Formed in 1990, the practice now has design studios in Birmingham and London, and has built a strong reputation for a design approach based on clear thinking, innovative buildings and visionary masterplanning.
Currently, the practice’s work is positively transforming large parts of the UK that will enrich lives by creating thriving sustainable places and communities.
Howells started out in Birmingham and holds a deep and long-standing relationship with the city — inspiring the practice’s industriousness, resourcefulness and commitment to craft and making.
In Birmingham, Howells has been involved in most of the important projects within the city over the last thirty years, including Paradise, the comprehensive reworking of one of the most complex and strategic urban sites in the city. The transformation of Paradise into a thriving, walkable mixed-use quarter, integrating the city’s most celebrated Grade I and II* listed civic buildings, has successfully helped to green the city, and attract international businesses to grow the city’s economy.
Howells was instrumental in helping the city develop its Big City Plan including the district that will be shaped by the arrival of HS2 and is working on many other key projects including Port Loop, the new home for the BBC at Typhoo Wharf and Our Future City with Birmingham City Council to grow the city core through new housing-led, low-carbon infrastructure.
In London, Howells is best known for its work in the rapidly developing East, including London City Island, home to English National Ballet’s HQ, and Royal Wharf, a new piece of the city creating over 4,000 homes. Howells is currently working on masterplans in Edgware and Newham alongside transformational urban projects throughout the UK.
Outside the UK, Howells is now working on a range of regeneration and cultural projects in countries including Ireland, Europe and Australia.
Howells’ founder Glenn Howells continues to lead the practice working on projects and driving forward thinking on how to create better cities and buildings to meet future challenges alongside partners Dav Bansal, Darren Barbier, Shauna Bradley, David Henderson, Alan McCartney, Daniel Mulligan, Will Poole, Reinhold Schmaderer and Sandeep Shambi.
Glenn Howells says:
“We have a team of brilliant people working on a wide range of projects around the world. We have built a strong reputation for our work, with every project being created from first principles by clear thinking. Our new, simplified name, Howells, reflects this clarity and our range of projects whilst retaining our heritage.”
Dav Bansal adds:
“It is critically important for us that our name reflects the strength and breadth of leadership that has been grown here over decades.”
Shauna Bradley added:
“With a diverse and talented team that is full of energy and great ideas, we wanted a name that is reflective of the wider group of people that make our practice what it is."
Will Poole says:
“As Howells, we are about more than architecture, using our wide-ranging expertise to create clarity out of complexity”