JTP’s Anna Howell chosen for RIBAJ’s Rising Stars

Published on 26 October 2017

We are really pleased that Anna Howell, a Senior Urban Designer at JTP, has been selected to join RIBA Journal’s elite cohort of Rising Stars 2017.

The judges were impressed both by Anna Howell’s achievements at JTP while studying, and the faith the practice is putting in her by allowing her to open a Bath studio within a year of completing her part 2 in January. ‘To let someone set up a Bath office is impressive, you are underwriting it,’ says John Nordon.

On joining the practice as a part 1 Anna discovered her interest in designing at an urban scale. She took a masters in urban design while working in London at JTP part-time on a study of urban densities which has continued to inform the practice. She then studied for her part 2 as an office-based exam at Oxford Brookes, winning student prizes on both courses. The judges considered this quite an achievement given the move from the practical matters of office and projects to a wider creative space and back again.

Anna’s main project is Southall Waterside, a new neighbourhood of 3,750 homes in west London. She has taken it from due diligence and consultation to on-site co-ordination, while maintaining a strong relationship with the client.

The RIBA reports that “It may be these traits that have allowed Anna to drive important elements of change in the practice. Five years ago she helped put JTP at the forefront of BIM-enabled masterplanning with her project at Southall, which was the practice’s first use of BIM at an urban scale. The methodology developed for this continues to be used in the practice and gives clients chances to test and measure viability, composition and design options.

JTP Managing Partner, Marcus Adams, has high praise for Anna:

“

Anna is a rare and exceptional talent. An architect and urbanist, she is confident across a range of scales, contexts and environments. Cool under pressure, she combines client confidence with creativity. Anna is hardworking, determined and driven, yet understated and respectful in her demeanour.

Marcus Adams, JTP Managing Partner

With an increasing number of masterplans requiring design codes coming into the office, Anna was at the forefront of developing a system to ensure a balance between coherence and flexibility for areas that would inevitably be handed over to housebuilders. Through workshops and using her project as a pattern, this has become the basis of a new way of working for the practice.

The Rising Stars judges included Mary Duggan of Mary Duggan Architects, John Nordon of Pegasus Life, David Miller of David Miller Architects, environmental engineer Mark Skelly of Skelly and Couch and Eleanor Young of the RIBA Journal.

View Anna’s full profile on the RIBA Journal website here.

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