Catherine Burd
DipArch RIBA ARB SCA

Founding director Catherine has over 25 years’ experience of working at all RIBA stages on award-winning residential, masterplanning, education, community and arts projects, with values ranging from 200K to £20million  She retains day-to-day involvement with the design and delivery of all projects in the practice.

An experienced critic, communicator and educator Catherine is highly regarded for her work in Design Review, where she advises on policy and design of major projects at strategic planning stage. She is chair of both the City of Westminster’s and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s Design Review Panels, a member of Oxford and LLDC (Olympic Legacy) Quality Review panels, and until 2023 was influential, inaugural chair of London Borough of Camden’s independent DRP.

In practice, Catherine has in-depth experience of delivering new build housing and cultural projects at a range of scales. She led the multi award-winning Gospel Oak housing scheme, working closely with local authority and community from masterplan to completion to deliver social housing that is "as popular with residents as with the critics.”  Equally expert in the design of large-scale housing and mixed masterplans, she is currently collaborating on the design of a phased estate regeneration scheme comprising 900 new homes in the West Kentish Town Estate.

As an RIBA Specialist Conservation Architect (SCA), Catherine holds the highest level of conservation accreditation. She has led significant heritage, retrofit and re-use projects at high profile architecturally sensitive historic sites, including at the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Abbey Strand Buildings, Edinburgh, and for the Queen’s College, Oxford.  She is currently leading the Bloomsbury Terraces project, a major programme of works for the University of London, combining sophisticated conservation strategy with ambitious - EnerPhit – sustainability targets.

Catherine has taught and lectured widely and been juror on numerous industry design awards. She was external examiner for architectural MA courses at both Newcastle University and University of Ghent (Belgium) and has recently been appointed as external examiner for the University of Westminster's MArch course.