Christophe Spiers
Technical Design Director
Christophe’s attention to detail and craftmanship pervade his work and life. At TAS, he loves to get up close with construction, exploring ideas with contractors, while his love for sailing boats led him to build a 16-foot yawl. He is happiest when in his workshop making furniture, experimenting. This attention to detail is what drew Christophe to study architecture at the Bartlett, UCL, before joining a renowned firm of architects in Chiswick specialising in high-end residential projects. To seek a more complete understanding of how construction methods can be influenced by good design, he established a design-and-build company, a theme he encourages the TAS team to explore.
Paul Thomas
Architect & Design Director
Since building his own house at Loxley Stables, Hertfordshire, Paul has become increasingly fascinated with energy consumption and how buildings really perform from season to season. At TAS, this translates into experimentation with materials and techniques to incorporate sustainability into design. Throughout his career, Paul has explored how the built environment can combine with nature to create a heightened living experience. Before founding TAS, he worked at award-winning practice de Blacam and Meagher in Dublin and at Hopkins both in London and abroad. He has taught at several institutions, including at the Architectural Association focusing on environmental design.
Lizzie Hicks
Architect
Lizzie’s approach to architecture is informed by her love for drawing, illustration and graphic design. At TAS she often produces the more technical construction drawings, but her work covers the full project lifespan from planning and on-site management to contract admin. As well as design skills, Lizzie brought to TAS her knowledge and appreciation of Suffolk. After graduating from The University of Nottingham, she worked for a practice on the Suffolk coast. Lizzie continues to explore the countryside around her, bringing ideas back to her own garden where she enjoys growing her own food.
Veronika Mikulkova
Architectural Assistant
Veronika works on a wide variety of projects at TAS from her home in the Czech Republic, from modern housing schemes in busy London streets where she used to live to new communities in rural villages and sustainable new homes. Throughout her work, she enjoys introducing her passion for Scandinavian interior design and materials. After graduating in Architecture and Urban Design from the Brno University of Technology, Veronika worked in the Czech Republic and Finland. During the time she lived in the UK, she enjoyed travelling the country to find a more balanced relationship between architecture and the natural landscape.
Stefania Papadopoulou
Architect
Stefania’s career as an architect has been spurred on by her passion for imagining spaces that both inspire people and help inhabitants focus on wellbeing. Before joining TAS, she spent four years working on healthcare projects that involved the coordination of complex services. Today, Stefania enjoys focusing her attention on residential buildings, experimenting with materials, textures and colours to create unique, personal spaces. Having studied sustainable design during her Master’s in Architectural Technology and Building Performance in Edinburgh, she is keen to apply the sustainability principles she learned across her projects.
Lucy Talbot
Architectural Assistant
Lucy was drawn to architecture by a desire to improve the way we live our lives through the built environment. Her Master’s thesis focused on ‘local adaption’, the evolution of architecture from specific cultural, environmental and material qualities of a place. To TAS, Lucy brings her desire to create architecture that is sustainable, beautiful and functional. She is particularly interested in exploring how we can change how we live to be more in touch with the natural world. When Lucy is not focused on architecture she is a painter.
Victor Urzola
Architectural Assistant
Victor was torn between a career in music or a career in architecture, two avenues that he believes are the greatest ways to learn about the world. Ever since architecture won, he has explored how it reflects both human intellect through time and nature, and how these two elements communicate. To TAS, Victor brings his appreciation for community projects that bring people together both now and in the future, as well as for how culture influences architecture. As a Colombian, having worked across Latin America, he understands the importance of colours and patterns as part of the design process.
Felicity Francis
Practice Manager
Felicity is a writer, who also happens to have experience running growing businesses. Alongside her career as a business journalist and freelance writer, both in the UK and internationally, she grew and ran a software company with her sister, which they successfully sold in 2020. At TAS, Felicity helps to keep the business side running, while assisting with communications and marketing. Much of her freelance writing has always focused on property and architecture, areas that she is now enjoying exploring more deeply as she gets to understand the creative process.
