in order of joining
FRIEDRICH LUDEWIG
Friedrich Ludewig, Founding Director
Friedrich oversees the design direction across all projects in the office. He studied at the Technical University and Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin before moving to London where he received his Diploma in Architecture with Distinction (Honours) from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 2001.
Friedrich founded ACME in 2007 and has grown it into an international practice with over 70 architects. Notable completed projects include Hunsett Mill (2009), Beirut City Centre (2011), Melbourne Eastland (2015), Leeds Eastgate (2016), Watermark Southampton (2016), Bumpers Oast (2018); REWE Green Farming (2021), Stratford Pavilion, London (2021), SAB Leipzig (2021), Golda-Meir-Steg (2021) and Canopy by Hilton London City (2021) .
Friedrich has taught and lectured as a Visiting Critic at The Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (2003-05), Harvard University Graduate School of Design (2005), Darmstadt University (2009), Berlage Institute in Rotterdam (2007-08), The Bartlett UCL (2008-11), Royal College of Art in London (2016) and the Architectural Association.
Between 2000-07, Friedrich was Associate Director at Foreign Office Architects (London/Tokyo), responsible for a wide range of projects including Umraniye Meydan Istanbul, John Lewis Leicester, Ravensbourne College and BBC Music Centre in White City. Between 2004-07 he led the FOA team working on the London Olympics Masterplan, park and infrastructure commission.
Stefano Dal Piva, Director
Stefano Dal Piva studied at the IUAV Istituto Universitario Architettura Venezia, the HUT Helsinki Institute of Tecnology (2001-02) and the Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste in Vienna/ Austria. He received his diploma. After graduating at the IUAV he moved to London to join Foreign Office Architects in May 2006. Here he worked on the Olympic Park and Infrastructure commission for the 2012 Olympic Games. Since joining ACME in 2007 Stefano has been involved in number of concept design projects and completed the award winning Hunsett Mill and the Victoria Gate project in Leeds opened in October 2016. Since its inception in 2007, he has worked as Director at ACME. Heidrun Schuhmann, Associate Director
Heidrun Schuhmann qualified from the Technical University of Berlin, graduating in 1999. She joined ACME in June 2010 having worked for David Chipperfield Architects, Foster + Partners and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) on some major office and educational developments in a lead role, including the RIBA award-winning and Stirling Prize nominated Westminster Academy in London.
Heidrun has been involved in numerous schemes and competitions across the office working on projects in multiple sectors and scales including the Royal Institute for Human Development in Bahrain, Eastgate Quarters and John Lewis department store in Leeds, retail schemes in Watermark Westquay Southampton, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and the Market of the Future in Germany. Residential projects include a chalet in Chamonix and Bumpers Oast in Kent. Following a competition win in 2013 Heidrun was heading the SAB project, a new bank HQ building in Leipzig, from ACME’s Berlin office which was established in 2015, from 2013 until the end of 2018. Since then Heidrun has been leading the teams for two significant office developments in London. Within the London and Berlin offices Heidrun fulfills a directorial role. Penny Sperbund, Associate Director
Penny Sperbund studied at the University of Cape Town School of Architecture. A Project Architect since 1980, she has been administering contracts for the past 30 years and completed the Prince2 Practitioners Examination in Project Management in 2009. She left South Africa as an Associate Partner for EHH Architects in Cape Town and joined Chapman Taylor London in 1999. In May 2006 she was invited to join Foreign Office Architects to head up a number of large projects and in March 2010 Penny joined ACME as Associate Director. Her experience covers a wide range of complicated and fast track projects in United Kingdom, Poland, the Czech Republic and South Africa, and more recently, the Redevelopment of Birmingham New Street Station and the Beirut City Centre Shopping Mall. At ACME, she has been involved in a senior capacity in the successful planning application for a mixed use project in the centre of Swansea and is now heading up Phase 2 and cordinating the masterplanning of the Chester Northgate scheme. Keigo Yoshida received his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering at Tokai University, where he was the lead editor of the Best Design Assignment collection book, with duties including cover and layout design. His diploma also received the prestigious Tokai University KD award. Graduating in 2008, Keigo then worked at Kengo Kuma & Associates in Tokyo, where he was involved in projects and competitions of various scale. After relocating to London, Keigo joined ACME in 2010 where he has worked on variety of projects, including the Eastgate Masterplan, Beirut City Centre, and the John Lewis store and Multi-Storey Car Park in Leeds. Mark Broom, Associate
Mark studied at the University of Sheffield, receiving his diploma in 2005. After working for a small design-led practice in London he moved to Beijing in 2006 to join Studio Pei Zhu, working on a variety of cultural projects and exhibitions for clients including the Guggenheim Foundation. In 2007 he returned to London, joining Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios to work on high end student housing in London and the Brighton Aldridge Academy. Mark moved to Singapore in 2010 to work for Grant Associates on Gardens By The Bay, an ambitious botanical gardens project in the centre of the city. As senior architect his role included overseeing construction of the Supertrees, landmark planted structures up to 50m in height. Since joining ACME in 2012 Mark has been involved as project architect on three schemes, a retail-led masterplan for Chester’s historic city centre, a new market hall for a shopping centre on Australia’s Gold Coast, and a landmark mixed used scheme in Southampton city centre. Since 2018 he’s an Associate at Acme. Lizy Huyghe, Associate
Lizy Huyghe studied at the University for Science and Arts in Ghent, Belgium where she received her Diploma in Master of Architecture with Honours in 2008. After her studies she moved to Paris where she worked for several small design-led practices and was involved in several cultural, educational and leisure projects, national and international competitions and master planning projects. In 2010 Lizy joined the London office of Populous where she was involved in large scale projects and was involved in the design of the new stadium for Olympique Lyonnais in France as well as the Olympic park for the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.
