Harris Irwin Architects is one of the UK’s leading, and award-winning, specialist care, extra care and dementia housing architectural practices.
Our clients rely upon our expertise and depth of knowledge to regularly assess the potential of new sites and provide design solutions which are deliverable, operable, profitable and beautiful; buildings and communities which we take pride in helping to form.
We are focused on constructing later-living buildings and communities which are completed to the highest standards. Our expertise within the sector allows us to continually improve and innovate the care environment, enhancing the experience of the residents, their guests and staff whilst being practical to build and efficient to operate.
We have completed 23 major residential care projects since we began 10 years ago and currently have 30-plus major residential care projects on site. The office is overseeing 40 care homes or care villages currently in the planning process with a further 16 instructed to planning.
Our Mission Statement, along with our Vision and Values can be viewed here.
Offices
Aske Stables, Richmond
Our head office is located in the beautiful county of North Yorkshire. Harris Irwin was established here in 2005 and we occupy a large space at Aske Hall Stables on the historic Aske estate which is owned by Lord Zetland on the outskirts of the picturesque market town of Richmond.
The stables have been converted into offices and this is where the majority of our staff are based. Just minutes from the A66 and A1 and with an east coast mainline station also within easy reach, our office at Aske is perfectly located.
With ample parking and meeting space, we enjoy welcoming clients to this part of North Yorkshire where they can’t fail to see how working in and around this stunning backdrop helps to fuel our creativity.
Switchboard Studios, London
In 2019 Harris Irwin Architects decided to expand with a permanent presence in the South; closer to many of our projects and clients.
We now have a vibrant, design-focused new office in North East London, fifteen minutes from Kings Cross and the M25. Switchboard Studios is a creative hub for architects, designers and artists. This mix of different disciplines creates a friendly and vibrant community, allowing different ideas to flourish. A shared meeting and activity space is used for community events and most recently a miniature donkey art class.
The office has rapidly expanded to a team of four and this is allowing the office to look outwards, towards new clients and opportunities where our specialist knowledge can bring meaningful benefits to the care sector. The office also functions as a useful meeting space and destination for other members of the office who are often in and around London and now have a dedicated workspace to take advantage of in-between meetings.
The London office is focused on feasibility, design and planning stages of projects.
Groningen, The Netherlands
We have held a presence in the Netherlands over a number of years, in the Dutch city of Groningen.
This has provided a base for expansion and enabled Harris Irwin to consolidate our growing research within the residential health care sector, to collaborate with experts in the field from a wider (European) community, and to continue to advance in health care design innovation and excellence.
The Netherlands base is focused on all aspects of health care design research, collaboration and early stage feasibility.
People
Mike Irwin
Executive Director
Mike Irwin
BA, March, ARB, RIBA
With over 25 years experience, Mike has a wealth of knowledge in a number of sectors. Since re-establishing Harris Irwin Associates in 2012 Mike has worked primarily in healthcare.
He has behind a number of key and award-winning projects at Harris Irwin including The Spires, Lichfield; Bramshott Grange, Liphook; and Pine Martin Grange, Wareham.
Juliette Irwin
Managing Director
Juliette Irwin
Director Juliette has been with Harris Irwin from its inception and operates as Practice Manager covering all aspects of the business with particular interest in team training and personal development.
Jeremy Hutchinson
Director
Jeremy Hutchinson
Joining as director in 2014 Jeremy has played an integral role in the development of the practice bringing with him an eye for detail with a particular emphasis on technical design solutions.
Jeremy is client lead on a number of projects including; Adanac Park, Montague House and Shipston Lodge.
Ian Holme
Director
Ian Holme
With over 30 years of experience working with many of the major private health care providers, Ian has an in-depth understanding and appreciation of key operational care requirements and ensuring that these are aligned with their design aspirations.
With a particular interest in dementia design, Ian has become a keen exponent in the development of new standards of accommodation which accord with the latest research into the condition.
Ian has been involved in the design of over 150 new build, extensions and refurbishment schemes all around the United Kingdom, providing residential and nursing care for the elderly and those with dementia.
Ian is passionate about design whilst delivering a pragmatic, personal, quality service to all our clients.
