Burrell Foley Fischer LLP (BFF) are pleased to announce that Aidan Ridyard will be joining the practice, at Principal level, in October this year.
After studying at Birmingham School of Architecture, Aidan’s early career included ten years at Hickton Madeley Architects where he gained experience in the design and delivery of a range of projects for clients as diverse as theatres, conference facilities, and medical centres. He joined Broadway Malyan in 2006, establishing their new studio in Birmingham, and being appointed to the Board in 2009. His main role has been to lead Broadway Malyan’s education team, winning a number of prestigious design competitions, for schools, colleges and universities in the UK and overseas. He led the design teams for notable projects at Bournville College (Shortlisted for RIBA Award 2012) and Stoke on Trent Sixth Form College (Urban Vision (CABE) Building of the Year 2011) in the UK, as well as the British Council’s School in Madrid and the new American Community School in Doha.
Aidan has a particular passion for the design of spaces for teaching, learning and research, a philosophy running through a series of projects from schools to universities. His recent project for Coventry University’s new Health and Science building will commence on site in the New Year.
Aidan will join the three founding Principals of BFF, John Burrell, Mark Foley and Stefanie Fischer, who have been in practice together for more than three decades. They are recognised as one of the leading practices specialising in buildings for cinema, media and the performing arts, together with urban design, residential and educational design and the adaptation and restoration of historic buildings.
Their recent and current projects include the remodelling of the front of house areas of the Grade II Listed Cambridge Arts Theatre; a new Maths and Science building for Kingham Hill School in the Cotswolds, due to be completed later this year; the remodelling and extension of a former brewery depot building to form a new three-screen independent community cinema in Lewes, Sussex, recently submitted for planning; and a new build sports hall currently being designed for UWC Atlantic College, to respond to the historic terraced typology of their 160 acre grounds on the South Wales coast, with the Grade I Listed medieval St Donat’s Castle at its heart.
“I am looking forward to a very new challenge. I am delighted to be joining a firm with such an impressive portfolio across a wide range of sectors and with a high reputation for excellence in making very special buildings, crafted to address the unique challenges faced by their clients and genuinely loved by those who use them. The opportunity to work with John, Mark and Stefanie, assisting them in taking forward the practice they have built up over more than thirty years, is both a great responsibility and enormously exciting.”
- Aidan
“We are pleased that Aidan will be joining the practice this autumn and are looking forward to him becoming an integral part of Burrell Foley Fischer. The practice has always celebrated the design process in its entirety, placing an emphasis on how our buildings perform in the reality of their day-to-day context and Aidan’s unique portfolio demonstrates he shares this philosophy. We currently have an exciting range of commissions at feasibility stage, on the drawing board and on site and we look forward to building upon this with Aidan as part of our team; continuing the design ethos of the practice through our Principal led, client focused service.”
- John, Mark and Stefanie