Paul Henry
Practice: Paul Henry Architects & Project Managers Ltd
Established: 1999
City: London
Country: United Kingdom
www.paulhenryarchitects.com
[email protected]
Paul Henry obtained his BA in Architecture from the School of Architecture at Oxford Brookes University and achieved his MA in Architecture (Design and Theory) from Kingston University. He completed his RIBA Part III and Post Experience Certificate in the Professional Practice of Architecture while working in Germany via distance learning through Kingston University. While in Germany he worked for RTW Architekten GmbH, climbing to the position of Senior Architect before he was headhunted by another German firm to relocate and establish the new UK office of Ernsting + Partners UK Ltd in London, working on projects in Saudi Arabia, Germany and the UK.
Having learnt a lot from heading E+PUK, Paul then decided to establish his own practice, Paul Henry Architects & Project Managers Ltd (PHA), in 1999.
Paul is married to Rowena (who is also a co-founder and Operations Director of PHA).
Paul Henry Architects & Project Managers Ltd
High Road Ilford, Essex
New-build landmark development consisting of a cultural and banqueting facility, 105 apartments. The scheme incorporates vertical wall planting systems, landscaping with green amenity space, grey water recycling, high thermal insulation, photovoltaic cells and solar panels. The development will make a positive contribution to the area and serve as a catalyst for its regeneration.
| Do you think our profession is diverse enough? | No. With respect to ethnicity: when I used to look for jobs (not just in the UK, but in all the countries in which I have worked) and was confronted with the colour prejudice of my prospective employers, it used to surprise and sadden me: unfortunately, you had to just get used to it. As an employer myself, at PHA we consciously endeavour to promote diversity. |
| Who are your role models who inspire you? | I have been very blessed with some very positive and constructive influences and I will always credit my continuing in architecture to my tutor at Kingston University, the late Michael Shoul - I was on the verge of failing my exams and giving up when he took me aside and sorted me out! Other influences are Le Corbusier, Paul Klee, Louis Kahn and the African-American architect Paul Williams, for his vision and pioneering in an age of racial prejudice. |
| What do you find most rewarding in your area of work? | I love the challenge of seeing buildings transformed and given a new lease of life and adding value to them through good design. One quote that keeps me focused on achieving all I can be in architecture is from Paul Williams (the pioneering African-American architect) when he said that 'If I allow the fact that I am a Negro to checkmate my will to do, now, I will inevitably form the habit of being defeated.' |