Our AFA Team

Our staff are vital to the continued success of the business and we are very fortunate to attract and retain the best architects and support staff. The team acts with mutual support and respect for colleagues, sharing knowledge and experience with openness between leadership and staff. Our open plan, creative studio actively encourages communication, participation and the exchange of design ideas between us all. All our staff are either fully qualified or are talented graduates en-route to qualification.

Deanery Road Development

Mark Osborne BA BArch (Newcastle Upon Tyne) RIBA joined Alec French Architects in 1987 and was appointed Director in March 2002.Mark has spent much of his career building a strong reputation for high quality award winning developments in urban regeneration, commercial, residential and higher education sectors in the Bristol region. He is currently responsible for the Wapping Wharf schemes and Redcliffe Wharf, on Bristol’s Floating Harbour. Recent successes include Bridge Quay and the Environment Agency’s new headquarters at Horizon House, part of a larger urban regeneration project in Bristol’s civic quarter.

He has a particular interest in contextual architecture – designing new developments in sensitive historic locations which meet clients’ aspirations for high quality and value for money.

Mark is an architect assessor for the Civic Trust Awards and has lectured at University of West of England’s School of Architecture and Planning.

Deanery Road Development
Redcliffe Wharf
Bridge Quay
Wapping Wharf Phase 2

Robin Gray BSc (Arch), BArch Dip (McGill), RIBA joined Alec French Architects in 2007 and was appointed Director in October 2012.  Before joining Alec French Architects, he was an Associate at Allies and Morrison in London and moved to Bristol to set up a satellite office for the practice, where he worked on a number of higher education, cultural, office, hotel, and community projects. Prior to that he worked as a Project Architect for Munkenbeck + Marshall and Harper Mackay Architects in London, principally on residential, private residential, office, and hotel projects.

During his time at Alec French, Robin has been involved in a number of high profile projects in Bristol and the wider region for both public and commercial clients including the refurbishment of 100 Temple Street on behalf of Bristol City Council, the new HQ for Crux Product Design at the Paintworks, Bristol, the conversion of Brunel House into student accommodation for Unite Students, the creation of Children and Young Persons’ Hubs in Kingswood and Patchway, and masterplanning of Bower Ashton Campus for UWE Bristol.

Robin enjoys working on a wide range of project types, delivering against complex briefs and responding successfully to challenging sites and contexts. He has a particular interest in the innovative use of materials, both modern and traditional, in architecture.

Robin also carries out the role of Finance Director for the practice and is a committee member of the Bristol Property Forum.

Kingswood Locality Hub
Crux HQ
Longmoor Village

Joy Stone

Associate Director


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Joy joined Alec French Architects in 2003 and became an Associate at Alec French in 2010.

Joy studied at Edinburgh College of Art, including a Scholarship to America and an internship at HOK Sport. Joy has predominantly worked within the residential sector and has a keen interest in master planning and urban design. At AFA Joy developed an expertise in secondary school design on PFI & Pathfinder schools. This led her to assist Somerset County Council as a Technical Advisor on BSF Bridgwater schools and a bid for a new Academy in Yate.

More recently Joy has been Project Architect on mixed use developments in Bristol city centre including Deanery Rd development, Wapping Wharf Phases 1 + 2 and most recently on Redcliffe Wharf.

Longmoor Village
Redcliffe Wharf
Deanery Road Development
Wapping Wharf Phase 1
Being Brunel

Louis Lane

Associate Director


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Louis Lane BSc MArch (Bath) RIBA joined Alec French Architects in 2004, qualifying as an architect in 2012 and has experience in all stages of architectural design and project management.

He was project architect for the new Visitor Centre at the Clifton Suspension Bridge and is currently working with the ss Great Britain Trust to deliver a new museum building dedicated to Brunel’s life and works. He has also worked on a number of education projects including the restoration of a Victorian school in East Bristol to a new alternative provision free school.

Louis is an active committee member of the RIBA Bristol and Bath branch, working with them to provide local events, competitions and exhibitions.

He is also an Associate Lecturer at the University of West England where he tutors undergraduate students through their architectural training.

Being Brunel
Wapping Wharf Phase 2
Clifton Suspension Bridge Visitor Centre
Wapping Wharf Phase 1
Sheepdrove Conference and Education Centre

Nigel Dyke BSc (Hons) Dip Arch RIBA joined Alec French Architects in 2000 and was appointed Director in March 2002.

Before joining Alec French Architects he was an Associate of Nealon Tanner Architects, Bristol, where he worked on a number of educational and community projects. Prior to that he worked as a Project Architect for Jestico + Whiles in London, principally on residential, education and low energy projects.