Since joining ACME in 2011, Lizy has been involved in numerous projects and competitions such as New Market Starnberg, Victoria Gate in Leeds, the new DFB headquarters, Eastland hotel and Eastland Masterplan in Australia. As a project architect Lizy has been involved in a leisure led scheme in Marseille, a private residence in Chamonix as well as the construction of the Minories Residential scheme in City of London. She is currently overseeing the construction of a mixed use project in the centre of Swansea. Since 2019 she’s an Associate at Acme. Monica Capitanio studied at the Politecnico di Milano, the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (2006-07) and the Escola da Cidade in São Paulo (2009-2010). She received her Diploma in Master of Science in Architecture at the Politecnico in 2011. During her studies she worked at Politecnico and collaborated with local practices on small scale private projects. Between 2011 and 2012 she worked at EFFEKT studio, in Copenhagen, where she was involved in several design projects, masterplanning and competitions, such as the New Carlsberg Brewhouse. Since joining ACME in 2012, Monica has been working on differents projects and competition, including market and MSCP proposals for Chester Northgate and the Minories scheme, a mixed-use development in the City of London. Jan Saggau studied at the Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts and Design Kiel, Vienna University of Technology and the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design, where he received his Diploma in Architecture in 2009. During and after his studies he worked for a number of practices, most notably Delugan Meissl (Vienna), Graft (Berlin), LAVA and Atelier Brueckner (Stuttgart) where he was involved in several small and large scale international projects and competitions. Jan joined ACME in 2012 and since then he has been working on several projects and competitions such as Eastland Melbourne, New Market Starnberg, Robina Town Centre, Adidas Offices and DFB Academy. Gemma Serra graduated from EtsaB -School of Architecture in Barcelona- of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, where she was first invited to participate as an assistant professor and then became a professor of Urban Design. Before finishing her final project about Trinitat Vella’s Urban Prision, she practiced at DEGW-Milan in Italy. Gemma completed her studies at the National School of Architecture of Belleville in Paris where she simultaneously trained at TH1-Villien Studio. She pursued her professional activities in Estanislau Roca Architects, Calderon-Folch-Sarsanedas Studio, Daniel Modol and TAU-Jon Montero leading the New Visual Arts Center in Donostia, Spain. Since joining ACME in 2013, Gemma has been involved in two schemes; a new market hall for a shopping centre on Australia’s Gold Coast, and a landmark mixed used scheme in Southampton city centre. Charles Pigott was trained as an architect both at the Portsmouth School of Architecture and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, receiving his AA Diploma in June 1992. Professionally he has worked in Chicago and London for the office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, being involved in the building of international office and residential schemes. In the 90’s, Berlin became his second home, for architectural experimentation and freelance work, that has now established his own working practice in the discipline of architecture. Today at ACME Charles is our document controller for the Minories Project in Aldgate, where a new Canopy by Hilton hotel will occupy the refurbished and extended old Aon Insurance offices; the Pavilion at the Stratford International Quarter development; the new development and masterplan at Folkestone Harbour; the Swansea Central development incorporating a major events venue, Swansea Arena, and REWE Market for the Future in Germany. Eleni Meladaki, Associate
Eleni Meladaki is a qualified Architect Engineer and received her Bachelor & Master’s in Architecture & Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). As a registered Architect in Greece, she worked for a period of 4 years in different Athens based practices, being involved in high-end residential and commercial schemes, as well as numerous competitions. In 2011 she moved to London and attended the Emergent Technologies & Design Master’s degree at the Architectural Association, where she received her MSc with Distinction. She then worked in London for two small firms on high end residential and cultural schemes and joined ACME in 2013. As a project architect she had been involved in numerous projects and competitions, most notably on the Robina Town Centre, a large retail led scheme in Goldcoast, Australia, the new office buildings in Elephant & Castle, London, a leisure led scheme in Marseille and a new leisure led Masterplan in Toulouse, France, as well as the two latest luxury hotel and residential schemes in Dubai, UAE. She is currently overseeing the construction of the Canopy by Hilton Hotel in Aldgate, London. Dirk Mueller studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Stuttgart and the Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto (FAUP). After receiving his Diploma in Architecture in 2005 he worked for several years with Behnisch Architekten (Stuttgart/LA) where