Glenn Howells

Howells was born in Stourbridge, England and educated in Plymouth.[1]

His practice, Glenn Howells Architects (GHA), has offices in Birmingham and London. Howells founded his practice in London in 1990 but later moved the main office to Birmingham in 1992. GHA now employs 150 people in its Birmingham and London studios and works across the UK in many sectors including masterplanning, residential, offices, education, retail, health, hotel and leisure.[2]

Early projects included the award-winning Custard Factory, an affordable creative business space in Birmingham for developer Bennie Gray and a series of arts projects including the Market Place Theatre in Armagh, Northern Ireland (which won a RIBA regional award) and the Courtyard Theatre in Hereford.[3][4][5][6]

The practice subsequently expanded into residential and mixed-use regeneration schemes with a series of projects for innovative developer Urban Splash. These included Timber Wharf[7] and Burton Place[8] in Manchester and the remodeling of Birmingham's landmark Rotunda office building into residential use.[9]

Among its public projects is the Savill Building at Windsor Great Park, shortlisted for the 2007 RIBA Stirling Prize.[10] The competition winning scheme run by The Crown Estate, was intended to create a gateway to the listed gardens reflecting the character and quality of the park. The building grouped all visitor facilities under a grid shell roof creating a series of linked spaces. The roof is constructed from larch and clad with green oak from sustainable sources from the Windsor Estate. It is supported by an earth structure on the entrance side which houses ancillary facilities, while the garden side is elevated on legs to take advantage of the views. It opened to the public in June 2006.[11]

Today, GHA is working on a number of large scale projects and masterplans including thousands of homes as part of the regeneration of London's former docks and the mixed-use redevelopment of the historically sensitive Paradise Circus area of central Birmingham for Argent. The practice's design approach was featured in an interview for the RIBA Journal in 2019.[12] In 2018 Glenn Howells was appointed visiting professor at Birmingham City University in its School of Architecture and Design[13] and chair of the Birmingham Hippodrome Board of Trustees.[14]

GHA's projects have won a diverse range of awards including those of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the British Council for Offices, National Homebuilder, Housing Design and RICS awards, Civic Trust and Civic Voice awards, British Construction Industry Awards and Concrete Society and Brick Awards.[15] In 2019 Glenn Howells was awarded the BCO Regional Committee Chair's Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to the regional property industry.[16]

Selected projects include:

Masterplanning

• Royal Wharf, Royal Docks, London[17]
• Paradise, Birmingham,[18][19][20]
• Maple Quays, Canada Water, London,[21]
• London City Island[22]

Housing

• Burton Place, Castlefield, Manchester
• Luna Building, Bermondsey, London
• Maple Quays, Canada Water, London
• Parkside, Cambridge,[23]
• Printworks, London[24],
• Rotunda, Birmingham,[25]
• Southside, Birmingham,[26]
• Timber Wharf, Manchester,[27]
• The Triangle, Swindon,[28]
• Urbanest King's Cross, London[29],
• Urbanest Vauxhall, London,[30]
• Wardian, London[31]

Single Houses

• Glass House, Hampstead[32]
• Moat House, Dorsington[33]

Workplace

• 125 Deansgate, Manchester
• Custard Factory, Birmingham
• Eleven Brindley Place, Birmingham[34]
• i9, Wolverhampton
• Maltings Place, Bermondsey, London[35]
• One Centenary Way, Paradise, Birmingham
• One St Peter's Square, Manchester[36]
• Severn Trent Water, Shrewsbury[37]
• Two Chamberlain Square, Paradise, Birmingham
• Ty Admiral, Cardiff

Public and Education

• Alley Theatre, Strabane (with AJA)[38]
• Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth
• Bramall Music Building, University of Birmingham, Birmingham[39]
• Lime Street Gateway, Liverpool[40]
• National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire[41]
• National Film and Television School[42]
• Newman University[43]
• Saint Martin's School, Solihull[44]
• Savill Building, Windsor Great Park[45]
• The Courtyard, Hereford[46]
• The Marketplace, Armagh, Northern Ireland[47]
• Westonbirt Aboretum, Tetbury[48]
• Westonbirt Walkway, Westonbirt Arboretum, Tetbury
• Wirral Metropolitan College, Wirral

Retail and Leisure

• Edgbaston Priory Club, Birmingham[49]
• Gloucester Services, Gloucester[50]
• John Lewis, Exeter[51]
• John Lewis, Oxford[52]

Health and Extra Care

• Brassington Avenue, Sutton Coldfield[53]
• Institute of Translational Medicine, Birmingham[54]
• One Bayshill Road, Cheltenham[55]
• TouchBase, Birmingham[56]
• University Hospital Birmingham[57]

• Official website
• Glenn Howells presents a talk as a part of the London Festival of Architecture 2008 (video)