Open hires two in Manchester

11 October 2017 08:53 Comments (0)

Andrew Watson and Chris Moir have joined the multi-disciplinary design practice in Ancoats as landscape architects.

Watson joined from Fabrik where he was technical director from 2010 until this year. In this position he was involved in the regeneration of Irwell Riverside in Salford. Watson brings experience of working with Urban Splash, Places for People, and Downing.

He is joined by Chris Moir, who was a graduate landscape architect at TPM Landscape from October 2016 to September 2017.

The Manchester office in the grade two-listed Beehive Mill has been operating for a year, led by former Turley director Jaimie Ferguson. The two hires bring the team to six. Watson and Moir will work alongside Isabel Lezcano in the landscape architecture team. They are currently designing town centre masterplans in Merseyside.

Open has other offices in Edinburgh and London, and with Watson and Moir, there are now 35 people working across the studios.

Manchester studio lead Ferguson said: “Over the past year we have been involved in a broad range of fascinating projects, from urban infill and courtyard schemes through to new settlements and country parks.

“Andrew will play a key role in developing our team as we are help clients to move these projects on towards implementation. We feel his experience of large scale residential development and public realm design will also be really valuable to our clients.

“Chris is a graduate from the University of Copenhagen so his understanding of Scandinavian architecture will offer a great perspective we can use in the team.”