he was involved in numerous large scale projects, most notably leading the design team for the main building of the new Harvard University campus. He then worked with Brisac Gonzalez Architects (London) on a wide range of cultural, residential and public projects, such as the Park City Project in Moscow. Before joining ACME, Dirk worked as a Project Architect on several residential projects in the UK and abroad and was part of the design team for a large mixed-use project in central Paris (ZAC Batignolles) and the White Cube Gallery, Hong Kong. In 2014 Dirk joined ACME and after working on several competitions in the London office, Dirk moved to Berlin where he was part of the team that set up the ACME Berlin office. Since then he has been working on the SAB project for Leipzig. Thomas Soo graduated from the Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia in 2006 with Bachelor of Architecture (Honours). Upon graduation, he moved to London and started his career in Zaha Hadid Architects in 2007 working on the London 2012 Aquatics Centre project. He was fully involved in the project from design development to Olympic mode and to its eventual Legacy completion. He also worked on a multi-storey private residential development on London Mansell Street and the Qatar 2022 World Cup Al-Wakrah stadium and mosque. Thomas joined ACME in 2014 and has been working on the London Minories residential project. Azizah Sulor studied at the Glasgow School of Art and the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, where she received her Graduate Diploma in Architecture in 2000. Upon graduation, she worked for Rafael Vinoly Architects in London on the Curve theatre for performing arts in Leicester, UK. She obtained her part 3 certificate of professional practice, also at the Bartlett School of Architecture in 2003. After which she joined Foreign Office Architects in 2005 where she completed Ravensbourne College and the Cinema complex in Leicester and continued to work at Farshid Moussavi Architecture until 2012. She moved to work at JKMM Architects in Helsinki, Finland before she joined ACME in 2014. Since then, she has been working on the Minories development in Aldgate, London and Chester Northgate masterplan. Michel Bosauder graduated with honours from the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2007. During this time he went on several design exchange programs to Italy, Brazil and Australia, as well as visiting architectural sites in Lebanon and Tokyo. After graduation he went on to work at the well regarded firm Architectus in Auckland for 6 and a half years, where he worked on a wide range of projects. These included competition winning schemes such as the £96m UoA Science Centre & the Long Bay Village Centre, to small fit outs, and the award winning Treasury Research Centre & Archive. Moving to London in 2014, Michel joined Acme and worked on the detailed design of the John Lewis Building in Leeds, and is currently working on the Watermark WestQuay development in Southampton which is due to be completed by the end of 2016. Ifigeneia Dilaveraki holds a MSc in Building Technology from TU Delft and a Master in Architecture & Engineering from the University of Thessaly, Greece. During the last years she has worked at architecture and design offices, in the Netherlands and Greece, on diverse projects of different scales, ranging from product design, interiors, residencies and cultural institutes to public spaces and urban design. Ifigeneia is interested in the integration of architectural and structural design, based on a hands-on approach and a constant experimentation with materials and fabrication techniques. A representative example of her approach is expressed though Favelous 963, a pop-up restaurant she realised in Amsterdam. Ifigeneia joined ACME in 2015 and she is currently working on the Northgate Masterplan in Chester. João Brás studied in Politecnico di Milano (Bovisa-Milan) and graduated from the Universidade Lusofona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (ULHT-Lisbon) in 2009, with praise, in his final thesis. He interned at RRJ (2008/2009), and as an Architect in TMP (2009/2011), both in Lisbon. Also as an Architect, he worked
internationally with Guilherme Torres (2011/2012) in Sao Paulo-Brazil, and with Zwimpfer Partner (2012/2015) in Basel-Switzerland, where he was involved in various projects, some of them award winning, like the BT House (Maringa-Brazil) or the Stöcklin Urban Plan (Basel-Switzerland). Since joining ACME in 2015, João has been involved as architect on two schemes, Marbella Hotel in Marbella and Mansell Residential project in London. Since graduating from Stuttgart University in 1994 Tim Laubinger worked with a range practices in Germany, UK and South Africa. His competition winning design for “Randbebauung Ulmer Münster”(with BED, Stuttgart) was realized in 1996. After moving to Cape Town in the same year he worked with Stauch Vorster Architects and ACG Architects and contributed designs for the Victoria & Albert Waterfront. Back in Europe he joined the London firm RHWL Architects and was put in charge of RHWL’s German office in Berlin. Between 2001 and 2006 Tim was involved in projects ranging from Axel Springer’s HQ building to the TUTIMA Watch factory/showroom in Glashütte. Tim was made Director in 2006 and Principal Director