At Alec French, he has been involved in a number of high profile projects in Bristol for both public and commercial clients including Quakers Friars and the refurbishment of Grade II listed City Hall on behalf of Bristol City Council. He has a particular interest in workspaces, low energy design and the creative use of existing buildings.

Nigel is an active member of various business and design groups in Bristol; he was a visiting critic at the Centre of Alternative Technology and UWE Bristol and is a member of the Steering Group of the Bristol Urban Design Forum, member of Academy of Urbanism and Honorary Business Fellow at UWE Bristol.

Sheepdrove Conference and Education Centre
Launchpad
City Hall
Quakers Friars
Springfield Community Campus

Zac Nicholson

Senior Associate


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Zac joined the practice in 2005 after qualifying in 2003 and has an extensive knowledge of sustainable construction and the creative design of low energy buildings. He has a detailed understanding of achieving high BREEAM scores and is a Certified Passivhaus Designer.His experience is wide ranging through all aspects of architectural design and technical construction, with particular expertise in designing mixed use community buildings. He is also experienced in new build offices, multi-residential, historic conservation, sports and leisure facilities. Notable projects he has recently completed include Abbeywood Community School, Patchway Children’s Locality Hub, Springfield Community Campus and Bridge Quay residential.

Zac also leads on implementing the office ISO14001, developing the business sustainability strategy, calculates the office carbon footprint and organizes the yearly tree planting to offset our emissions.

Springfield Community Campus
Patchway Locality Hub
Abbeywood Community School
Wapping Wharf Phase 1

David Yorke

Associate


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

David Yorke (BA(Hons) MArch RIBA has been involved in phase 1 of the mixed-use residential scheme development at Wapping Wharf and Beam Street School in Bristol. In addition to his current projects David plays an active part in the office EMS and Go green initiatives within the office.David joined Alec French Architects in 2013, having previously worked for practices in both Bath and London. David studied architecture at the University of the West of England and Liverpool University where he completed his RIBA part II Master of Architecture in 2010.

David draws upon experience from a broad range of sectors including leisure, high end residential and commercial.

Wapping Wharf Phase 1
Redcliffe Wharf
Wapping Wharf Phase 2
Wapping Wharf Phase 2

Carly Pearce

Senior Architect


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Carly Pearce BA(Hons) MArch joined Alec French Architects in 2014 as a Part II assistant, bringing with her previous experience in commercial, education and large scale residential projects. After completing her studies at UWE, she qualified in 2015 and has gone on to work on a number of large scale residential and mixed-use projects as well as extending her experience within the education sector.

Currently she is a Project Architect on the second phase of Wapping Wharf.

Carly has a keen interest in public space and the architectural design of prisons, which developed from her university studies and is an Associate Lecturer at UWE for the Architecture Part I and Part II degrees.

Wapping Wharf Phase 2
ss Great Britain
Crux HQ
Bridge Quay
Wapping Wharf Phase 2

Darren Mannell

Senior Architect


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Darren Mannell BA (Hons) Dip Arch joined the team in September 2018, having previously worked for practices in Cornwall, Devon and Gloucestershire. He studied architecture at Plymouth University and the University of the West of England.

He draws on many years’ experience of working on residential schemes in a variety of scales; from one off-private houses, commercial/residential developments, affordable housing regeneration schemes and conversions of redundant buildings to residential use. He has a particular interest in the redevelopment of city centre brownfield sites and finding resolutions to the complex challenges these sites typically pose.

Wapping Wharf Phase 2
Launchpad
Cargo Work
The Innovation Hub – BBSP
Wapping Wharf Phase 1

Mercedes Moratalla Cebrian

Senior Architect


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Mercedes joined Alec French Architects in April 2018 as an ARB Architect and she undertook her studies at Polytechnic University of Valencia and Milano as an Erasmus exchange. Having previously worked at BDP, Mercedes draws on experience in residential, healthcare and public sectors.

She is involved in all aspects of projects starting with the feasibility studies all the way through to initial conceptual development, planning approval, design coordination with external consultants and production construction packages and she has a keen interest in sustainable design of buildings and 3D digital models applied to architectural graphic expression.

Currently she is working as an Architect on the Project Norwood development in Swindon.

Wapping Wharf Phase 1
Launchpad
Wapping Wharf Phase 2

Andy Watson

Architect


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Andy has now been with Alec French Architects for nearly 4 years in total. In this time he has proved to be a valuable and always positive member of the practice. He passed the RIBA Part 3 course at UWE and gained his ARB qualifications in 2016.

