rooted in creative environments.

Over the past five years, she has worked more specifically with construction and architecture professionals, blending her strategic skills with a love for design.

Her journey began in TV production and advertising, followed by client facing roles in creative agencies in London and Brighton, and eventually led to marketing and business development consulting, where she enjoyed helping shape small businesses elevate their brands. Alongside this, Susie took on a self-build project, sparking a deeper interest and understanding in architecture and interiors, ultimately leading her to join Open Design Studio.

Before moving to Open Design Studio Faye gained over 10 years experience working in London for a number of award-winning architecture and interior design practices. During that time her work included a variety of luxury retail, commercial and hospitality projects, as well as high-profile residential refurbishments. Faye has a deep passion for interior architecture and design. She is a strong believer in providing a holistic approach to interior design, often applying her interest in fashion and furniture design to her projects. She believes that successful design should respond and be tailored to the specific needs of the client and context, making all projects unique and special for the end user.

Francesca is an Associate with over 15 years experience. Before joining Open Design Studio she worked in London for Henley Halebrown where she worked on a range of healthcare, student housing and commercial use schemes including award-winning schemes Akerman Road Healthcare Centre, Chadwick Hall Student Houses and The Lazlo office refurbishment. The most recent scheme Francesca completed whilst at HHbr was an intricate refurbishment and extension project of Victorian warehouses to provide 2500sqm commercial office space for The Benyon Estate within the De Beauvoir Conservation Area in the London Borough of Hackney. Her experience includes a rich seam of civic and social design with clients such as the NHS, universities, charitable organisations as well as both private and commercial developers and individuals with whom she has taken complex schemes from concept design through planning and technical stages to completion on site. Her considered and research-led approach to design underpins her work on sensitive planning applications and work with listed buildings on sites in both urban and rural locations including Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Josh has lived in the UK for the last 9 years. Since making the move he has worked for several award-winning architecture practices in London with his time being split between high-end residential projects and delivery of retail and hospitality projects.Josh has led teams to deliver one-off private homes, multi-home developments and private members clubs, as well as working with exacting commercial clients such as Selfridges, Heathrow, and Kings Cross St Pancras. This broad range of experience has given him an understanding and interest in all parts of a project, from initial conception, through to architectural detailing, and final interior resolution.As a designer his focus stems from an interest in narrative, history, and the pragmatics of everyday life. This view is coupled with a personal passion for sustainability, material selection, and technical detailing.

Philippe is a South African registered Architect, living and practicing in the UK since 2021. His career has been focussed on his passion: delivering upmarket, bespoke, residential architectural projects across a wide range of localities, from as far afield as South America to Eastern Europe. Residentially, he has experience in multiple typologies, from palatial villas, to multi-residential developments and one off boutique renovations/conversions. Commercially, he has led teams on retail, hospitality and light industrial schemes, some of which have won awards internationally. Locally in West Sussex, he has gained detailed experience working in the area and holds an in-depth knowledge of the local context. Philippe is a firm believer in a holistic design approach that provides a quality end-user experience where architecture, interiors and landscape link with one another seamlessly to create a unique lifestyle tailored to a family’s specific needs.

Liberty is a Part 1 graduate in Interior Architecture and Design. She has a love of art and crafts and has a passion for sustainability in design, inspired by her enjoyment of coastal life in West Sussex. As a designer she seeks to encourage others to create a positive dialogue about sustainable living. Her early experience in design spans soft furnishings and exhibition design and since joining Open Design Studio she has worked across a number of private residential projects producing design work to support our concept design and detailed planning work.

Rupert is a Part 1 Architecture graduate. His background in sculpture and his love of adventure fuel a hands on and creative approach to design.

Prior to joining Open Design Studio, his studies and work explored the relationship between form, light and scale to design emotive and evocative spaces, which led to a firm belief that good design can have a profound effect on the way we live and experience the world around us.

During his time at Open Design Studio he has been involved in a diverse range of projects, from graphic design and public exhibitions to landscape design, private residential projects and multi-residential developments.

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Polly is currently studying her Part 1 in Architecture at the University of Bath and completing her placement with Open Design Studio. She has a passion for tectonics, model making and how people experience spaces.

She organically arrived at architecture due to her artistic and mathematical background and thinks sustainable strategies alongside human centric approaches should be the focus of architectural projects. She is eager to learn from experienced professionals at Open Design Studio and excited to be applying her skills and knowledge to real-world projects.

Max is a Part 1 graduate in Architecture. He has a passion for integrating traditional craftsmanship with novel technologies, such as 3D printing and CNC technology, this passion stems from a background in product design, furniture making and blacksmithing.

Since joining Open Design Studio he has worked across a number of private residential projects producing 3D digital concept models, elevation renderings and hand sketches to support our concept design and planning work.

Max is currently travelling the world and is continuing to further his experience and knowledge of the built environment working in construction in Australia.

Zoe’s personable nature and inquisitive mindset ensures no detail goes unnoticed,  managing the day to day accounts whilst supporting the strategic growth of our multifaceted practice.

We’re keen to hear from creative and ambitious individuals with strong design skills, who are inquisitive, engaging, energetic and meticulous in their approach.

To submit your application, including cover letter, CV and short portfolio showing samples of your work, please email to:

emmaandjames@open-designstudio.co.uk

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