DMA

David’s expertise is in the design and delivery of complex buildings based on his experience in the offices of Norman Foster in the 1980s, Santiago Calatrava in the early nineties, and then at Future Systems, where he was responsible for the Stirling Prize-winning Media Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground. After setting up the practice in 2000, David acted as a consultant to Ushida Findlay, helping them to realise their concepts through three dimensional problem solving. This specialist knowledge evolved into a belief that combining technology with process-driven design and construction brings creative opportunities and delivers progressive architecture. This approach continues to drive DMA today.

Before joining DMA in 2006, Fiona spent twenty years as a buyer and director in the global textile industry. She now applies her business skills to develop the practice with a focus on responsible business growth. She participates in a variety of organisations to support the communities where we work and to create new opportunities for DMA and the team to contribute and grow. She sits on the boards of Westminster Business Council, Heart of the City, The Fitzrovia Partnership (Business Improvement District) and the Fitzrovia Community Centre. She is a founding member of MIPIM/Leeds Ladies, a network of women in property and construction.

Das joined DMA in 2007 and is based in our Liverpool studio, from where he is responsible for quality, compliance and risk management across all our projects. This includes acting as the Principal Designer under the Building Safety Act and CDM Regulations. Within projects, his emphasis is on the development and use of innovative digital techniques, combined with new construction technologies including MMC, to solve problems and achieve certainty of outcomes. Das helped to establish the cross-industry BIM4Housing community, where he heads the Design Group, and he regularly talks at industry events to share knowledge and encourage best practice.

Anna joined DMA in 2009 and heads our Liverpool office. She has extensive experience across the practice’s key sectors with particular expertise in life science, education and health. She is expert in working with multiple stakeholder groups and developing strong, collaborative relationships to draw out their expertise and achieve consensus. These skills are key to her work with Claire House Children’s Hospice in Liverpool, designing specialist life science facilities and in her role as a lead Technical Advisor on the DfE’s schools programmes. Anna is also an ambassador for PLACED, working with communities across the North West to make better places and mentoring young people.

Rachel’s experience includes residential projects, workplaces, high end retail and exhibition design, and her relationship with DMA dates back to the nineties when she and David Miller worked together at Future Systems. She has led on numerous projects for high profile clients such as Condé Nast International, Marni and the Ashmolean Museum and is used to working through all stages of a project as well as designing and prototyping bespoke furniture and fittings. Rachel splits her time between practice and academia and currently teaches architectural history and theory at the Bartlett, UCL as well as being a visiting design critic at the University of Liverpool.

Katie joined DMA in 2013 and is accomplished in leading projects from inception to completion across the practice’s key sectors. Her collaborative and flexible approach allows her to build strong working relationships and to quickly understand clients’ needs and priorities. This is important in her role as a lead Technical Advisor on the DfE’s programmes, where she works with many different types of schools. Her approach and breadth of experience allow Katie to easily adapt to work with new clients like Barnet Homes and to lead new sectors, which most recently include healthcare.

Since joining DMA in 2014, Andrew has led technically complex projects across the practice’s key sectors. Drawing on his experience in project delivery and specialised expertise in digital design, he leads our R&D team to drive innovation and research within the practice. Together, they advance technology-led design solutions, developing techniques to streamline project delivery, enhance coordination and achieve environmental targets. With his background in sustainability from the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales (CAT), he embeds our environmental commitments across all aspects of our work. A regular speaker at digital design conferences, Andrew brings forward-thinking insights to DMA’s projects.

Tom joined DMA in 2014 and is expert in taking complex, large scale projects from inception to completion across a range of sectors including life science, housing, commercial and mixed-use. His thoughtful approach and design flair enable him to develop creative solutions together with our clients, multiple stakeholders and design team partners to achieve the best outcomes. Tom is currently leading on a number of new-build life science schemes, providing flexible laboratory and manufacturing space within a newly emerging innovation district in King’s Cross.

Samantha joined the practice in 2014 and has led a range of projects across sectors and work stages, including retail, healthcare and housing with the award-winning Parsons North development. Her technical knowledge from multiple built projects and her interests in sustainability and conservation make Samantha perfectly placed to lead our retrofit and decarbonisation projects. These include working with Westminster City Council’s retrofit taskforce to upgrade and reduce the energy requirements for their existing housing stock, much of which is Grade II listed, as well as looking into renewable sources of energy for district heat and power networks. See Samantha talking about Parsons North housing for Westminster City Council here.

