Designing, Planning and Building Birmingham

All three of our special guests were recently nominated for the British Council for Offices (BCO) NextGen Rising Star Midlands Award. We are joined by Rosie Cotterill incoming Chair of the BCO NextGen Midlands Committee who plays an instrumental role in the planning and delivery of Birmingham’s award-winning Paradise Development as a Director at Turley Alex Slatter BCO award winner is both the Chair of the British Council for Offices Next Gen Midlands and an associate at Associated Architects delivering both commercial and education projects, with considerable experience in the refurbishment and conversion of commercial buildings. Francesca Ghavami one of Glenn Howells Architects senior interior designers working on a macro master planning scale right down to the micro interior details on a selection of high-profile projects, including the RIBA-award-winning Moss House for University College Birmingham, Two Chamberlain Square and One Centenary Way at Paradise Birmingham.  All three guests share the same vision for building a better Birmingham and are working towards that goal, taking huge strides each year in making this vision a reality. The Building Brum podcast is sponsored by reality capture and point cloud modelling specialists ScanTech Digital,  Solus, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of commercial floor and wall tiles and Sunbelt Rentals with over 1,500,000 items of equipment- they are the largest providers of equipment hire in the UK.Alexandra SlatterAlex joined Associated Architects in July 2017 as a Part II Graduate and qualified as an Architect in 2020. She was promoted to Associate in 2021.She undertook her architectural training at the University of Kent, the University of Liverpool, and Birmingham City University.Alex has worked across multiple sectors, predominantly on commercial and education projects. She has considerable experience in the refurbishment and conversion of commercial buildings, with extensive involvement in mixed-use commercial, residential and luxury residential developments.The current Chair of the British Council for Offices (BCO) NextGen Committee for Midlands and East Anglia; Alex has led BCO tours of numerous projects. She acts on behalf of Associated Architects on the RIBA Future Architects Mentoring Scheme and sits on the practice’s CSR committee.Francesca GhavamiFrancesca is interested how spaces can affect how people behave and interact with each other and how good quality design can transform this experience.At Glenn Howells Architects, Francesca works on a macro master planning scale right down to the micro interior details on a selection of high-profile projects, including the RIBA-award-winning Moss House for University College Birmingham, Two Chamberlain Square and One Centenary Way at Paradise Birmingham, Port Loop and Kidbrooke, London.Francesca is committed to mentoring and sharing knowledge with the younger generation. She is a key member of our annual Summer School design review panel and leads interior design workshops to provide encouragement, advice and inspiration to the young participants. She hosts a work experience placement with Birmingham City University second-year students and has worked with the “I Can Be” charity to offer a career insight to girls at primary school.Before joining us, Francesca studied architecture at Oxford Brookes University and worked for a specialist workplace interior design practice.