Executive team

Our staff team is led by a senior management team made up of leaders in architecture, planning, public space and campaigns, supported by heads of individual teams.

Richard Simmons - chief executive

Richard Simmons has been chief executive of CABE since June 2004. He was previously director of development and the environment at Medway District Council in Kent, where he helped tackle the practical issues in developing the vision for the Thames Gateway. Before joining Medway, Richard was chief executive of Dalston City Challenge, east London, where he helped to promote the regeneration of the artists' quarter in Hoxton, the renewal of the Holly Street estate and the building of Hackney community college. Richard has also worked for the London Docklands Development Corporation and in the inner cities directorate at the former Department of the Environment. Richard comes close to holding the record for persistence in completing a PhD, having received his doctorate in urban history and economics 25 years after he started it. In his spare time, he is a qualified climbing instructor and, in spite of being a Mancunian, is a lifelong Manchester United fan.

 

Joanna Averley - deputy chief executive and director of design and planning advice

Joanna Averley is a town planner who has been involved in a broad spectrum of design, planning and regeneration best practice. She has worked on masterplanning projects across the UK. She was the project manager for the masterplanning of Manchester city centre during the rebuilding programme following the 1996 IRA bombing. She is the author or editor of a number of CABE's best practice guides, including Creating excellent buildings, Creating successful masterplans, Design coding: testing its use in England and Creating successful neighbourhoods: lessons and challenges for housing market renewal.

• Head of urban design and homes - Sarah Allan
• Head of public building - Peter Maxwell
• Head of planning advice - Kathy MacEwen
• Head of local programmes - Caroline Fraser

 

Sarah Gaventa - director of public space

Sarah Gaventa joined CABE in October 2006. Previously, she co-founded Scarlet Projects a creative consultancy that curates architecture, design and public space exhibitions and events. She studied art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art and has a masters degree from the Royal College of Art, London. Sarah is the author of Concrete Design and New Public Spaces for Mitchell Beazley. She has written features for national newspapers and specialist magazines on contemporary design and is a founding committee member for the London Architecture Biennale. She also contributes to Radio 4’s Front Row and has presented architecture programmes for Channel 4.

• Head of public space management and skills - Nicole Collomb
• Head of public space strategy and design - Peter Neal
• Head of sustainable and inclusive design - Ed Hobson

 

Matt Bell - director of education and external affairs

Matt joined the organisation in 2003. His brief includes leading CABE’s engagement with the private housebuilding industry; motivating consumers and young people to learn about and demand good design; and influencing emerging government policy on housing, public space and the procurement of schools and healthcare buildings. Matt is also chair of Hope and Homes for Children, a £6 million international NGO operating across Eastern Europe and Africa. These roles follow five years as the communications director of VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas), where he led the organisation’s campaigns and strategy on HIV and AIDS. He has also worked on grassroots community programmes in both Bolivia and Thailand and spent 10 years in the UK international NGO sector.

• Head of communications - Stella Bland
• Head of education - Anne Diack
• Head of public affairs - Paul Hildreth (interim)
• Head of evidence - Elanor Warwick

 

Diane Haigh - director of design review

Diane Haigh has been director of design review at CABE since September 2007. She joined CABE from Allies and Morrison, where she worked for 13 years, becoming a director in 2006. She played a key role in the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall and in the design of the Astronomy Centre at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. She was also involved in conservation projects, such as the reopening of Blackwell in Cumbria and sensitive insertions at the Queen's House, Greenwich, new buildings such as the English Faculty at Cambridge University, and major urban design schemes.

Earlier in her career she was partner in a small Cambridge-based practice, William Fawcett and Diane Haigh Architects, and before that worked for Freeland Rees Roberts Architects, Cambridge Design and Foster Associates. She has held research and teaching posts at Cambridge and Hong Kong Universities and maintains her involvement in teaching as director of studies for architecture at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Her postgraduate research focused on environmental issues in which she has a long-term interest. She is also known for her book on the Arts and Crafts architect M.H. Baillie Scott.

• Head of national design review - Sarah Jackson
• Head of special design review programmes - Kirsteen Mackay

 

Charlotte Cane - director of resources

Charlotte leads the resources team delivering corporate governance, finance, HR, IT and office services to support CABE staff. She was previously finance director for the Forestry Commission in England. She spent the first ten years of her working life as an archaeologist with the University of Birmingham. She worked on excavations in the West Midlands, mainly in Stafford. Charlotte qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in Birmingham and held senior finance posts with the Arts Board for the East of England and English Heritage.

Outside of work Charlotte has been a district councillor, serving on the planning committee and leading the council for three years. She is currently a governor at her children’s school and a trustee of a public arts charity, Commissions East, which works with artists, local authorities, architects, developers and local people to place the work of artists at the heart of everyday life.

• Head of governance and performance - Rachel Pittam
• Head of finance - Todd Feely (interim)
• Head of human resources - Colin Heaton
• Head of information and communication technology - Chris Hart (interim)

 

Media enquiries

Please note that all media enquiries should come through our press office.