in 2014. He lead a team of 24 architects and designers and coordinated consultant teams in London, Madrid and Doha. He produced designs for the Quranic Botanic Gardens in Education City as well as for the Doha National Opera. In 2015 Tim joined ACME Berlin to work on the HQ building of Sächsische Aufbaubank, Leipzig. Álvaro Madrazo studied at the University of La Coruña, where he received his Diploma in 2010. After his studies he joined Danish practices EFFEKT and Adept where he was involved in several design projects, national and international competitions and master planning projects. He worked in the Livsrum Cancer Counselling Centre and the Dalarna Media Arena Library both widely awarded. In 2014 Álvaro moved to Mexico to join the practice Fernando Romero Enterprise where he was working in cultural projects, skyscrapers and the International Airport of México City in collaboration with Foster and Partners. His personal experience in this project was the development of different design stages after winning competition and responsible for developing all the general plans of the terminal. Since joining ACME in January 2016, Álvaro has been working on the residential project of Mansell Estate. Ohyun Kwon graduated from the Royal College of Art in London, where he received his MA degree in architecture. He has been actively participating in various design competitions, exhibitions and publications as the process of his multi-disciplinary design practice. His thesis project titled short-term housing for new labour in Seoul has been published in various media, notably Dezeen. He also got a distinction from Yeungnam University, South Korea where he finished a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. Ohyun joined Acme in 2016 and has been involved in The Wave Plaza, a public realm project in Muscat, Oman and the Folkestone masterplanning project as a Part II architectural assistant. Adriana Zurera graduated with a Master in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, havig also trained as an architect in La Sapienza (Rome) and the University of Tokyo. After graduation she joined TORAFU Architects (Tokyo), where she worked in a variety of projects ranging from housing, retail and offices to exhibitions. In 2016 she moves to London to work for Peter Cook at CRAB Studio, where she is involved in two projects in India, the design of an exhibition for the RA and the design and coordination of an exhibition for the AIT in Hamburg. Before joining ACME, she did her Part II at Barnaby Gunning Studio, working on bespoke residential projets. Since becoming part of ACME she has worked in several masterplanning projects and competitions.
Elli Liverakou is a qualified Architect Engineer (ARB, RIBA, TEE). She started her studies in the school of Architecture of the University La Sapienza in Rome and continued in the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) where she received her Bachelor & Master’s in Architecture & Engineering. As a registered Architect in Greece, she worked for a period of 3 years in Domos an Athens-based practice, being involved in educational and commercial schemes through all stages. In 2011 she moved to London and joined Lightarchitecture. She wais mainly involved in mixed-use and retail projects in China and France. From 2014 she worked at Heatherwick studio and had the opportunity to participate in several high-profile projects in the UK and abroad. In 2017 she joined ACME and is currently involved in the Northgate project in Chester. Luka graduated in 2012 from the Faculty of architecture at the University of Zagreb in Croatia. Earlier experience in Croatia includes work on projects ranging from family houses to sports halls and retail. Before moving to London in 2015, he was involved with a small studio, U67 from Oslo, Norway,working on competitions. His previous experience with Bennetts Associates includes work on a large mixed-use development in Kings Cross in London, an office building in Glasgow, and other projects and competitions.
Luka joined ACME in 2017 and is involved with a new masterplan in Chester, England. Vojtech graduated from the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow in 2016. He did his year-out experience in Paris, during which he worked on various projects for the AWP and Martial Marquet Architecture. He came to London to complete his studies at the innovative London School of Architecture. Vojtech joined ACME as a complementary part to his studies ath the LSA. Besides the formal education he gained multiple experiences with ‘design and built’ schemes as well as community work. Most notably, Vojtech joined design and build camp Hello Wood in Hungary, at first as a student and later as a project co-leader. María Pérez Vera graduated from ETSAE-Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena in 2016, where she received her Master of Architecture. She focused her final thesis on naturalising care environments in the treatment of oncology patients. Committed to this field, she believes that although architecture in a strict sense cannot heal, it can contribute to enhancing well-being as a means to fight disease. After graduation, she pursued her interest in architecture for health, and was part of the winning team for the Interior Design of La Arrixaca Children’s Hospital, in Murcia, completed in 2017.
