Meet the Speakers

Professor Burdett is a London-based urban specialist with a wide portfolio of academic and consultancy activities at an international scale. Trained as an architect, Burdett is a recognised world authority in urban development and design, contemporary architecture, and the social and spatial dynamics of contemporary cities. He leads LSE Cities, a global centre of research and teaching at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He founded and directs the authoritative Urban Age programme, an interdisciplinary investigation of global cities that brings together national and city leaders, academics, designers and civic actors.

Ricky Burdett also acts as a consultant to national and city governments, private companies and philanthropic agencies. He has played a key role in high-profile urban projects like the London 2012 Olympics and legacy, the Tate Modern and new buildings for the BBC, and advises private and public organisations in Europe, USA, the Middle East and Asia on a range of urban developments at varying scale. He was Director of the Venice International Architecture Biennale and Curator of the Global Cities Exhibition in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern in London. Professor Burdett is a regular commentator in the media on contemporary architecture and cities, and a keynote speaker at major conferences and institutions including UN Habitat, the World Urban Forum and the World Economic Forum in Davos.

For Anna Heringer architecture is a tool to improve lives. As an architect and honorary professor of the UNESCO Chair of Earthen Architecture, Building Cultures, and Sustainable Development, she is focusing on the use of natural building materials. She has been actively involved in development cooperation in Bangladesh since 1997. Her diploma work, the METI School in Rudrapur was realised in 2005 and won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2007. Over the years, Studio Anna Heringer has realised further projects in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Anna is lecturing worldwide at conferences, including TED and has been visiting professor at various universities such as Harvard, ETH Zurich and TU Munich.

She received numerous honours: the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, the AR Emerging Architecture Award, the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard’s GSD and a RIBA International Fellowship. Her work was widely published and exhibited in the MoMA New York, the V&A Museum in London and at the Venice Biennale among other places.

Anna Heringer’s talk is supported by the Goethe-Institut Irland.

Jan Gehl, architect, professor and consultant on urban design, has focused his career on improving the quality of urban life, by reorienting the design of the city towards the pedestrians, public life and cyclists. His books include the by now classics ‘Life between Buildings’ and ‘Cities for People’, which have been published in more than 40 languages.

Major City improvement projects with Gehl Architects include Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, London, New York and Moscow. Jan Gehl has been awarded honorary Doctor Degrees in Edinburgh, Toronto, Varna and Halifax and is honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and of the Architectural Institutes in Denmark, UK (RIBA), Scotland, USA and Canada, as well as the Planning Institutes in Australia.

Annalie Riches established Mikhail Riches Architects to improve the quality of housing and neighbourhoods in the UK. Her focus is on the delivery of projects that change the perceptions of the places they touch, making enjoyable new places, as well as great homes. Annalie contributes across all the scales of architectural practice; she is recognised for her masterplanning and strategic abilities, as well as her in-depth knowledge of housing. Annalie is also well known for her ‘hands on’ expertise in architectural design and detailing. Her projects include Velocity, the winning entry to the 2018 Infrastructure Commission Competition for providing 200,000 new homes between Oxford and Cambridge. She is also leading on Park Hill Phase 2, plus projects for Croydon Council’s company Brick by Brick. Annalie studied architecture at Sheffield, after which she joined the circus on the static trapeze. Two years out in Paris saw her working for celebrated engineer Peter Rice. Annalie went ‘on the tools’, building her own house, Whatcotts Yard in 2002 – she did all the electrics and plumbing herself, knowing these trades are the most expensive. The project subsequently won the 2004 RIBA / AJ first Building award.

Having gained a reputation for designing exceptional individual private homes, David Mikhail established Mikhail Riches in order to improve the quality of housing across the UK. He has a focus on the masterplanning and delivery of places that encourage social connectedness at their heart. Every scheme he does encourages people to meet each other and actively participate in their neighbourhood. David’s RIBA Award winning domestic work often helps guide our thinking of what people want when they think of a home. His expertise lies in moulding architectural form from a range of strategic and detailed ideas into buildings that people love. David also has vast experience of both residential and mixed-use design for a range of different clients from the public and private sector. He has successfully achieved planning approvals for clients on tricky sites such as Conservation Areas, The Greenbelt and Listed Buildings through his in-depth understanding of design quality and taking time to thoroughly understand the opportunities of each site.

He has also been a successful developer at Church walk in Stoke Newington, purchasing a site at auction and building out four new homes, winning the Mayor of London / RIBA Best London Building of 2013 Award.

David was the director in charge for a number of our projects including the Stirling Prize winning, Goldsmith Street in Norwich for Norwich City, York Housing Delivery Programme for York City Council, St Andrew’s Riverside in Tiverton for Mid Devon Council, and Wimbourne Street and Buckland Street for Hackney Council.

