Our Team
We currently have a core team of three, with associated specialist consultants. All staff are fully committed to ecological design, and bring their specialist experience in associated areas.
Core Staff:
Architectural design and technology: Andy Simmonds, Adele Mills, Tim Crosskey
Specialist consultants:
Energy and Services: David Olivier (Energy Advisory Associates) and / or Alan Clarke
Engineering: Bob Johnson
We are well-used to adapting our design meeting format and modes of presentation to the size and type of client group involved. We use (3D) sketches and models to easily convey ideas to those unused to reading technical drawings. In addition we use computer aided design to present 3D drawings of design schemes.
The practice has an extensive track record of completed ecological buildings for a range of individuals, NGO's, councils, schools and charities:
Clients have included: Helena Housing Association, Marches Housing Association, Melin Housing Association, Disability Essex, National Centre for Alternative Technology,
National Trust, County Naturalists' Trusts, Six Bells Trust, Shropshire County Council, Caerphilly County Council,
E.Sussex CC, Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Keyhole Trust, Green Wood Trust, Severn Gorge Countryside Trust, also various Primary and Secondary schools.
Adele Mills is a Partner in Simmonds.Mills and previously worked as an architect for Leeds Federated Housing Association, private practices in Bristol and Liverpool, and has done general building and carpentry work on a variety of projects. She has particular experience of hands-on building training for women, and has been a design tutor at Cardiff University School of Architecture. She has worked as as both a designer and a builder.
Andrew Simmonds is an architectural designer and partner in Simmonds.Mills Architects and part-time Chief Executive of AECB - the sustainable building association.. Early building work experience was with historic buildings, windmills, waterwheels and bridges, learning about stonework, lime mortars, timber, and metalwork. He later worked for conservation Architects Caroe and Martin. Work with NBA Tectonics (National Building Agency) involved high rise housing refurbishment, production of energy efficiency case studies and technical building guides for government departments. This included ETSU's passive solar programme, developing energy efficient designs for the mass market with architects, clients and housing developers.
The two year Hooke Park course covered carpentry skills, timber product design, manufacturing and engineering, computer skills and marketing. He specialised in researching construction methods utilising homegrown timber culminating in the construction of a roundwood / rammed earth prototype building.
Through long-standing membership of the AECB, he has developed working relationships with the leading designers and tradespeople in the field of ecological building. Being both designer and builder, he has gained practical insights into the viability of ecological techniques, and has taken up on-the-job training of other trades people. He has run training courses and seminars in earth building and timber use, and ecological and energy efficient building generally.
Andrew led the development of the AECB energy standards and initiated the AECB CarbonLite programme. He also led the AECB team supporting the Technology Strategy Board's 'Retrofit for the Future' competition, including developing the low energy buildings database, and worked with colleagues, setting up the Passivhaus Trust to bring to the mainstream the work of AECB CarbonLite. He has recently worked with David Olivier on the AECB commissioned energy policy and low carbon infrastructure report 'Less is More - Energy Security after Oil'. He talks widely on effective low energy building design and construction - and is currently focusing on various initiatives relating to delivering best practice for low energy retrofitting of different types of UK buildings - in the context of 'Less is More'.
Tim Crosskey worked for various practices in London and Yorkshire prior to joining Simmonds.Mills (Plan Shop Archts., Architype, Constructive Individuals and E-Arc); where he specialised in self-build housing, health centres, schools, religious and community buildings.
We have all been involved in facilitating design workshops with both children and adults, and are committed to making the design and production of ecological buildings inclusive, empowering and fun! We are used to working with people with little experience of visualising designs from technical drawings, or of the pragmatics of buildings.
We have run training courses and seminars in earth building and timber use, and ecological and energy efficient building generally.