25 Years of Practice

We are celebrating 25 years of incredible architecture, inspiring people and our journey so far.

In 1997 Edward Keelaghan, Ian Hurlstone and Alan Johnson founded what is now Noviun Architects. 

Since then we have delivered over 500 schools amounting to roughly 250,000 school places, developed the first ever ‘Free School Boarding School’, delivered in excess of 50no SEN Schools and sponsored nearly 70% of our current staff in furthering their career through education!

0
Years Experience
0 +
Schools
0 +
School Places Created
0 +
Members of the Team

What We Do

Since our founding in 1997, we have grown from a small office within a Hospital to 30+ architectural professionals in the heart of Chichester. Our clients range from private individuals to multinational corporations and top-tier public institutions.

Did you know?

Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, officially opened Holyport College on Friday 28th November 2014.

Photo – MajestyMagazine

Inspiring People

We are an architectural practice built around its people. This is evidenced by having staff working with us for 10, 20 and 30+ years and we continue to grow and take on new members of staff each year, including throughout the pandemic, which has been a challenging time within the industry.

Noviun’s commitment to people development goes beyond the practice, we also get involved in professional interviews and mentoring at the universities across the south coast. We offer work experience to pupils as well as being part of the RIBA Student Mentoring programme with several of our architects taking part. 

We have also mentored architectural technologists at the Southampton Solent university, explaining practice and project management, bridging the gap between the university and professional practice and aspiring young people.

Visit our Social Value page to find out more about our current initiatives.

EST. 1997

25 Years and Beyond

Technology and Efficiencies

In 2011 the UK BIM Mandate suggested that all government projects would require the implementation of “BIM” by 2016. At that point we were already exploring 3D technologies so for us it was a no brainer; move to a fully 3D process in preparation. This led to us re-training our staff, looking at our software and fundamentally altering the way we worked. 

Some 11 years on, it has placed us at exactly the right point within the industry. We are able to work on projects where is BIM is mandated (which is a lot.!) but also to make the most from the efficiencies within this process and pass these on to the wider team. 

The next few years will see us looking into automation (software) and also BIM certification in the very near future. 

Sustainability

In 2022, architects Francesca Bianco and Mangala Ratnayake become Passivhaus Certified Designers and Consultants. They are trained and accredited by the Passive House Institute (PHI) to design buildings that meet rigorous standards for energy efficiency. 

Since becoming the signatories of the LETI (London Energy Transformation Initiative), which believes that by 2030 all new building will need to operate at net zero carbon (annual net zero carbon emissions), meaning that by 2025 100% of all new building must be net zero, we are applying these principles to an increasing amount of new project. We see the climate crisis as the most important initiative within our industry to date and are striving to achieve these goals set to help change the future for many generations. 

Research and Development

As part of our ongoing agenda, we are continuously looking for innovative solutions within our designs and applying lessons learned from our previous projects through Post Occupancy Evaluations and visiting our previous projects in use.

We continually work to ensure that our designs for built environments are improving people’s lives and well-being and are end-user centered.

Thank you!

We would like to thank all those who have worked with us and supported us over the years. We are looking forward to the next 25 years!

Andy is one of our Managing Directors and is responsible for all aspects relating to developing the practice digital strategy.

Andy is heavily involved in the Information Management delivery within the office and is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the management of information processes within a BIM environment on all projects across the practice.