New hires and leadership promotions at ECD Architects

ECD Architects has announced two new senior hires and a leadership promotion, as it continues to meet growing demand for energy efficient, Passivhaus certified buildings in the housing, education and public sectors.

Donald Simpson and Ron Nkomba have joined the practice as associate directors, while Alistair Cameron has been promoted to joint managing director, with specific responsibility for Scotland.

 Certified Passivhaus designer, Donald Simpson, has more than 20 years of experience, including several award-winning and complex University developments and refurbishments, as well as the leadership of largescale University campus masterplans.

He joins a team of 16 Certified Passivhaus designers at ECD, which is pioneering the UK adoption of the Passivhaus standard and principles to optimise building energy performance and support sustainability goals.

Ron Nkomba also has extensive education experience, including the delivery of three RIBA award winning schools, as well as experience in the residential and workplace sectors.

In his new role, he’ll draw on his 20 years of experience to support the London team overseeing and managing a variety of their new build and retrofit projects, working with public and private sector clients across the sectors.

Alistair Cameron steps up from director to joint managing director, marking another successful milestone in his career with ECD Architects.

He joined the practice in 2009 and has been instrumental in the delivery of major projects including the £12m BREEAM Excellent, new build Stevenson HIVE facility for the University of Glasgow, the refurbishment and reconfiguration of the historic Royal College, and the development of building decarbonisation plans for the University of Strathclyde, University of Dundee and the University of Edinburgh.

 In his new role, Alistair will work alongside joint managing director James Traynor, who has responsibility for the practice’s delivery in England.

Alistair, said: “It’s a particularly exciting and significant time for the development of energy efficient and environmentally conscious buildings, both here in Scotland and across the UK.

"We’re involved in the Passivhaus Trusts’ industry-wide initiative to promote the review of the Scottish equivalent for the Passivhaus standard, and there’s growing interest in how the Standard’s principles can reduce energy costs and emissions, while also improving wellbeing for building users.

"Our joint managing director structure enhances our capabilities to effectively meet this growing intrigue and demand.”

James Traynor, added: “Factors such as the Government’s school rebuilding programme, education sector goals to improve energy efficiency, reduce building and estate running costs, transition to net zero, and enhance the comfort of learning environments, are all creating curiosity about Passivhaus.

"This is also driving appetite among other public-sector organisations, and we’re developing our team to stay ahead of demand.

 “Highly experienced, knowledgeable architects like Donald and Ron bring a wealth of insights that fit perfectly with our team, and we’re looking forward to further advancing the development of Passivhaus Certified buildings throughout the UK.”

Passivhaus is a technical standard that provides a design and construction process to ensure quality and deliver low energy buildings which can be externally certified.

It adopts a whole-building approach based on clear, measured targets for a building’s energy performance, airtightness and thermal comfort.

For further information please visit: www.ecda.co.uk.