Archives: Speakers

Joost has two decades of professional experience with a focus on complex retail, office, master planning, residential projects across Europe and Asia. His site specific and highly contextual design approach capitalises on the urban and environmental potential of each project, and he brings an enriched sense of place that is carefully woven into the fabric of his work. Joost has a wide range of skills covering design, construction detail, project coordination and administration across a range of retail, office, residential, and master planning projects. Integral in his vision for the future of our built environment is his love and passion for the global city and the natural outdoors. This contrast exemplifies that we should be very careful with our scarce space. Densifying and improving our cities, using space smarter, while preserving open space for our wellbeing. He is currently working on an ongoing master plan that rethinks the World Trade Center in Amsterdam, which, when complete, will create an urban business destination providing office space to more than 300 companies and 30 different nationalities. Previously, Joost worked for architectural practices in Amsterdam and Los Angeles. His responsibilities included the master planning, design and construction management of Hoog Catharijne in Utrecht, redeveloping the existing outdated shopping centre into a vibrant mixed-use destination. The award-winning project is one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe Other projects include large mixed-use developments in Russia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Philippines, China, and the UK. Joost earned his Master of Architecture degree from the faculty of Architecture at the Technical University in Delft, The Netherlands. He also studied a semester at the Escuela Technica Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid, Spain and at the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA . Joost is a registered Architect in the Netherlands and a member of various professional organizations. He is a member of the ULI Next board in the Netherlands and speaks regularly at conferences and events.

Laurens Tait is a Director within the Cities and Transport Business of Arup in the Netherlands. The theme that drives Laurens Tait’s work is the development of a better understanding of how design and policy influences the (mobility) choices that people make and the influence that these choices have on social / economic / ecological outcomes at architectural / masterplan / district / city / national scale. With more than 20 years of experience in mobility related projects, Laurens has developed a wealth of experience in a.o. Mobility Planning, Active Mobility, Intelligent Transport Systems, Station design, Highways design, and Pricing Policy. As a transport specialist, Laurens’ design work covers the fields transport planning, civil engineering design, and delivery (hardware, software, orgware delivery). Laurens has worked on a range of projects including policy work for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water (IenW), work on multiple masterplan design developments for City Authorities and Developers, as well as mobility analysis and design for complex transport-focused urban developments such as Amsterdam’s ZuidasDok. 

Joining Zaha Hadid Architects in 2004, Michele specialises in mixed-use and high-rise development, whilst also working on a variety of exhibition schemes as well as selected furniture and interiors products. Michele recently served as project director for the Morpheus in Macau, China and is currently directing several largescale projects across Australia and eastern Asia, including residential towers in Melbourne, a memorial institute in Phnom Penh, a private penthouse apartment in Beijing, the Singapore New Science Centre, the Unicorn Island in Chengdu and the Shanghai campus of the China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group (CECEP). Michele previously led the team on the d’Leedon Apartments, a masterplanned residential development in Singapore and his experience includes the CMA CGM Headquarters in Marseille and the Glasgow Riverside Museum. He has also collaborated with Zaha Hadid Design (ZHD) on products including the Flow vase, the Dune Formation furniture system and the Zaha Hadid exhibition in Padua, Italy. He also worked on ALIS, part of the ‘High-performing Urban Ecologies’ installation by Zaha Hadid Architects for the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021.

Mathew Vola is a structural engineer and project director with over 20 years of experience in delivering iconic projects on time and to budget in Europe, Australia and East Asia. Since joining Arup in 2007, Mathew has lead multi-disciplinary engineering teams in the design and delivery of lighthouse projects predominantly in the Property and Social Infrastructure markets. In addition to his role as Design Lead for Sustainable Property, Mathew also leads the Climate and Sustainability Services portfolio for the Netherlands Group and the Computational Design Skills Network for the Europe Region. Keen to harness digital innovation, Mathew is currently working to develop the next-generation buildings that meet the requirement of our times. Mathew has been responsible for the engineering of one the tallest residential timber developments in the world, HAUT. Other recent project work includes the advanced parametric design modelling for Elements. Mathew is fluent in Dutch and English and proficient in German.

Maria is an established thought-leader within the hospitality design world, admired for her roll call of exceptional and award-winning projects, sought out by discerning property owners and respected for the value she brings to all her work. She is as confident in imagining large, imposing spaces as she is in creating cosy niches; whether designing the boldly contemporary or within the classical genre, she draws on location and cultural heritage to create something unique. An architect by training and an interior designer by choice, she combines visionary use of space with design that reaches out beyond trend, that is commercially astute, innovative and delightfully surprising. Maria established MKV Design in London in 2000 after an early career which had taken her from Athens to Milan and onto the UK. Since then, she has cultivated a business which has worked across Europe, in the Middle East and in Africa. Current/recent projects include: Bürgenstock Resort in Switzerland; Costa Navarino, Greece; Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Budapest; the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane; Grand Hyatt Athens; Mykonos Grand Hotel & Resort; Athens Capital Centre Hotel – MGallery Collection; Grand Hyatt Hotel & Residences, Abu Dhabi; and Hôtel Royal Savoy in Lausanne.

Marco is a passionate engineer with a strong focus on sustainability and innovation. Having started work with Drees & Sommer in Stuttgart, Germany, Marco relocated to Asia to set up the engineering department in Shanghai where he stayed over 4 years working on landmark projects such as the Peoples’ Bank of China and the Pudong Art Museum. Marco moved to London at the start of 2019 and has helped the UK team to drive future topics such as Circular Economy, Cradle to Cradle© and Customised Smart Buildings, which form part of ‘the blue way’, a core principle at Drees & Sommer which combines economy, ecology and functionality in design, construction and consultancy.

Oliver joined Make in 2017 to deliver 80 Charlotte Street, a major mixed-use scheme in Fitzrovia, comprising commercial, residential, and retail accommodation and a small public park.  Designed as Net Zero Carbon it is the first All-Electric building for developer Derwent London. Oliver established and leads Make’s internal sustainability working group, Make Neutral aiming to equip every Maker with the information and skills they need to enact change both on projects and in the practice itself. The group oversees internal sustainability education, materials research, conducting project sustainability reviews and progressing the practices approach such as sustainability inductions for new starters; and setting out a framework for reducing our design impact through a Sustainable Design Toolkit. Oliver represents Make on built environment industry-wide sustainability groups, including UKGBC, and has been a panel member for Built Environment Networking and the CTA. He led the team creating the competition-winning animated 3D centrepiece for UKGBC’s virtual pavilion at COP26, which tells the story of the built environment’s resource-hungry supply chain and construction process, demonstrating how we may transition to a circular economy to enable the restoration of our natural world. He is now designing Salford Rise, a green bridge within Salford Crescent Masterplan, of which he is also the masterplanning architect and design guardian. Oliver is a member of the RIBA Schools Visiting Board, which validates schools of architecture across the UK, and is a USGBC LEED-accredited professional (building design and construction). He leads the BCO Next Gen Carbon action area, and is frequently a guest on podcasts investigating sustainability in the built environment.