Mecanoo director joins CallisonRTKL

Architecture practice CallisonRTKL has hired Mark Slocombe as a director. Slocombe joins from Mecanoo, where he previously co-led the practice and was the last full-time member of staff to be based in Manchester after the Dutch firm’s retreat from the region.

Slocombe is the first director in CallisonRTKL’s Manchester office. Since opening the office in June 2016, the global architecture and planning practice has designed various residential projects for clients including Manchester Life, Patrizia and Select Property Group, in addition to co-authoring the Manchester Residential Quality Guidance.

Slocombe has lived and worked in Manchester for 20 years. While at Mecanoo, he worked on the University of Manchester’s £300m Engineering Campus Development and led teams on other residential projects in the city.

In November, Mecanoo announced that it had made a series of redundancies and had reduced its presence in Manchester, five years after it established an office in the city. Slocombe, then associate director, was one of two architects left operating in the Princess Street office, and the only one based there full-time.

Todd Lundgren, CallisonRTKL executive director, said: “Mark’s appointment comes at an exciting time for CallisonRTKL in Manchester. Over the past two years, we have had great success building relationships with key clients, and this success has shown us that Manchester welcomes our global expertise translated through local knowledge of the city’s distinctive geography and culture. Mark brings a deep understanding of the region to our practice and will help us to continue to grow and expand our presence in and around Manchester.”

Slocombe said: “CallisonRTKL has already established itself in Manchester as a designer of buildings that both look beautiful and solve problems for their clients and the city. It’s this mix of creativity and pragmatism, as well as a blend of global experience and local knowledge, that makes CallisonRTKL stand out. I look forward to helping them to broaden their reach and build great relationships in the region.”

Schemes designed by CallisonRTKL include Manchester Life development Cotton Field Wharf, along with three build-to-let schemes totalling 1,340 units, at First Street for Patrizia, Lampwick for Manchester Life, and Embankment West for Select Property Group. All three projects are due to break ground in 2018.