People

In the three parts of architectural education, Toby gained a 2:1 and two distinctions, winning the Haydn Smith award for best submission in the Advanced Diploma of Professional Practice and the Peter Tyson prize for best use of materials in design. In practice, he became a valued and committed member of Union North for over 7 years. Toby worked as Project Architect on a series of highly successful projects; including the RIBA award winning 3 Towers in Manchester and LAS small project award winning Liverpool Biennial Offices. He has considerable experience of all RIBA workstages and has designed and delivered numerous projects on time and on budget.

Toby views good communication as essential in creating a serene and successful working environment, from inception to completion on jobs of all sizes. He adopts a multi disciplinary approach to design, and considers surfaces and materials carefully to create distinctive spaces. By treating the landscape, form, façade and décor as a whole, the buildings he has designed are carefully considered and well detailed. He occasionally teaches or lectures alongside his AE commitments at University of Liverpool, LJMU and Salford University.

Andy studied at Liverpool John Moores University, gaining a 2:1 and a commendation in design. He successfully passed his Advanced Diploma in Professional Practice and has over ten years of job-running experience. He was employed by Union North as a project architect for more than 4 years, completing a series of large-scale projects including Saxton, a £32m apartment scheme commissioned by Urban Splash. He has also gained experience at John McAslan + Partners and Falconer Chester Hall Architects, working on a series of large commercial and cultural schemes.

Alongside Andy’s considerable commercial and technical experience, he has an interest in history, historical architecture and monument. Avoiding the predictable modernist solution, he favours texture, mass, narrative and sustainability. He regards effective communication as essential to successfully coordinating jobs of all size. He has maintained links with Liverpool John Moores University and returns regularly to critique students’ work.

Qualified in 2007, Luke worked as a senior architect for Austin-Smith:Lord for over 7 years. He then moved to Aecom, ultimately becoming regional director for architecture in the north of England. He has gained a wealth of experience across almost all sectors of the architectural profession. His in-depth involvement in the feasibility, design and management of commercial, healthcare, cultural and industrial projects gives him a unique ability to apply skills from different building types to an individual scheme.

Reinterpretation and conservation of existing buildings with a mixture of new and old is where his real passion lies. His comprehensive understanding of conservation techniques and processes has been formed through considerable analysis and implementation of English Heritage and ICOMOS guidelines on schemes such as St George’s Quarter and Qasr Al Hosn in Abu Dhabi. Luke compiled the Conservation and Management Plan for the high-profile cultural project in Abu Dhabi and is in the process of applying for RIBA Conservation Officer Status.

Luke is a very competent designer, design tutor at Liverpool University and project architect. He has worked for a series of large and small clients and consultants in Britain, Europe and the Middle East, including General Electric and Rolls Royce. He is able to understand the different processes, uses and client requirements for all building types and successfully convert these factors into efficient and effective architectural solutions that add value and quality.

Anna is a fully qualified architect. She graduated from the Barcelona School of Architecture with a distinction. A year of her study was spent on Erasmus exchange in Warsaw.

Anna previously worked at Vigum Project SL in Barcelona and Atelier Kratky in Prague, gaining experience on a variety of projects at different work stages. Her work is not confined to architecture as she enjoys working on interiors and graphics.

At Architectural Emporium, Anna has further developed her passion for delivering contextual, sensitive, functional and honest architecture; geared towards the needs of society. Anna joined in October 2015 and quickly became a key member of our team.

Alongside her strong design skills used at concept and technical stages she leads on office training and building information modelling.

Sammy started her part-1 assistant role in Summer 2022, after achieving a first-class architecture degree at the University of Liverpool. During the final year of her degree, she engaged with public consultation, and held a presentation on a potential revival of Huyton high-street. Sammy was also awarded with the Emma Holt travel scholarship for her work on that project.

She has been with us since 2022 and has developed her skillset contributing successfully to a large number of jobs in the office at most work stages. Sammy is assisting in leading our migration to Building Information Modelling.

In her downtime Sammy enjoys problem solving, especially through board games and puzzle games. Sammy is hoping to break into the field of humanitarian architecture, with the goal of volunteering around the world to create affordable sustainable housing.

Xorlanyo joined Architectural Emporium in September 2022 after achieving a Distinction in his Master’s in Architecture from Liverpool John Moore’s University. He previously worked at the Lincolnshire-based practice Bowen Architects where he developed his skills as a young practitioner. Architecturally, he enjoys developing community driven playful architecture and has a keen interest in adapting existing buildings with a carbon conscious emphasis.

Since joining the practice, Xorlanyo has worked on numerous projects at all RIBA work stages, gaining invaluable experience allowing him to pass his Advanced Diploma in Professional Practice.

Outside of the office, Xorlanyo enjoys playing and watching football, long distance running, travelling through Europe, Africa and the Americas, experiencing new cultures through cooking and eating food from around the world.

Joe joined the AE team in summer 2023 following completion of his Masters of Architecture at University of Liverpool. Previously he worked at ShedKM for two years with a focus on residential schemes.

During Masters he worked on projects with a focus on refurbishment, inclusivity and community centred architecture. In 4th year Joe’s projects were located in Budapest, where he was later invited to present his findings at the Moholy Nagy University. While his 5th year thesis sought to expand on his earlier art institution research with a specialist view to create a new arts based Quadriennale in Rome for underrepresented nations. As a team he was invited to present his Thesis to the British School at Rome.

Joe has worked on a number of key jobs and he also runs AE’s social media presence. Outside of work, Joe enjoys playing football and watching Everton. He has an interst in history, travel and culture.

Jay studied in Birmingham City University for his Part I and then University of Liverpool for Part II. He worked in Stockholm for 4 years on a mix of residential and ofice projects.

He moved back to the UK and worked at Levitt Bernstein, working on a Ashely road Depot, which is a 275 unit residential scheme and Elizabeth college school on the Island of Guernsey.

At Architectural Emporium Jay has embraced working on smaller scale schemes but in a greater level of detail. In his spare time he enjoys building things for his domestic renovation project, putting things learnt in work into practice.

Sian studied at University of Liverpool with transfers to Dessau, Bauhaus Building and Research Projects and Suzhou. Her dissertation focused on the ongoing development and intangible history/assigned memory associated within the city of Liverpool.

She spent her year out in New Zealand working on a mix of beach houses, libraries, Kindergartens and cultural centres. Her part two was spent at Sheppard Robson in Manchester working on large scale schemes such as University buildings, residential schemes, historic building adaptation and masterplans. Sian then moved back to Liverpool to work at Harrison Stringfellow, where she worked on small scale residential and community projects. Prior to working at Architectural Emporium she worked at ADP for three years on community and arts schemes, commercial and Higher Education schemes. She was tasked with driving sustainability, engagement and developed toolkits for assessing projects.

Sian has maintained links with Universities, tutoring at Manchester School of Architecture and University of Liverpool. In her spare time she loves to dance.

Andy is an experienced architect working as a consultant for Architectural Emporium. He has extensive experience of delivering large-scale residential and smaller scale arts projects. His experience is inavaluable within the office as he primarily works on the Wythenshawe Cultural Hub, which is an arts centre comprising a theatre, studios and co-work space.

Andy is a good friend of the Directors, having studied with Luke and Toby at University of Liverpool. He has set up his own practice, Aitken Studio Ltd, but previously worked at DK Architects, OMI, Union North and John McAslan and Partners.