Anthony is the Hotel sector lead for ArchTam’s Buildings + Places business in Europe. Based in the South East of the UK, he has a background in mechanical, electrical and public health (MEP) engineering. He has delivered complex hospitality projects, combining technical expertise with a strong focus on client vision, commercial strategy and the delivery of high-quality, efficient buildings.

Tell us about what inspired you to join the industry.

I initially began my career working for an MEP contractor before moving into engineering consultancy. That practical foundation has shaped how I approach design to this day. Understanding how systems are installed and commissioned in the real world has been a huge asset — especially on complex heritage buildings, where coordination is critical, and space is at a premium.

What really drew me in, and continues to drive me, is the collaborative nature of this industry. No successful projects happen in isolation — it takes designers, contractors, and clients all working together with a shared vision. I’ve always enjoyed being part of that team effort.

What is your favorite ArchTam project that you’ve worked on and why?

This has to be Raffles London at The OWO — a landmark transformation of the Old War Office in Whitehall into a luxury hotel and residences. The heritage, complexity, and ambition behind the project made it truly special.

The building’s historic status presented a number of technical challenges, particularly around spatial coordination, sustainability and the need to completely conceal services while delivering modern luxury standards. We embraced early-stage 3D design to resolve these constraints, using the latest digital tools at ArchTam’s disposal to accurately and quickly co-ordinate our services working closely with the design team to ensure nothing compromised the integrity or aesthetics of the building.

What really made the project stand out was how we delivered it — as One ArchTam. We brought together a global team working across time zones, with specialists from the UK and India all having a key input into the delivery of the project from completion to handover.

The finished result speaks for itself. It’s a once-in-a-generation project that sets a new benchmark for heritage-led luxury and I’m incredibly proud that ArchTam played such a pivotal role in making it a reality.

Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community.

On one of my first projects at ArchTam, I worked on a small but meaningful project — a primary school near an airport that had no openable windows due to noise constraints. The challenge was to design a ventilation system that would keep classrooms comfortable, healthy and well-ventilated despite being in a sealed environment and right under the flight path.

We developed a low-energy mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, ensuring excellent air quality and thermal comfort without any reliance on natural ventilation. For the school, it meant pupils could concentrate and learn in a calm, well-ventilated environment all year round — without the roar of aircraft interrupting lessons!

This system had a real, tangible impact on the children, teachers and local community at that school. Projects like that remind you why what we do matters and is impactful.

Share a piece of career advice.

Build your mindset around client needs. When engaging with them, start by listening. Understand what they’re trying to achieve. The best outcomes are achieved when we align our expertise with their goals and focus on how we can support them — not just deliver a scope but add real value.

That mindset also applies within our teams. Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask “why?”— why are we doing it this way, why not try something better, why does this matter to the end user? Stay curious, stay engaged and keep learning from the people around you.

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As a multi-disciplinary firm, collaboration between different sectors is fundamental to who we are, but also is instrumental in helping us achieve our goals and provide top-tier client service. In the UK and Ireland, ArchTam has adopted the ISO 44001 certification standard and the behaviours described within, as a baseline for all our projects.  This includes collaboration between our internal teams as well as external clients and consultants.

The standard requires organisations to consider all aspects of a potential business relationship, including strengths and weaknesses, the type of support they need to achieve their goals, the levels of risk that each party is willing to take, and the potential consequences of something going wrong. The standard also demands that a plan is put in place to manage each of these elements at the beginning of the relationship, so in the event of one of the aforementioned scenarios occur, there is an agreed process to follow. This improves the level of trust among partners and ensures that the necessary steps are taken to safeguard and improve business relationships.

In 2018, we were asked to help Scottish Water in their quest to become the first water utility in the UK to achieve ISO 44001 certification. We created a relationship management plan and exit strategy which would form the basis of collaboration discussions with partners. First, we assessed Scottish Water’s existing internal procedural documents, including those specific to Alliance Management. These were mapped to the requirements of the standard to demonstrate best practice and that the appropriate considerations were in place. By doing so, we avoided the need to create a suite of new documents and procedures specifically for the certification process, ensuring already embedded processes and best practice were maximised, which also led to significant time and cost savings. The certification was confirmed at the start of 2019 and Scottish Water became the first water utility in the UK to achieve the ISO 44001 certification.

Building upon this success, we continued working with Scottish Water to strengthen their use of ISO 44001 by supporting the certification of its alliance partner Caledonia Water Alliance (CWA), an unincorporated joint venture (JV) between Morrison Utility Services and ArchTam.  The partnership has worked with Scottish Water since 2015, delivering the six year, SR15 Water Infrastructure programme across the whole of Scotland, supporting Scottish Water’s future quality and standards capital investment programme.  The strong partnership was created by a core team from both companies that worked together to create a single entity that could demonstrate not only the values of each parent company but also a unified and coordinated approach to delivering the programme of works.

Operating from a central office north of Glasgow, the JV is working with Scottish Water and its supply chain and stakeholders to deliver optimum project efficiency to maximise cost benefit, while minimising disruption to customers. Throughout the first five years of the programme, CWA has delivered approximately £340 million worth of projects ranging from £50 thousand to £75 million in individual value. Throughout this period, CWA has provided tangible benefits to the client and its customers, which led to the partnership being awarded the SR21 contract for delivery of both the Clean- and Wastewater Infrastructure programme for 2021-2027. CWA’s success has been widely recognised and the project was shortlisted for a Water and Wastewater Treatment (WWT) Water Industry Award 2020 in the Alliancing and Partnership Initiative of the Year category.

Our work with Scottish Water, and as part of CWA, clearly evidences the benefits of driving ISO 44001 through companies and wider supply chains. Enhanced collaboration, which is at the core of our business, is essential to build the trust necessary to create lasting professional relationships. The ability to work together seamlessly and to develop sustainable and trusted relationships is integral to delivering on our core values, and allows us to drive technical, commercial and process innovation to integrate better with those we work alongside.

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Taking its inspiration from the dramatic natural setting, the energy and ambitions of Rio, ArchTam’s winning masterplan and venue designs for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are now complete.

This prestigious project is focused on approximately 120 hectares of land in the district of Barra da Tijuca, southwest of Rio de Janeiro. ArchTam won an international competition to design the Games masterplan, which included three stages: Games, transition and legacy.

During the Games, the Olympic Park is designed to prioritise the safety and free movement of more than 150,000 spectators expected on peak days. At the conclusion of the Games, the focus will switch to the transformation of the site into lush, green parkland, with ArchTam’s landscape design strategy transforming large spectator areas into a new linear park for the community. The overriding goal is to deliver sustainable Games in the very broadest sense, so the host city derives ongoing economic, social and environmental benefits.

This exposure was taken at 1/100th of a second at f 4.0 at ISO 2000 on a Canon 1Dx mk II camera with 24-70mm lens using a stabilizer from a helicopter.

Photo © Robb Williamson / ArchTam

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ArchTam was brought on board to survey the condition of the battleship, provide preliminary design concepts for a dry berth, and conduct the studies necessary to comply with federal environmental and historic preservation regulations.

This exposure was taken at 1/8th of a second, at f 5.6 at ISO 800 on a Canon 1Dx camera with 17mm tilt-shift lens on a tripod.

Photo © Robb Williamson / ArchTam

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