Embracing architects and promoting quality architecture.
We are a forward-thinking Livery Company that achieves its aims through education, mentoring, awards and philanthropy.
The Architects’ Company, formally known as The Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects, is a modern Livery Company that was given the royal charter in 2019.
The Company promotes quality architecture in the City of London and the architectural profession globally; it supports education through awards and prizes as well as a range of charities related to the City.
The Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects achieved Livery status in 1988 – just four years after it was founded in 1984, and received the Royal Charter in 2019 and ranks ninety-eighth in the order of precedence for Livery Companies. Information about the current Officers and Court Members may be found on these Company pages.
Meet the current Master and Wardens
Master
Giles Murphy
After King’s College School Wimbledon, Giles graduated from Bristol University in 1991. Shortly thereafter he joined the professional and financial services business, Smith & Williamson (now Evelyn Partners) where he worked for 33 years.
Giles qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1994 and is one of the three Managing Partners of the accountancy firm Xeinadin.
Giles is the son of Stuart Murphy, one of the original founding fathers, and Past Master, of the Company and is one of the 10% of the Company’s members that are not chartered architects, but are passionate about the promotion of quality architecture and the built environment.
Giles is Parish Clerk of St Lawrence Jewry and a Liveryman of the Merchant Taylors’ and Chartered Accountants’ Livery Companies. He and his wife Pippa have three grown up children, Ella, Georgia and Oscar and live in Esher, Surrey.
Upper Warden
Chris Bicknell
Educated at Highgate School, Chris then went on to qualify in Architectural Studies at Bath University and achieved his professional Architectural qualifications at the University of Sheffield in 1991.
He subsequently qualified with a Masters in Facilities Management at Westminster University. Chris continues to mentor students at Westminster and Bath Universities and is a Professional Practice Assessor at DeMontford University.
Chris has been a member of the WCCA since 2003 and has contributed much to the Company through committees, stewarding and being active on the Court as a Court Assistant. Chris and his partner Sara now split their time between London and Yorkshire.
Renter Warden
Nigel Ostime
Nigel is principal of Ostime Consulting, providing project and practice management services to architects and other construction professionals. He has a keen interest in modern methods of construction and has been involved in the development of industry standards for government and the BSI, digital tools to improve productivity for affordable housing providers and guidance on ‘Design for Manufacture and Assembly’ for the RIBA.
He is author of a number of books on project and practice management and is a visiting lecturer at several schools of architecture.
Nigel and his wife Ellie live in North London and have three children, Nicholas, Alex and Madeline.
He is a keen cyclist and enjoys tackling the cols of Hertfordshire at weekends.
Junior Warden
Femi Oresanya
Having attended Wandsworth Boys School in Southfields, London, Femi went on to study at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University. He became a Chartered Architect in 1995.
He is also Honorary Visiting Professor at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, a part time Tutor at Cardiff University and a RIBA Part 3 External Examiner at the University of Cambridge.
In 2020, he was elected as one of the six RIBA Council Members to represent London. In 2023 he was re-elected and was also voted in as Honorary Treasurer.
He is married to Gillian and they have two sons. Femi was admitted to the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects in 2021 and has served as a Court Assistant since 2023.
Welcoming a new student at Court
Other useful company information
Company Clerk
Lyndon Jones
clerk@architectscompany.org
Clerk to the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects
Temple Bar
Paternoster Lodge
2 Paternoster Square
London EC4M 7DX
Telephone 07831 865513
Past Masters of the Worshipful Company
- sadly deceased
John Robson REID OBE DL1988 *
Norman Alexander ROYCE OBE 1989 *
John Robert Glamis WHEATLEY 1990 *
Peter LUSCOMBE 1991 *
Stuart John MURPHY 1992 *
Brian Ashley BARKER OBE 1993 *
John Michael WELBANK MBE 1994 *
David John COLE-ADAMS 1995
Sylvia Mary REID 1996 *
Julian Charles RYDER RICHARDSON 1997 *
John Howard PENTON MBE 1998 *
Peter Grenville Hurst DALE 1999 *
Patricia Helen (Lady) STEWART MBE 2000
Michael Peter WEST 2001 *
Brian Richard Anthony WATERS 2002
Alan George Colin DOWNING 2003
Nigel THOMSON 2004
Richard Gilbert SAXON CBE 2005
John Graham MILLARD 2006 *
Jonathan Macartney BALL MBE 2007
Windsor Ian HEAD 2008
Roger FRANCE 2009
David Edward KING 2010
Michael David John WILKEY 2011
Mervyn Keith MILLER 2012
Jacqueline Frances HOWES 2013
Canon Dr Andrew Geoffrey PURVES 2014
Peter Gerald Stewart MURRAY OBE 2015
Richard Graham BRINDLEY 2016
Stephen Leslie WAGSTAFFE 2017
Barry MUNDAY 2018
Valerie OWEN LE VAILLANT OBE 2019 and 2020
Philip Leslie COOPER 2021
Christopher Edward DYSON 2022
Christopher WILLIAMSON 2023
Honorary Liverymen and Freemen
Richard England (July 2023)
Richard England was born in Malta in 1937 and graduated in Architecture from the University of Malta. He continued his studies in Italy at the Milan Polytechnic while working as a student-architect in the studio of the Italian architect-designer Gio Ponti. England is also a poet, sculptor, photographer and artist and the author of several books (art, architecture, mythology and religion.) Monographs have been published on his work by Charles Knevitt, Edwin Heathcote, Chris Abel, Dennis Sharp and Maurizio Vitta, and writers on his work include Renzo Piano, Daniel Libeskind, Juhani Pallasmaa, Paolo Portoghesi and Mario Botta. England holds professorships at various universities in the U.S.A, U.K. and Europe and he is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Vice-President of the International Academy of Architecture, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Officer of The Order of Merit of the Government of Malta. His buildings have earned him numerous International prizes and awards, including the C.I.C.A. silver medal, the 2000 Belgrade Architectural Triennale Gold Medal and the 2006 International Academy of Architecture Grand Prix. He was also the recipient of the 2012 International Academy of Architecture Annual Award, the Malta Kamra Tal-Periti Life Time Achievement Galizia prize, and the Commonwealth Association of Architects Robert Matthew Award. In 2020 he was appointed Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia.
Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli (April 2023)
Michael Raymond Mainelli is a scientist and economist. He founded Z/Yen, the City of London’s leading think-tank and venture firm, in 1994. Z/Yen is renowned for its Global Financial, Green Finance, and Smart Centres indices, as well as notable ‘firsts’ in technology research. He has advised numerous governments and municipalities around the world. Michael was educated at Harvard, Trinity College Dublin, and with a PhD from the London School of Economics, where he was also Visiting Professor in innovation and IT.
Michael also completed the first digital maps of the world in 1983, he is a fellow of Kings College London, Goodenough College, and Gresham College, visiting professor at UCL’s Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction and Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple.
He is active in twelve livery companies, past Master of the World Traders, an Alderman of the City of London for Broad Street and late Sheriff of the City of London 2019-2021, with charity interests in the environment, education, and care.
His third book, written with Ian Harris, ‘’The Price Of Fish: A New Approach To Wicked Economics And Better Decisions’’, this won the Independent Publisher Book Awards Finance, Investment & Economics Gold Prize.
Sheila O’Donnell & John Toumey, Founders O’Donnell & Tuomey (July 2022)
Christopher Coombe, Solicitor – Linklaters LLP (April 2022)
Professor Jan Gehl (April 2022)
Eva Jiřičná, CBE (January 2022)
Sir Stuart Lipton (January 2000)
Honorary Freemen of the Company:
David Wylie (April 2016)
Ann Head (October 2016)
Rev Canon David Parrott (April 2024)
Very Rev Andrew Tremlett (January 2025)
Previous Clerks to the Company
Lt. Col. Peter MILO OBE (1985 – 1986)
Bertie VIGRASS OBE (1986 – 1987)
Colin DOWNIE (1987 – 1989)
Leonard William GROOME OBE (1989-1995)
John Pankhurst GRIFFITHS (1995 – 2000)
David John COLE-ADAMS (2000 – 2012)
Ian HEAD (2012 – 2016)
Jonathan Michael SOAR (2016 – 2019)
Phil GIBBS (2019 – 2021)
Cheryl REID (2021 – 2024)
Duties and Responsibilities Liverymen And Freemen
One of the main duties of a Liveryman of a City Company is to attend annually at Guildhall for the election of Sheriffs of the City (on Midsummer Day in June) and the Lord Mayor of London (on Michaelmas Day in September) at meetings known as “Common Hall”. This is an ancient privilege and one which should be taken seriously by all Liverymen. They should regard it as an obligation, not only to exercise their franchise, but also to examine with care the qualifications and relative claims of those who aspire to fill the high office of Lord Mayor or Sheriff of London.
Freemen and Liverymen of the Company are expected to attend all formal Company functions, unless prevented from so doing by good cause, as well as attending as many as possible of the less formal occasions, such as visits to buildings, talks on current problems facing the profession and other social occasions.
Since one of the main reasons for the existence of modern Livery Companies is to support the Charitable and Educational needs of the profession, Freemen and Liverymen are also expected to give to the Company’s Charitable Trust Fund by way of regular donations which enable tax relief to be obtained via Gift Aid.
Charitable Trust Fund
Contact: Audrey Hesse, Clerk to the Company of Chartered Architects Charitable Trust
Email: ctclerk@architectscompany.org
The Trust was originally set up in 1987, and its constitution amended in 2023. It is administered by the Trustees and the objectives of the Trust are:
a. The relief of poverty of persons generally and in particular of those persons engaged in the profession of Architecture and their dependants;
b. the advancement of education in any manner which now or hereafter may be deemed by law to be charitable of persons engaged or desiring to engage in the profession of Architecture or elsewhere in industry and commerce generally and to provide or contribute towards the provision of all requisite facilities in connection therewith;
c. charitable research in the field of the science, art and practice of architecture or otherwise for the advancement of the education of persons engaged or desiring to engage in the profession of Architecture provided that the useful results of such research shall be disseminated and without prejudice to the generality of foregoing the provision of financial support and facilities for those engaged in such research and the award of bursaries and awards in connection therewith;
d. to award to persons intending to be engaged in the profession of Architecture or elsewhere in the professions and commerce generally scholarships and exhibitions at any educational establishment approved by the Managing Trustees;
e. to make awards in connection with the examination of educational bodies;
f. to make awards in furthering the advancement of architectural standards;
g. to assist in general or professional or commercial education any persons in necessitous circumstances who are preparing to enter the profession of Architecture or commerce generally or other profession by the provision of books, the payment of fees and the defrayment of expenses of traveling or maintenance, or by such other means as the Managing Trustees may think fit
h. to make donations to any registered charity.
The Trust fund quickly grew in size in its first years of existence due to many generous donations from outside the Company as well as from donations and covenants from members of the Company. The assets now (2025) stand at around £1.2million.