Before moving to London, she worked for several small firms in Spain, mainly in private housing and retail, and then moved to Copenhagen and joined the Danish practice WE architecture.
Since joining ACME in 2017 she has been involved in the Northgate project in Chester and the construction of Canopy by Hilton, London City. She is currently overseeing the construction of Florattica rooftop bar in London. Sheena studied primarily in the UK, where she qualified from the Architectural Association as an architect in 2013. As part of her degree, she participated in an Erasmus exchange at the Technical University in Munich. During her studies in the UK she worked for London based practice RHWL Arts Team where she was involved in several high profile theatre projects, working at all design stages often in historic and listed buildings, including the London Palladium. In 2015 after working at PLP Architecture and Atkins Rail Team, Sheena joined Foster + Partners where she worked on several large scale international design projects including Sydney Metro, Doha Airport and Du Headquarters. She worked on the Slussen masterplan in Stockholm, designing the cultural centre at the heart of the scheme and managing of a team to develop the brief and external envelope of the complex building within a highly constrained site facing the historic Gamla Stan.
She joined ACME in November 2017 where she has been working on the Supermarket of the Future project in Germany and a feasibility study for Lambs Passage in London.
Matei Vlăsceanu studied architecture at the University of Architecture and Urbanism “Ion Mincu” in Bucharest and at KU Leuven, graduating in 2012. He worked at OMA – Hong Kong and Rotterdam for developing the concept design of Binhai Mansion in Shenzhen, Changchun Jingyue Cultural and Leisure district masterplan, China and Bologna Tecnopolo. In 2010, Matei co-founded UNULAUNU after building the National Romanian Pavilion, working afterwards on various scale projects ranging from built installations, scenography and exhibitions (Scenography for opera - Aix-en-Provence; "Perspektiven" at Weissenhof Galerie, Stuttgart), to larger program such as the Cluj University Library extension and Kuweit Embassy in Bucharest. In paralel, in 2014, he started teaching at the University in Bucharest where he was assisting students in the atelier work for the 2nd and 3rd year. In 2015, Matei started a collaboration with Neat Office in Bucharest for implementing several retail fit-out projects for clients like H&M, LPP and Auchan and a residential development in Brasov, Romania. Matei joined ACME in 2017, where he has worked on various competitions. He is currently working on the SAB Sächsische Aufbaubank Leipzig, Germany.
Laura Portici studied Economics at University of Padua in Italy. Following that, she worked for an accounting firm until she decided to move to London in 2014 where she worked as Admin Assistant in an interior design company, assisting the Design Team in several projects. Laura joined ACME in 2017 as Admin Assistant. Matteo Modenese studied at the Universitá IUAV di Venezia where he received his Master Degree in Architecture in 2015. During his career he studied at Universitat Politècnica de València (2010-2011) and in 2013 he moved to Santiago de Chile to join the double degree program at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile where he obtained his Degree in Architecture. During this period he interned in MilM2 Cultural Center and Mapa Arquitectura office where he was involved in Edificio RC project. Between 2015 and 2016 Matteo collaborated with a local practice in Veneto area on small scale private projects. In 2017 he joined EMBT in Barcelona, Spain where he was involved in several competitions in Hamburg, Germany and Shanghai. He joined ACME in January 2018 where he is currently involved in an innovative office building based in London. Anatol graduated from the Architectural Association in 2017 after completing his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Brighton. During his AA diploma, he developed an interest in the practice of architecture and a critical approach towards the discourse. Anatol has gained experience in masterplan and concept design for offices and hotels in practices in Shanghai and London. Since joining ACME in 2018, Anatol has been mainly involved in developing a mixed-use scheme for the regeneration of Central Dublin.
Jude Bull graduated with a first in Fashion Design BA (Hons) from Northumbria University in 2008, having interned and worked in London and New York during her studies. After three years working in couture, she went on to become Studio Manager at an interiors and branding agency before joining ACME in 2018 as Practice & HR Manager. Alanoud graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture in 2016 and susbequently graduated with a distinction from the Master of Architecture course at the Canterbury School of Architecture in 2018. During her studies, she took part in projects varying in scale, program and geography, developing briefs for projects as intimate as trekking cabins in Iceland to much larger urban schemes exploring methods of city growth and expansion in coastal cities.
