b. 1985 Glasgow
Architect MA (Cantab) MSc ETH ARB
Philip has enjoyed a varied career in practice and academia in the UK, Germany and Switzerland, most recently leading housing projects in historic settings in and around Munich for Sergison Bates architects in London. He joined RGA in 2024 to contribute to the long-term direction of the practice, with experience in projects involving the transformation and adaptive re-use of historic buildings and complex sites. His particular approach involves the careful and sympathetic investigation of buildings and their environments.
Following studies in architecture at Cambridge and ETH Zurich, where he also studied Historic Building Research and Conservation under Prof. Uta Hassler, he worked in practice with Baumgartner Loewe Architekten in Zurich for a decade, developing numerous competition designs, resulting in a series of built works, mostly schools and housing. In 2023, the renovation and extension of the listed Röhrliberg secondary school campus in Cham was awarded a national award (Arc Award) for architecture in the category ‘Transformation’. From 2014–2018 he also served as a teaching and research assistant with Studio Tom Emerson at ETH, developing lecture courses and examinations, seminar excursions and assisting with construction projects including the Pavilion of Reflections and the Room for Archaeologists and Kids in Pachacamac, Peru.
At RGA, Philip contributes to the design direction of the practice, and is presently leading the conservation and transformation of Charles Barry’s Holy Trinity Church in Cloudesley Square, Islington as well as leading RGA’s role as conservation architects for Custom House, London.
Alongside practice as an architect, he writes and maintains a practice as a photographer, as well as a translator and editor of writings on architecture from German into English. He is currently preparing a book on the life and work of Christopher Alexander and the Centre for Environmental Structure in Berkeley, California, and is a member of the Construction History Society and the Society for Architectural Historians of Great Britain.