Practice & People

We positively enjoy the team nature of our practice. The scale of our studio allows us to bring energy and enthusiasm, personal commitment and a lightness of touch to each project, with both directors remaining closely involved with all projects, and regular studio-wide discussions informing progress.

In addition to our responsibility to the clients and the eventual users of the spaces we design, we take seriously our responsibility to run a practice in which all of us can thrive, continue to learn and enjoy a supportive and creative environment. We are equal opportunity employers and have been able to accommodate flexible working patterns.

Sustainability and resilience are of paramount importance to how we run the practice, informing the kind of work we do and how projects are developed and delivered. Excellent communication is a priority for us, both within the studio and between ourselves, clients and collaborators.

 

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Elizabeth Adams Director

Liz initially graduated from the Architectural Association in 1990, working for several London practices, before setting up in practice with Graeme Sutherland. Adams and Sutherland were formally established in 2001.

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Graeme Sutherland Director

Graeme graduated from the Mackintosh School in Glasgow in 1990, followed by a period of working for Anthony Richardson & Partners in London and Crallan & Winstanley in Galloway, principally on housing and community projects, before establishing Adams & Sutherland.

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Sarah Shaw Director

Sarah Shaw was made Adams & Sutherland Director in 2022 following her 8-year role as Associate. She joined the studio in 2010 and has been integral to the leadership team behind some of the Practice’s most high-profile projects.

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Alfred Asare Finance Manager

Alfred is an experienced operations specialist with several years of experience managing small to medium-sized businesses. He leads the finance and practice management of the team here at Adams & Sutherland, including HR, IT, and new business.He has a proven track record of successfully implementing new systems and strategies to increase team productivity and efficiency, resulting in business growth. Outside of Architecture, Alfred is a philanthropist and acts as the Director of a non-governmental organisation. He is on a mission to provide access to safe drinking water for as many deprived rural communities in Ghana.

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Clara García González Senior Architect

Clara joined Adams & Sutherland in Autumn 2021, she has been involved in large public realm schemes and community and education projects. She worked for several years in the education sector with Curl la Tourelle Head Architecture as an Associate. She is interested in projects with a high impact on social value, infrastructure and urban design, an area that she pursued during her studies and early professional years while working in Madrid and Mexico City. Clara enjoys learning about the cities where she has lived and worked, sometimes while reading and cooking, and most of the time exploring them on foot.

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Tunde Oyebode Architect

Tunde joined Adams & Sutherland in September 2019 as a Part II Architectural Assistant, after completing his master’s degree in architecture at London Metropolitan University. His thesis project employed ethnographic study and community engagement in designing inclusive infrastructure in east London. At Adams & Sutherland, Tunde is committed to delivering projects with high social and aesthetic value, which respond intelligently to existing physical, economic, and environmental contexts. Outside of Architecture, Tunde is an avid reader and explores human relationships and society in his creative fiction and essay writing.

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Lucia Mugena Architectural Assistant

Lucia is a Part 1 Architectural Assistant who joined Adams & Sutherland in July 2021 after graduating from London Metropolitan University with a bachelor’s degree in Architecture. She has supported several projects across various design stages. Delivering everything from visualisations to detailed drawing packages for tender. She has a passion for creating well-informed and socially responsive spaces which she implemented during her undergraduate studies. During her time at London Metropolitan, she gained interest in the public realm and urban design by improving relations between existing buildings and the street user.

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Marie-Helene Rynwalt Architectural Assistant

Marie-Helene joined Adams and Sutherland in 2022 and has since been assisting on public realm projects in east and north London. She completed her part 1 at Central Saint Martins in 2021. Her graduate thesis applied the psychoanalytic pleasure and reality principles to understand the impact of an estate re-development on Caledonian Road. Since graduating, she has been studying psychoanalysis and worked at a school in north London assisting children with extra needs. Marie-Helene grew up in Shanghai, The Hague and Gent where she picked up multiple languages preluding her interest in geographical/ cultural thought patterns and the influence this has on both our built environment and our psyche. Since summer 2022, she spends her lunch breaks savouring parliament hill lido.

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