Alan Ricks, AIA, Int FRIBA, Founding Principal & Chief Design Officer, Boston (USA)

Alan is a Founding Principal and the Chief Design Officer of MASS Design Group. He leads strategy and design of the 100-person non-for-profit practice, which has projects in over a dozen countries that range from design to research to policy. Alan will discuss the practice’s philosophy to expand the role of design in advancing a more just world.

In 2017 Alan and MASS were awarded the National Design Award for Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. First launched at the White House in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council, the annual Awards program celebrates design as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world, and seeks to increase national awareness of the impact of design through education initiatives. In 2018 Alan and MASS received the Arts and Letters Award for Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Alan is a member of The Forum of Young Global Leaders with the World Economic Forum, a community of over 800 men and women selected under the age of 40, who operate as a force for good to overcome barriers that elsewhere stand in the way of progress. The community is made up of leaders from all walks of life, from every region of the world, and from every stakeholder group in society.

Currently, he is the William B. and Charlotte Shepherd Davenport Visiting Professor at the Yale School of Architecture and has previously taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He regularly speaks, writes, and creates films focused on the role of architecture in catalysing social change. Chris Anderson, chief curator of TED, described his TED talk as “a different language about what architecture can aspire to be.” Alan has a Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College and a Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Wessel de Jonge (1957) is a practicing architect and a full professor of Heritage & Design at the Faculty of Architecture of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He founded WDJArchitecten in 1999 from the conviction that the redesign of existing buildings produces architecture with a special cultural significance and which - also because of this - is in principle sustainable. His portfolio includes Aldo van Eyck’s Orphanage in Amsterdam of 1960, the famous Sanatorium ‘Zonnestraal’ in Hilversum of 1928, and the rehabilitation of the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam of 1928, which has been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.

Wessel has been the founding Secretary of DOCOMOMO International, an NGO that stands up for the architectural heritage of the Modern Movement, in 1988. He has widely lectured and published internationally on the challenge of preserving recent architectural heritage. He was knighted in 2003 and was awarded the annual Architecture Prize of the Association of Dutch Architects in 2004 for his merit in and dedication to the revitalisation of buildings in theory, practice and education.

Kathryn Meghen is the CEO of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, an organisation with a far-reaching remit to promote, support and regulate the profession.  As CEO she oversees the development and implementation of RIAI policies and services to support the Members and deliver the RIAI Strategy.  In her conference presentation, Kathryn will update Members on the work of the RIAI in 2020 and provide an outlook to 2021.

Kathryn represents the RIAI on a number of external committees, including the Construction Industry Council, Construction Sector Group and the Architects Council of Europe where she chairs the Regulatory issues taskforce. She is on the editorial board of Architectural Ireland, house + design and the RIAI Annual Review, Irish Architecture. Her publications include the RIAI’s New Housing and New Housing 2 books as well as articles written for Architecture Ireland and National Media. 

RIAI President Ciaran O’Connor FRIAI will address the RIAI Conference and announce the winners of the RIAI Student Awards and RIAI Future Award.  As President of the RIAI, Ciaran is a strong supporter of architectural education especially through the OPW/RIAI Architectural Graduate Training Programme now in its 20th year. He has been previously involved with RIAI Council and various committees such as education and foreign affairs. He also serves on the Finance Committee. He has been a Past President of the Architectural Association of Ireland.

In 2012 the Irish Government appointed Ciaran O’Connor as the new State Architect and Principal Architect in the Office of Public Works.  Ciaran worked in Germany and Canada prior to joining the Office of Public Works.

Ciaran is a member of the OPW Management Board, responsible for Major Projects Unit and the Brexit Infrastructure Unit. He also leads and directs the Architectural and Professional Services who have responsibilities for a wide variety of works including new build, conservation and landscape projects. Many of these projects have been published. Citations include European, Triennial and national awards for conservation, new build and landscape projects. He is the main advisor to Government in relation to architectural matters and is presently completing the government’s Green Public Procurement document for Construction and inputting in the Government Policy on Architecture. He is co-author of six books and is an occasional visiting lecturer, critic and external examiner to Schools of Architecture.

We are delighted that Architect, artist, broadcaster and writer Róisín Murphy will moderate the RIAI Conference 2020. Róisín is the Presenter of Home Rescue on RTE1 and the resident Architect on Newstalk’s Home Show, which features her iconic object of design series. Qualifying with a first class honours degree in Architecture, Róisín had already established a reputation in the Irish design world, whilst still in college. She had won private commissions in London and had started a student movement ‘SADD’ campaigning for the conservation of Georgian Dublin. She was one of a new breed of ‘designer Irish’ awake citizens. Exhibiting student architectural work in Trinity College’s Atrium, she caught the attention of RTE and was interviewed on television. Once qualified, she began working in Douglas Wallace architects and rose to be a Director. Róisín subsequently set up her own practice.

