HS2 appoints 16 new members to its design panel

HS2 Ltd has announced the 16 new members of its independent design advisory panel.

They include Fiona Scott, co-founder of Gort Scott, Nisha Kurian, an associate at We Made That, and Dav Bansal, a partner at Glenn Howells Architects.

Others include Jason Bruges, an ex-Fosters architect whose studio blends architecture with spectacle, and Kathryn Firth, who was chief of design at the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC).

They will take up their roles next month, as enabling works mobilise to extend HS2 to Crewe as part of phase 2a.

The design panel, chaired by Sadie Morgan of dRMM, is intended to be a critical friend scrutinising the railway and ensuring that, through good design and guided by the HS2 Design Vision, it delivers economic, social and environmental benefits for the whole country.

Morgan said they had received more than 100 applications after the call for experts was issued in April.

“It is important that the HS2 Independent Design Panel continues to evolve, bringing in fresh perspectives,” she said. “We have strengthened the panel’s diversity and adjusted the mix of skills it includes to meet the needs of this stage of HS2 Ltd’s design work.”

Areas of expertise represented includes procurement, railway operations and customer experience as well as civil and structural engineering, urban design and architecture.

There are now 40 people on the panel, with a 40:60 female:male ratio. A fifth of members come from a black or minority ethnic background.

Bansal said: “I am keen to be involved in helping drive forward the most important infrastructure project in the UK. Living and working in Birmingham, I am interested in how the city can retain its identity and rich heritage while simultaneously becoming a global city. I believe that the desire to be ‘More Birmingham, Less Anywhere’ should be a priority.”

>> Also read: Next phase of HS2 will create ‘considerable opportunities’ for small practices, says design director

 

The HS2 Independent Design Panel’s 16 new members are:

• Dav Bansal, Partner, Glenn Howells Architects

• Jason Bruges, Founder, Jason Bruges Studio

• Sophie Chapman, Business Leader and Director, Heathrow Express

• Asif Din, Sustainability Director, Perkins&Will

• David Dropkin, Independent Consultant

• Kathryn Firth, Partner, FPdesign

• Eric Hallquist, Head of Landscape Architecture, Allies and Morrison

• Chris Hendy, Technical Director for Transportation UK&E, Atkins

• Phil Jones, Chairman, Phil Jones Associates Ltd

• Sasha Krstanovic, Founder, mstep

• Nisha Kurian, Associate, We Made That

• Deborah Nagan, Director of Global Sustainability, Handley House

• Paul Priestman, Chairman, Co-Founder and Designer, PriestmanGoode Ltd

• Fiona Scott, Director, Gort Scott

• Joris Smits, Managing Director, Ney & Partners

• David Ubaka, Director, D.U.P. Limited

 

They join these existing panel members:

• Prof. Sadie Morgan (Chair), Founding Director dRMM

• Tony Burton (Vice-chair), Community and Sustainability Consultant

• Harbinder Birdi, Senior Partner, Head of Infrastructure and Transport,

Hawkins\Brown

• Adam Brown, Founding Partner, Landolt + Brown

• Pat Brown, Director, Central

• Caroline Cole, Director, Colander Associates

• Annie Coombs, Landscape Architecture Consultant

• Clive Grinyer, Independent Design Consultant

• Kirsten Henson, Director, KLH Sustainability

• Prof. Tom Holbrook, Founding Director, 5th Studio

• Gillian James, Managing Director, SignalCX

• Prof. Hanif Kara, Design Director and Co-founder, AKT II / Harvard Graduate

School of Design

• Mike Martin, Director, Turkington Martin

• Peter Maxwell, Director of Design, London Legacy Development Corporation

• Jonathan McDowell, Founding Director, Matter Architecture

• Prof. Kathryn Moore, Professor of Landscape Architecture, Birmingham City

University

• Laurie Peake, Director, Super Slow Way

• Luke Pearson, Director, Pearson Lloyd

• Xanthe Quayle, Director, Xanthe Quayle Landscape Architects

• Sam Richards, Planning Consultant

• Jonathan Sands, Chairman, Elmwood

• Ann Sawyer, Principal, Access=Design

• Martin Stockley, Engineering Consultant

• Ben Terrett, Designer / CEO, Public Digital

>> Interview with Kay Hughes: Designing Britain’s biggest infrastructure project