Plan A Consultants Ltd

Fancy a change of career in 2025? We are hiring! We are looking for Design Managers and Senior Design Managers to join our London & Cape Town teams. Along with working with many of the world’s best architects and designers on high-profile UK and international design projects, we provide a supportive and vibrant team culture, comprehensive benefits package centred around wellness and opportunities for career advancement. For more information and how to apply, please see our website or our LinkedIn page ➡ Plan A Consultants Ltd

🎄 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at Plan A! 🎄 As we close out another year, we just want to take a moment to thank everyone who has played a role in making it an incredible one. To our clients, we’re so grateful for your partnership. It’s been a pleasure working with you all, and we’re excited for what is ahead in the New Year. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season. Here’s to 2025! 🎉✨

It was a pleasure attending The Stadium Business Design & Development Summit 2024 last week and catching up with existing connections and forging new relationships. Particularly enjoyable was learning about the challenges and development of the Everton Football Club Stadium project alongside our friends at Buro Happold, BDP Pattern and AECOM. Additionally, the insights into future trends in the sports sector shared by KSS Architects were invaluable. As we reflect on these conversations, we are eager to explore sector growth, new opportunities, and learnings from past projects in the Sports and Entertainment sector for the upcoming year. We look forward to building on this knowledge in collaboration with our established and expanding network within the industry. A special mention goes to woo architects for receiving The Stadium Business ‘Innovation Award’ for their exemplary work on the Paris 2024 Olympics. For further discussions on sports stadia, arenas, events, and collaborative opportunities, please contact our Sports & Entertainment Sector Leads, Ryan Farthing and Natalie Jones. #deisgnmanagement #sportssector #stadiumbusinessdesign

🌱 Giving back to our community at Stepney City Farm! 🌱 Last week, our team swapped office chairs for wheelbarrows and laptops for gardening tools as we spent the day volunteering at Stepney City Farm! 🐓 The farm is a registered charity founded in 1978 which, with the help of volunteers and visitors, raise animals, grow organic produce, and educates visitors, particularly local school children, about the origins of food and sustainable living practices. They are a rural oasis at the heart of the local community, providing a unique educational resource in Tower Hamlets. From helping with maintenance around the farm to feeding the animals, it was an incredible opportunity to get hands-on and support this wonderful community space. A big thank you to everyone at Stepney City Farm for making us feel so welcome and for all the hard work you do every day. At Plan A Consultants, we’re committed to finding ways to support our local community — this is just one of many initiatives to come! 👏

Associate Director Ryan Farthing and Associate Design Manager Natalie Jones are excited to represent our Sports and Entertainment Sector at The Stadium Business Design and Development Summit, taking place from 2nd to 4th December at Emirates Old Trafford, Lancashire Cricket Club in Manchester. This event is always a great opportunity to connect and collaborate. If you’re attending, don’t hesitate to reach out to Ryan and Natalie to arrange a meeting! #designmanagement #sportssector #stadiumdesign

Plan A Consultants are increasingly seeing reuse on their projects. Plan A’s Technical Director, Simon England, attended London Build Expo this week found the sustainability discussions on Adaptive Reuse particularly insightful. Key takeaways from the panel discussion: Learning from the past: Simon Davis Ba(Hons) Dip Arch RIBA shared how revisiting one of RSHP’s 20-year-old projects revealed how even a 10% improvement in performance can make a big difference. As what was once cutting-edge is no longer so. 🏛 Historical context: James Allison reminded us that adaptive reuse is nothing new - dating back to Roman times where material scarcity drove repurposing long before it became a buzzword. 📖 Storytelling for impact: Debbie Ward emphasized that carbon isn’t tangible for many outside our industry. Storytelling can bridge that gap, making sustainability more accessible. 🌿 The Net Zero Standard: Alastair Donn highlighted the upcoming Net Buildings Standard and urged industry engagement in the consultation, with pilot projects offering valuable lessons. 💻 Balancing high-tech and adaptability: James cautioned against overly complex solutions that hinder future adaptability, pointing to Bennetts Associates’ ongoing research. ⚠ Heritage challenges: Nicola Forest raised the complexities of retaining fabric like windows in heritage buildings, noting the importance of developers potentially splitting the risks of building unknowns with contractors to enable reuse. Across the panel, there was a shared call to incentivise reuse, challenge the allure of "shiny new buildings," and shift perceptions. A strong vision, as James noted, is key to securing buy-in for sustainable approaches. #LondonBuildExpo #designmanagement #sustainability

A big thank you to Ria Kalsi from Matriarch for returning to the office to lead another engaging and thought-provoking workshop for our team. This time the session ‘Inside the Looking Glass’ focused on unconscious bias – Matriarch’s ultimate self-reflection experience. The interactive workshop explored key topics such as normativity, stereotypes, unconscious bias, microaggressions, and strategies for addressing these issues, alongside tips for self-advocacy. It was an invaluable opportunity for our team to engage in meaningful conversation and foster open, honest discussion on these important topics. #unconsciousbias #DEI #CPD

Our team had an incredible evening at the Building Awards last night, celebrating our shortlisting for Building’s Good Employer of the Year and Consultant of the Year (fewer than 100 employees). We were thrilled to receive a high commendation for Good Employer of the Year, a testament to the hard work and dedication of our amazing team over the past year. The evening was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our achievements and celebrate together. A HUGE well done to all of the team behind UCL Marshgate winning Building Magazine Project of the Year! Marshgate was a really big project win for Plan A when we were a relatively new start up back in 2016 and marked the first of multiple collaborations with Stanton Williams, supporting them to manage the design process. We’re so pleased for everyone involved! Congratulations to all the winners. It was great to catch up with industry colleagues and friends, and thanks to Building Magazine for hosting a great evening celebrating excellence in the construction industry. #buildingawards #designmanagement #goodemployer

Recapping Black History Month at Plan A! October was Black History Month in the UK and our D&I team were busy filling up our calendars. We ordered lunch for our CPDs throughout the month from local black-owned kitchens; in the wise words of Tori Obedein “reclaiming the narrative around what is good food” and celebrating the history that our food can tell us. We were lucky enough to enjoy Ghanian from Spinach & Agushi Supper Club, Nigerian from Alhaji SUYA and Jamaican from Dub Pan. Our book swap, which aims to celebrate and amplify black voices, takes place year-round and we had many of the team continue to take part. We finished the month with a walking tour with the City of London Guides. Our guide was Bex Couper, who is passionate about bringing the hidden aspects of our city to a wider audience. We weaved past some key stops including Fen Court, Leadenhall Market, the Jamaica Coffee House and finishing at St Mary’s Woolnoth, whilst reframing the narrative around the transatlantic slave trade. It was fantastic to see parts of the city that we walk past daily and uncover untold stories whilst discovering new corners and alleyways. Thank you Bex! #blackhistorymonth #EDI

Sustainability in cultural projects presents unique challenges that go beyond typical building practices. Our latest article by Design Manager Peter Chinnock explores how museums are tackling these issues and finding innovative solutions to integrate sustainability while preserving their rich heritage. This is a key topic at International Museum Construction Congress this week which David Palmeri and Patrick Arends are attending on behalf of Plan A Consultants Ltd. #sustainability #museums #culturalsector #designmanagement Read the article here 👇 https://lnkd.in/gV6XBkrS