Troubled practice appoints CEOs for its three studios as David Adjaye becomes “executive chair”
David Adjaye has announced a “fundamental change” in the way Adjaye Associates is run, eight months after sexual-misconduct allegations against him surfaced that impacted several major projects.
The RIBA Gold Medal-winning architect rejected claims of sexual misconduct, but acknowledged he had entered relationships with three female colleagues at the practice’s studios in London and Accra and said he was seeking professional help to “learn from these mistakes”.
Under the changes at the practice announced this week, Adjaye said chief executive officers had been appointed for the London, New York and Accra studios, where they will be in charge of all operations.
Adjaye will assume the role of executive chair of the group and will continue to lead Adjaye Associates’ design direction as the firm’s principal.
Kofi Bio becomes CEO of the Accra studio, Lucy Tilley becomes CEO of the London studio, and Pascale Sablan becomes CEO of the New York studio.
Adjaye Associates said each CEO would have “sole executive leadership” of their studio, be in charge of all operations, and continue to lead projects and business-development.
Adjaye said the announcement reflected a “fundamental change” in the way the business would be run.
“Over the last six months I have been taking professional advice on how to best reflect the firm’s considerable evolution over the last five years,” he said.
“Whilst I will continue to lead the design direction of my firm, it is now the right time to devolve the management of the studios. Kofi, Lucy, and Pascale are exceptional leaders whose diverse perspectives and capabilities will give us the platform to succeed in our next chapter.”
In the wake of last summer’s claims, Adjaye Associates was dropped from the Liverpool Slavery Museum project, the design of a library in Oregon and work on a new campus for the Africa Institute in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Adjaye also personally stepped back from work on the UK Holocaust Memorial and from his role as a design advocate for Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
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