Andy’s role as Project Architect on Kingfisher School saw the swift delivery of a dual phase new-build providing much needed extra space for the school alongside public art provision and landscaped play areas. Andy has also been a key member of the Wapping Wharf team, working on the delivery and planning stages of Phase 2. Having taken some time out of Architecture to enjoy a ski season in the Alps, Andy is now back with the studio working on Lyde Green – the practice’s first Passivhaus through-school.

With a holistic view of construction Andy revels in finding connections and efficiencies that will benefit projects and the sustainability of architecture. Combining this with his efforts at co-ordinating the studio’s IT requirements Andy spans a wide range of skills.

Redcliffe Wharf
Wapping Wharf Phase 2
Being Brunel

Tom Walker

Architect


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Tom joined the practice in March 2021, having studied architecture at Oxford Brookes, and successfully completed his Part 3 at the University of Westminster in 2020. He has gained a number of years of experience working for practices in London and New York,  predominantly working on large scale residential and mixed-use developments across all RIBA workstages.

He is has a keen interest in detailed design, and is passionate about the adaptive reuse of disused or outdated built structures to give life to an old building.

Being Brunel
Quakers Friars
Horizon House
ss Great Britain
Cargo 1 & 2

Sophie Ward

Architect


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Sophie joined the practice in March 2021 after completing two years of experience in London and Belfast Practices, before moving to Bristol in 2018 to complete her Masters in Architecture degree at UWE.

Her previous experience includes a mix of high-end residential strip out and refurbs in London, and large-scale office and student accommodation developments in Belfast.

Sophie is interested in exploring the challenges of existing sites and how the use of creative design techniques can turn site constraints into exciting design opportunities.

Cargo 1 & 2
Wapping Wharf Phase 2
Netham Pavilion
Launchpad

Maurice King

Lead Architectural Designer


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Maurice initially joined Alec French Architects in 2014 following a number of years in private practice in London.  His work in London included a largescale infrastructure project, a grade 2* listed theatre refurbishment and modernisation and a speculative office.

On joining AFA Maurice continued to develop his knowledge of working with listed buildings through the refurbishment of the Scheduled Monument Underfall Yard and more recently with developing proposals for the conversion of Redcliffe Parade from offices back into residential accommodation.

Launchpad
Cargo 1 & 2
Cargo Work
Longmoor Village

Beatrice Sult

Part II Architectural Assistant


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Beatrice joined Alec French Architects in May 2018 having previously worked for other practices in Bristol and London.

She studied architecture at Anglia Ruskin University and University of the West of England where she finalized her RIBA Part II in Architecture in 2017. Having a keen interest in historic buildings she completed a Masters Degree in Conservation of Buildings in 2015.

Beatrice has experience in the residential, retail, community and cultural sectors.

Longmoor Village
Redcliffe Wharf

Elijah Morales

Part I Architectural Assistant


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
01179293011

Elijah joined Alec French Architects as a Part I Architectural Assistant in August 2022, having recently graduated from the University of Bath with a Second-Class Honours degree in Architecture BSc.

Elijah has an interest in SEN-based solutions as majority of his projects revolved around Education and Research. Outside the studio, he goes to Volleyball Club every week, And likes to taking strolls along the River Avon.

Corsham School – 6th Form & SEND
Wapping Wharf Phase 1
Abbeywood Community School
Pony & Trap

Charlie Emery

Architectural Apprentice


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
0117 929 3011

Charlie joined the practice in June 2018, having graduated from the University of the West of England with a dual-accredited degree BA(Hons) in Architecture and Planning.

His degree taught him to design in a very wide-scale approach. Learning to design in both micro- and macro-scales simultaneously, while understanding the economic, psychological, historical, social and environmental cues provided by a site. Charlie is interested in sophisticated design that portrays a narrative and poetically expresses a story in the architecture, meanwhile aiming for sustainable and environmental energy-harvesting design solutions.

Working at Alec French and on the NatWest Court’s team during his end of degree placement allowed him to explore the capabilities of expressing the previous historical uses of the site, expressing them in a new contemporary design, while equally understanding the clients vision and aims.

Pony & Trap
Redcliffe Wharf
Longmoor Village
Launchpad

Francesca McColl

Studio Manager


mail@alecfrench.co.uk
01179293011

Francesca joined Alec French Architects as our new Studio Manager in July 2022. Coming from a creative background, having completed a BA (Hons) degree in Photography at Bath Spa University, she continues to photograph regularly using a medium format film camera to explore her love for film photography.

Outside of work Francesca really enjoys wild swimming, visiting galleries and exhibitions and exploring all the food and drink options Bristol has to offer.

Launchpad
Cargo Work
3-8 Redcliffe Parade
Cargo 1 & 2