Alanoud gained experience working both; abroad as well as within the United Kingdom. She also took part in several design competitions and exhibitions globally. Notably, she was admitted to take part in the Venice Biennale in 2018.
Alanoud joined Acme in July 2018 and has been a part of the Folkestone Seafront project since. Igor Gola graduated from the intermediate school at the Architectural Association in June 2018 with the RIBA part 1 qualification. During his studies he has developed an interest in computation in architecture. That interest started with his second year project, which explored algorithmically generated geometry, made to suit a specific materiality of paper pulp. His thrid year project explored the increasing significance of Big Data, and speculated on its full integration within architecture, resulting in automation of design.
Igor joined Acme in August 2018 as a RIBA part 1 Architectural Assistant and has been involved in City Walk Masterplan project in Dubai. Ann graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture honours from the University of Waterloo, Canada in 2008. During this time she completed numerous internships with well regarded architectural practices in Vancouver, London, Paris and Prague. She then moved to France to complete her Masters of Architecture at l’École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville in Paris. In 2011, she obtained her professional registration in France (HMONP - equivalent to Part III) and is currently completing her ARB certification equivalency. After graduation she went on to work at several well known practices in Paris such as X-TU Architects, Wilmotte Architects & Interior Designers and La Seura Architects & Urbanists, to name a few. Temporarily making the shift to project management, Ann orchestrated the design, construction and operation of serveral large scale retail projects.
Moving to London in 2014, Ann took her retail experience back to the design world where she was worked on the a variety of large scale retail and hospitality projects from concept to construction. These included the award short listed Robinsons luxury department store in Dubai’s festival city and Galeries Lafayette in Shanghai. Ann joined Acme in 2018 and worked on the masterplanning and concept design for Klépierre’s Blagnac commercial centre and surrounding leisure and hospitality complex in Toulouse. Loh Li Zhi studied at the Architectural Association in London and completed his RIBA part II there in 2019. Since joing Acme as a Part I Architectural Assistant, Li has worked on a range of projects ranging in scale from the master planning of Robina Town Center, Australia, to Residential Towers, Blue Water Tower, Dubai and smaller scale projects such as the IQL Pavillion, London. Li has come back to ACME in 2019 as a Part II architectural assistant. Kevin Leung graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and completed his RIBA part II there in 2019. He worked as a Part I Architectural Assistant at ACME and was involved in various projects including Bumpers Hall.
Since returning to ACME in 2019 as a Part II architectural assistant, Kevin has worked on the Swansea Central Phase 2 master-plan, a redevelopment scheme regenerating the city center in Swansea.
Laura graduated from the Architectural Association (AA) in London in 2019, where she gained her ARB/RIBA Part 2 accreditation.
After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture at the Technical University of Innsbruck/Austria in 2014, she moved to London where she was working for a small scale architecture studio called Atmos. She was involved in a sculptural staircase project for a restaurant in Picadilly Circus.
In between her RIBA Part 1 and Part 2, Laura joined Ron Arad Architects in London, where she was working on the Beit Shulamit Project, a Cancer Care Hospital in Afula, Israel.
Laura joined ACME in September 2019, where she is currently working on the Swansea regeneration scheme. Alex Chan graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and completed his RIBA part II there in 2019. Between 2016 and 2017, he worked as a Part I Architectural Assistant at Amanda Levete Architects (AL_A).
Since joining ACME in 2019 as a Part II architectural assistant, Alex has worked on Thorne’s Wharf, a redevelopment scheme of ITV South Bank Studio in London.
Mahalah Attwell Thomas studied for her Bachelor’s at Manchester School of Architecture and subsequently at The Bartlett where she graduated from Part II with Distinction in 2019. During her Master’s studies she became interested in how cultural practices and rituals affect an individual’s phenomenological perception of their environment, and how architecture can therefore be specifically designed through materiality and geometry to influence a user’s sensory experience of space.
During this time Mahalah enjoyed investigating material systems through model making and testing, and since graduating has applied some of these skills to a Competition entry for a Temporary bamboo pavilion at Wonderfruit Festival, led by Urban Radicals.
Before joining ACME in 2019, Mahalah gained Part 1 experience at Bennetts Associates, worked on various Theatre transformation projects as well as a new Masterplan for Manchester following HS2, having previously worked for Foster+Partners and Arup in the Advanced Technology and Research Department.
Amanda graduated from the Royal College of Art, London (2010-12) MA Architecture and completed her professional studies at the Architectural Association. Initially working at Squire & Partners and then at Will Alsop’s studio aLL Design, she gained a broad range of experience internationally, working in China, Toronto, Paris & the UK. More recently she has worked in Melbourne, Australia on OSD Melbourne Metro at HASSELL.