Since joining DMA in 2018 through the apprenticeship route, Jessica has developed the role far beyond the original remit of helping to manage the practice, especially around responsible business activities. Passionate about environmental issues, she is working towards her MSc in Sustainability and Behaviour Change. Supported by the knowledge from her studies and completion of the UN Global Compact Climate Ambition Accelerator, Jessica is working towards completing our GHG inventories and setting to develop science-based targets aligned with 1.5°C. Jessica also helps to achieve quality across all aspects of the practice, from marketing and social media to the on-going wellbeing and development of our team.

Sundas joined DMA in 2019, since when she has continued to develop her expertise in housing and regeneration. She played a key role in the development of three highly constrained infill sites to create new homes for Westminster City Council, including the delivery of their award-winning and technically complex Cosway Street scheme. More recently she has applied her knowledge of building to develop new life science facilities in King’s Cross. Alongside this, she takes an active role in mentoring and other social value initiatives for young people and was at the forefront of designing our Virtual Design Academy, an online work experience platform for aspiring future architects.
See Sundas talking about Cosway Street here.

Ana joined our Liverpool team in 2019 and is experienced in life science, education and housing-led urban regeneration schemes. Her excellent design and communication skills have allowed her to take a lead role on two new purpose-built laboratory buildings as well as acting as Project Architect for the Liverpool children’s hospice, Claire House. Ana is a long-standing ambassador for PLACED, supporting this social enterprise that works with local people of all ages and backgrounds, engaging them in planning and design through community consultation and education across the North West. She was also a key part of the team setting up our Virtual Design Academy, our online work experience platform for young people.

Reihaneh joined DMA in 2020, and is experienced across multiple sectors, including housing, life science, workspace, and education, where she has a particular focus. She works from feasibility through to completion and was involved with the award-winning Crosfields School and, more recently, a SEND school in Wales and an academy in West London. Her practical experience of building and developing Stage 4 information feeds back into her feasibility work, leading to carefully considered design solutions from the earliest stages. She is a skilled communicator and was instrumental in setting up the Virtual Design Academy as well as regularly mentoring our work experience students.

Jenna joined the team in 2021 and is experienced across the practice’s key sectors and throughout all the different work stages. She has particular experience in working on life science projects and understands the complex requirements of technical buildings. Most recently, she has been part of the team working as Technical Advisors on education projects at all stages, drawing on her excellent organisational and communication skills alongside her solid experience of taking buildings through to completion, to inform feasibility options for various new schools.

Li is an experienced architect having worked across a broad range of projects at all stages. Since 2015, he has used his detailed technical knowledge to bring value to the design process through specification writing, firstly as part of AECOM’s Specification Consulting team where he supported DMA, before joining the practice in 2021. As well as managing all our specifications, he also works closely with our R&D team to bring innovation to the way that we work. This includes leading trials on the new NBS Chorus BIM specification tools and embedding carbon data into specifications to help decision making and reporting.

Ania joined DMA in 2022 and is an experienced architect across all project stages and across sectors including residential, education, workplace and life science. She brings a wealth of practical experience together with her excellent technical and communication skills to every project. Most recently, she has been focussed particularly on life science projects and has played a key part in developing the second of DMA’s new-build laboratories from the early stages all the way through to construction.

Miranda has a background in Interior Architecture including a Masters at the Architectural Association and experience working on multiple workspace design fit-out projects across the UK. Since joining DMA in 2022, as well as developing interior designs on a range of education and healthcare projects, Miranda has been a key part of the team preparing the planning application and technical information for a major new-build life science building in King’s Cross. This includes laboratory and office space as well as the shared amenity spaces, where she has led on the interior design aspects to create an environment that promotes wellbeing.

Holy joined the team in January 2023, having previously taken part in DMA’s Virtual Design Academy work experience programme (VDA) whilst studying for her Part 1 at the University of Westminster. Holy is an excellent communicator, in design drawing, modelling and in person. At DMA, Holy has worked across multiple projects, including developing information for planning for a major new life science building in King’s Cross, through to access and maintenance strategies for a primary school and detailed design for new housing in Barnet. Holy is also a key part of the team that supports and mentors VDA students.

Having joined DMA in 2023, Nargis supports the team across a broad range of aspects from finance to HR as well as keeping our Best Practice Management System and certifications up to date and helping with our work experience programme. She brings her excellent administrative and communication skills to the role and is highly experienced in employment and skills provision as well as Information Technology. Since 2021, she has also acted as a Westbourne Community and Maternity Champion in collaboration with Westminster City Council, promoting local services and engaging in activities that make a difference to people’s health and well-being in the local community.