One of the north east’s longest established architectural practices has announced a senior appointment with the arrival of a new director.
Howarth Litchfield, the award-winning practice responsible for projects such as the recently completed conversion of Newcastle University’s Boiler House and the National Centre for Healthcare Photonics – the latest new building to grace Durham’s rapidly expanding NETPark- has appointed Keith Handy as director.
Keith has joined fellow Howarth Litchfield directors Jonathan Yates, Neil Turner, Elisa Berry and David Pickersgill.
Since qualifying in 2000, Keith, has carved out his career working across the residential, education and extra care sectors for market leaders in their fields and to that end, brings a breadth of experience that not only complements Howarth Litchfield’s well-established team, but adds a further dimension to it.
This further dimension stems from Keith’s knowledge and experience of both off-site manufacturing and modern methods of construction and the benefits they bring to projects from both the design and delivery aspects as well as the full lifecycle of buildings.
Speaking about joining such a well-regarded team of design professionals, Keith said:
“Not only here in the region, but other parts of the UK, Howarth Litchfield has an excellent reputation for designing imaginative buildings and interiors. With many awards to its credit, the practice has developed a wide portfolio that spans leisure, education, be-spoke residential and student accommodation as well as commercial buildings. To have the opportunity to join the team and make a positive contribution to the practice’s growth and ongoing success was one not to be missed.”
With bases in Durham and London, Howarth Litchfield’s multi-disciplined team has an established reputation for its wide range of building design expertise and, according to managing director, Jonathan Yates, there are number of key elements to consider when looking to appoint at such a senior level. He said:
“In order to create great buildings, it’s not just about technical capability, it’s also about creativity and personality to ensure that you give the client the best design possible to suit their needs and budgets. Keith’s experience as both designer and project lead mirrors the talent of our existing team and for that reason, I am confident that he will fit in seamlessly and support our future growth.”
As one of the largest architectural and interior design practices in the region, Howarth Litchfield has fully embraced the adoption of BIM (Building Information Modelling) and Revit across all its work and is one of only a few to have achieved BIM.