Amanda joined ACME in 2019 and she is currently working as part of the team on H1 Office. Cesar received his Masters in Architecture from the University of Seville in 2014. After graduating, he moved to London to join Mangera Yvars Architects where he gained experience in different stages of mixed use, community, residential and commercial projects both in the UK and the Middle East, including the Salaam Centre in Harrow, London. Between 2017 to 2019 he worked at Echo Architecture and Rolfe Judd Architecture where he was involved in a number of residential and mixed use projects.
Since joining ACME in 2019, Cesar has been working on the Phase II of Victoria Gate masterplan in Leeds, UK. James Denner, Associate Director
James Denner studied architecture at Sheffield University and The Bartlett. He has twenty years of architectural experience including thirteen at Director level leading teams of up to twenty, including residential and commercial projects from individual buildings to large scale masterplans. He has extensive experience with mixed use schemes and planning applications, and has led large multidisciplinary teams on complex projects. After joining Squire & Partners in 2001 James worked on a wide range of projects including offices, hotels, apartments and houses. These have included designs for Chelsea Barracks, St Johns Wood Barracks, and Greenwich Wharf. In central London he has helped design some of the tallest towers in Docklands, dense low rise housing on the Isle of Dogs, and a retail led mixed use scheme on Oxford Street. He was the Director responsible for delivering Hanover Square fromcompetition to completion on site, and more recently the development of St Johns Wood Barracks from feasibility to the issue of tender information. Ana received her Masters in Architecture from the University of Seville in January 2013. During her years of study, she spent two years as an exchange student in Barcelona and Hanover and took part in several international workshops such as Urban Change.
After graduating, she moved to Berlin where she worked for several companies and collaborated with Raumlabor and the artist Philip Beesley in some fascinating enterprises.
Ana moved to London in 2015 where she joined Farshid Moussavi’s team under the program Young Entrepreneurs supported by the European Commission. Ana worked as a Part II Architect in projects both in the UK and France.
In the last three years, Ana has worked as the project manager of the fit-out works of a high-end development in SW8 London, Embassy Gardens. Ana joined the ACME team in March 2020 and she is currently involved on the construction of Swansea Central Phase 1. Francesco Trame is a qualified Architect who studied at the IUAV, Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia/Italy . He received his Master in Architecture in 2011, and a second Master degree in Digital Architecture in 2012 at IUAV.
He then moved to London where he worked as an intern at Squint/Opera in London, taking actively part in the redevelopment of the waterfront in Beirut.
In 2013 he joined Foster+Partners where he was involved in the design and construction of several retail projects in various location such as: Istanbul, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzen, Paris to name some. In 2014 he moved to Hong Kong for 3 months to follow two sites. Coming back to London he took part at the competition for the city of Music in Geneva.
In 2018 he joined WilkinsonEyre Architects where he mainly worked as Project Architect in a tower complex in Toronto and an education Dyson building in Norfolk from concept to tender stage.
He joined ACME in 2020 where is currently working in the Blackhorse Lane project.
Nicholas joined ACME after gaining his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. He has previously gained experience in visualisation and architecture firms in Cyprus and the UK. His theoretical work examines the intersection of museology, culture and difficult heritage with the built environment. He is currently involved in a mixed-use scheme on a site with cultural and historical significance in Dublin. After running her own business for 7 years, Abbe took a change in career becoming PA & Project coordinator at architecture practice Grimshaw before eventually heading up the Administration team as London Administration Manager. Abbe recently joined ACME in August 2020, as PA to Friedrich Ludewig. Theodora Aristeidou studied at the Canterbury School of Architecture and completed her Master of Architecture in 2020. While graduating with distinction she was also awarded the Diploma Prize for excellence by RIBA South East Canterbury Branch for her final Thesis project ‘A Masterplan at the Amgala Oasis’ that reinstates a home for displaced people. Theodora has a strong interest in sustainability and how the future of climate change is affecting our planet and architecture. Alongside her studies Theodora volunteered to work on a new hospital project in Haiti for the Hope Health Action Charity.
She joined ACME in October 2020 and is working alongside the Folkestone team. Kayu graduated from the Architectural Association London with commendation in 2019, where he gained his RIBA Part I and II accreditation. For his studies, he focussed on ecological and sustainable approaches in design.
Kayu gained experience at Heatherwick Studio working on Google Landings, an 800,000 square feet office campus. He then joined ACME in 2020 and is working on The Foundry, Berlin.
