Practice said move aims to reflect its “strength and breadth of leadership”
Glenn Howells Architects has announced it is renaming itself as Howells in a move which aims to reflect its “strength and breadth of leadership”.
The practice behind Birmingham’s £700m Paradise development said it wanted a name that better represented the “wider group of people that make [the] practice what it is”.
Founded by Glenn Howells in 1990, the firm has built a major presence in Birmingham, where its headquarters are located. It was instrumental in developing the city’s Big City Plan, which included the district that will be shaped by the arrival of HS2.
Aside from the Paradise masterplan, which is arranged around a civic square in the centre of Birmingham, its projects in the city include Port Loop and the new home for the BBC at Typhoo Wharf.
Last month the practice also unveiled plans to chop down a Glancy Nicholls-designed tower at 100 Broad Street from 61 storeys to 32 storeys, and in February submitted an application for a 45-storey hexagonal tower in Leeds.
The firm also has a studio in London, where its schemes include London City Island, home to the English National Ballet’s headquarters, and Royal Wharf, a new 4,000-home neighbourhood in the east of the capital.
Glenn Howells said: “We have a team of brilliant people working on a wide range of projects around the world. We have built a strong reputation for our work, with every project being created from first principles by clear thinking.
“Our new, simplified name, Howells, reflects this clarity and our range of projects whilst retaining our heritage.”
The firm’s partners are Dav Bansal, Darren Barbier, Shauna Bradley, David Henderson, AlanMcCartney, Daniel Mulligan, Will Poole, Reinhold Schmaderer and Sandeep Shambi.
Bansal said: “It is critically important for us that our name reflects the strength and breadth of leadership that has been grown here over decades.”
Bradley added: “With a diverse and talented team that is full of energy and great ideas, we wanted a name that is reflective of the wider group of people that make our practice what it is.”
Poole said: “As Howells, we are about more than architecture, using our wide-ranging expertise to create clarity out of complexity.”
Outside the UK, Howells is working on a range of regeneration and cultural projects in countries including Ireland, Europe and Australia.
The practice racked up two nominations for this year’s RIBA regional awards in the West Midlands, for Port Loop and Two Chamberlain Square, part of the Paradise scheme, in Birmingham.
It is also in the running for a RIBA London award for its London City Island masterplan.
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