Ciarán Cuffe, MEP

Ciarán Cuffe is a member of the European Parliament for Dublin with the Green Party. He sits on the Energy and Transport Committees of the Parliament, and serves as president of EUFORES, a European NGO that promotes the deployment of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. He is an architect and planner, and graduated in 2019 with a Masters in Cities from the London School of Economics. He has served as a Dublin City Councillor, TD for Dún Laoghaire, and Minister of State with responsibility for sustainable transport and climate change. He lives with his family in Stoneybatter in Dublin’s North Inner City.

Gráinne Shaffrey MRIAI, Shaffrey Architects

Gráinne Shaffrey is an architect, urban designer in private practice and Director of Shaffrey Architects. The practice is involved primarily with the existing urban context including reuse, repair and new interventions. Her work engages with cities at many levels of practice and, as a city centre dweller, she has skin in the game.

Charlotte Sheridan, MRIAI MRUP MIPI, Sheridan Woods

Charlotte Sheridan is a Director of Sheridan Woods, an architecture and urban planning practice which provides services across a broad range of urban projects, regeneration projects, housing, social, community and cultural infrastructure, many which were in receipt of RIAI and IPI awards. Charlotte has a keen interest in architectural education and has served as a member of the Route C Assessment Panel of the RIAI, and as external examiner in the DIT Professional Practice examination programme She has been a studio tutor in the School of Architecture (TU Dublin), and a tutor in the Masters in Regional and Urban Planning post-graduate degree course UCD, specialising in the town study project.  She was elected to the RIAI Council in 2018 and as Honorary Secretary for 2019-2020. She is a member of the Joint RIAI / DHLGH Housing and Sustainable Communities Committee and presented at the RIAI and IPI joint seminars on ‘Planning For Growth: How high-quality density can improve communities’, speaking on ‘Designing and Delivering Towns where People Want to Live.’

Eddie Conroy FRIAI, County Architect with South Dublin County Council

Eddie Conroy is County Architect with South Dublin County Council since 2007.  He has worked on a broad range of design projects – Housing, Public Buildings, Civic and Urban Design and is involved in the design of the Adamstown and Clonburris new-towns, Tallaght town centre and the new urban neighbourhoods of Kilcarbery in Clondalkin. He was one of the authors of the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets, a new national standard for Ireland. His current work includes the Innovation-Quarter regeneration project and the Heatnet district-heating project, both underway in Tallaght town centre.

Ruth O’Herlihy MRIAI, McCullough Mulvin Architects

Ruth O’Herlihy studied architecture in UCD, graduating in 1997. She joined McCullough Mulvin Architects in 1999 and became a Director in 2006. Along with the team, Ruth has worked on numerous award-winning buildings in Ireland as well as leading the team with Valerie Mulvin on Thapar University in India. Ruth has lead the Butler Gallery project which was opened in August 2020 – the first new gallery in Ireland in many years. Ruth has lectured internationally on the work of the practice. She is currently a Design Fellow at UCD, working in final year, and examines on the Professional Practice Diploma course. Ruth lives with her family in a modernist house designed by her grandparents, Mairin and Alan Hope.  

Michael Goan MRIAI, Land Development Agency

Michael Goan has recently joined the Land Development Agency as Urban Design & Sustainability Manager, having previously worked in private practice in Ireland and Australia, most recently as a director in GoKu. A graduate of DIT, he has also received an MSc in Architecture in Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies from the University of East London / CAT. He is a member and former chair of the RIAI’s Sustainability Task Force as well as the RIAI’s sectoral nominee to Dublin City Council’s SPC for Climate Action, Environment and Energy.

Dearbhla Lawson, Land Development Agency (LDA)

Dearbhla Lawson is an experienced strategic planner who leads the LDA’s planning function, working to optimise state land usage and contribute to making sustainable compact development happen. The LDA is working with partners to progress a pipeline of landmark housing projects including Shanganagh, which will be 100% social & affordable and designed to passive house standards. Dearbhla also recently worked with RIAI on the Limerick Colbert Station Quarter Design Review.

Claire McManus MRIAI, JFOC Architects

Claire is a Director of JFOC Architects, a practice that specialises in housing and has to date helped deliver over 9000 dwellings in Ireland. She is the RIAI Spokesperson on Housing and is a sitting member of the RIAI Council. She holds an MBA and is involved in the research and the development of RIAI policy with respect to Housing and Building Control.

Carole Pollard DipArch, BArchSc, MA, FRIAI

Carole is a graduate of Dublin School of Architecture at TU Dublin and holder of MA in History of Design from NCAD.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland (RIAI) and served as President for the term 2016/2017.  Her practice includes research, writing and lecturing on architectural history and practice and teaching at the Dublin School of Architecture, TU Dublin. She is the recipient of an Irish Research Council EPS Postgrad Award undertaking a PhD at UCD on the life and work of Irish C20th architect, Andrew Devane.

Carole is a champion of equal opportunity and fair employment. As RIAI President, Carole introduced a suite of RIAI Employment Contracts and established the annual RIAI Women in Architecture event which books out every year. She is Irish contributing editor for the upcoming Bloomsbury Encyclopaedia of Women in Architecture due for publication in 2022.