Kayu is also an assistant tutor at the Architectural Association. Emma joined ACME in April 2021. She leads on Communications and Bid management. Having worked at several multi-disciplinary design studios and architecture practices in London, she brings extensive and varied experience to ACME. Wendy joined ACME in June 2021 as a Senior Architect for a residential scheme in Folkestone.
She graduated from RCA in 2012 with a MA Architecture and completed her Part III studies at UCL in 2015. Wendy brings a range of valuable work experience to ACME. Past experience includes working at multi-disciplinary studio Droog, Amsterdam; Foster + Partners, London; and Heatherwick Studio, London. From 2019-2021 she lived and worked in Hong Kong, leading the redevelopment of a 10,000sqm office building in Macau. Susana Monteiro joined ACME in July 2021 as PA to ACME's Founding Director, Friedrich Ludewig.
She graduated with a BA Fine Art from the University for Creative Arts, Canterbury in 2006 before returning to London. Having worked for 5 years as a Technical Assistant for Domus Group, she went on to become Office Manager for a property developer, heading up their PA team, before joining Glenn Howells Architects in 2018.
Susana brings to ACME a personal approach, strong attention to detail, and an ability to smoothly coordinate multiple deadlines within a fast paced environment. Katrina worked at ACME between 2013-2017 on Victoria Gate Arcades in Leeds, and Chester Northgate, a mixed-use scheme for the City of Chester. After several years away, raising a family and working on private projects, Katrina returned to ACME in 2021 and is currently working on Cambridge North Masterplan.
Katrina received her Masters and Diploma in Architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture. She also studied architecture at Oxford Brookes University and Universidad Politecnica Madrid. Prior to joining ACME, Katrina gained valuable experience at Softroom Architects working on various high-end residential, education and hospitality projects. She has also worked at Miralles Tagliabue EMBT in Barcelona, collaborating on numerous international projects, exhibitions and competitions. Marta gained her Part I from the Welsh School of Architecture in 2020. She joined ACME in 2021 as a complementary part of her ongoing studies at the London School of Architecture.
Marta is part of ACME's design team for Castle Square, Swansea.
Chuxiao graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture with distinction in 2019, where she gained her Part II. Her studies focussed on architectural narratives and fictional approaches in design.
Prior to joining ACME in 2021, Chuxiao gained experience at Vector Architects, MAD Architects and KSP ENGLE. She assisted on projects including Haibing Center of Nankai University, MAD Office and Shenzhen Art Museum New Venue & Shenzhen Second Library.
Chuxiao has a keen interest in woodcrafting, goldsmithing, glassblowing and ceramics and applying this to architectural model making. In addition to this, she writes short fiction stories, and has finished her first illustration book called 'Lost in London'. Chuxiao is also a trained paraglider, always looking forward to the next take-off. Argyrios is an ARB Architect. He joined ACME in 2021 and is part of the Metro Campus design team.
In 2019, Argyrios graduated with a Diploma of Architect Engineer (Integrated Masters) from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His thesis focused on the impact of architecture in geopolitics. In 2021, he graduated with Distinction from The Bartlett (MArch) and was awarded a B-Pro Silver Medal for his thesis focusing on automated housing platforms. Argyrios has a keen interest in exploring new technological mediums, such as computer vision and robotics, to automate the process of collaborative design, construction and inhabitation.
Argyrios has worked at UNStudio, 3XN, DaeWha Kang Design, Gilles Retsin Architecture and TTDZ Architects.
Friedrich Ludewig, Founding Director
Friedrich oversees the design direction across all projects in the office. He studied at the Technical University and Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin before moving to London where he received his Diploma in Architecture with Distinction (Honours) from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 2001.
Friedrich founded ACME in 2007 and has grown it into an international practice with over 70 architects. Notable completed projects include Hunsett Mill (2009), Beirut City Centre (2011), Melbourne Eastland (2015), Leeds Eastgate (2016), Watermark Southampton (2016), Bumpers Oast (2018); REWE Green Farming (2021), Stratford Pavilion, London (2021), SAB Leipzig (2021), Golda-Meir-Steg (2021) and Canopy by Hilton London City (2021) .
Friedrich has taught and lectured as a Visiting Critic at The Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (2003-05), Harvard University Graduate School of Design (2005), Darmstadt University (2009), Berlage Institute in Rotterdam (2007-08), The Bartlett UCL (2008-11), Royal College of Art in London (2016) and the Architectural Association.
Between 2000-07, Friedrich was Associate Director at Foreign Office Architects (London/Tokyo), responsible for a wide range of projects including Umraniye Meydan Istanbul, John Lewis Leicester, Ravensbourne College and BBC Music Centre in White City. Between 2004-07 he led the FOA team working on the London Olympics Masterplan, park and infrastructure commission.
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