Steve joined LCA in October 2024 as a Senior Advisor based in the Planning, Engagement and Politics team. His remit is to help the agency further strengthen its engagement capabilities, especially at grass roots level, to develop benchmark co-design processes, and to help clients maximise social value outcomes.
Steve is an architect with over 30 years’ experience in urban and peri-urban regeneration. He founded and led Soundings and Fluid – much respected consultancies in the built environment sector – and is credited with being a prime mover in codesign, participatory urbanism and effective community engagement. His previous projects have included Kings Cross, the London Olympic and post-Olympic masterplans, Chelsea Barracks, the placemaking strategy for the Royal Docks and many others, some of which involved joint work with LCA at the time.
Previously Steve was an academic, setting up the City Design Institute research Centre of Excellence and the multi-disciplinary City Design MA at London Metropolitan University, during which time he was also a consultant to the Council of Europe writing and editing policy lever documents on equitable regeneration and youth engagement. He previously taught at the Architectural Association at the invitation of then Chairman, the legendary Alvin Boyarsky.
Away from LCA Steve plays the guitar and the piano, sings in choirs when he can (tenor) including with Divine Comedy, and on a historic top ten recording in the American charts. He was a keen scuba diver until he blew an ear drum (speak loudly please) and he likes to run 5k’s, to box (only pads and bags) and has recently succumbed to Pilates. He is a voracious reader and may be the only person in history to have read all 33 of Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunneti novels, set in Venice, which he warmly recommends.