Working closely with his highly experienced and skilled team, Ian can provide bespoke service, tailored to accord with the clients specific service requirements.
Ian has led a number of projects which have gone on to win the prestigious Pinders Healthchare Design Awards, from Harper Fields winning in 2013 through to Brockington House and Albany Meadows winning in 2020
Ben Garlick
Director
Ben Garlick
BA, MArch, RIBA
Ben has over 11 years experience in architectural office working with the education and health care sectors delivering a range of projects from Nursery’s and 2fe primary schools, a variety of care homes and Local Centre’s including a surgery, as well as an award winning National Innovation Centre.
Ben works in a collaborative manner with both client and design team to initially understand the brief before implementing this through the wider team.
He has worked on various projects including the Bishops Stortford Western Local centre, New Lubbesthorpe 2FE Primary School, Local Centre and Nursery and the University of Sunderland teaching accommodation for the Institute of Health Sciences and Wellbeing.
John Gresham
Director
John Gresham
NVQ, BRE BIM AP, ACIAT
John has 30 years experience across all sectors of Design and Construction. His role is to manage and deliver robust technical packages sufficient for Tendering and Construction design stages.
John is an early pioneer of Revit, now the industry standard tool for projects delivered using BIM (Building Information Modelling). HIA is also an ISO.9001 Quality Management accredited practice, John leads our QMS accreditation and its ongoing development and auditing processes.
The projects he has been involved with are a 32-bedroom care home and apartment complex in Exeter; a new build care home, nursery and GP surgery in Aylesbury; and a new Energy Centre at University Hospital of North Tees.
Stewart Anderson
Associate Director
Stewart Anderson
HNC, HND, Bsc, ACIAT
Stewart has over 24 years architectural experience in both Scotland and England across many different sectors. Recently he has delivered a number of design and build care home projects and prides himself on running an effective and efficient technical team and maintaining good relationships with contractors and clients alike.
Project examples include an 80-bedroom care home in Eastbourne; an 80-bedroom care home in Egham; an 70-bedroom care home in Lichfield; and 67-bedroom care home in Liphook.
Rob McCartney
Associate
Rob McCartney
BA Hons, Dip Arch, ARB, RIBA
Since qualifying as an architect in 2017, Rob has gained extensive experience working within the healthcare sector as well as the residential and commercial sectors. Recentlym Rob has been working closely with key Harris Irwin clients to design and deliver a number of projects from initial feasibility design to planning submission and on into the construction stages.
Rob is a trusted and respected member of the team who has a passion for high quality design. His passion for architecture extends beyond that of his own work at the practice to his on going involvement with the local RIBA North East branch, where Rob was asked to be a judge of the 2020 RIBA North East Student Awards as well as his reprised role as a RIBA student mentor.
Project examples include a 64-bedroom care home in Weybridge, a 60-bedroom care home in Shalford and a 68-bedroom care home in Wallington.
Andy Plaice
Associate
Andy Plaice
Richard Woodcock
Associate
Richard Woodcock
BSc, BArch, ARB, RIBA, RIAS
Richard has over 15 years experience in the private healthcare sector designing and delivering a wide variety of care homes, extra care and assisted living housing for the elderly for some of the countries leading care providers. Richard’s close relationship with clients has been key in developing and implementing their requirements in successful schemes.
Richard attended the Dementia Services Development Centre Course at Stirling University Course and has been involved in a number of care home projects where providing a dementia friendly environment was key. These include Brockington House Care Home, Hereford, which won best new care home in the 2020 Pinders Healthcare Design Awards, and Albany Meadows Independent Living, Balsall Common, which won best independent living scheme in the same awards.
Robert Aasht
Senior Technologist
Robert Aasht
Sam Barker
Technologist
Sam Barker
Alex Bird
Architectural Assistant
Alex Bird
Michael Bond
Senior Technician
Michael Bond
Angela Crosby
Architect
Angela Crosby
BA (Hons), MSc, MArch, PgDip, ARB
Angela joined Harris Irwin in autumn 2017 and become a fully qualified Architect in autumn 2021. With a BA degree in Architecture and a MSc degree in Digital Architecture, she is currently involved with several large projects on behalf of our residential care customers, including Highfield in Tadcaster.
