Tony Kettle to head new Scottish-based architectural and design collective

THE internationally-renowned architect Tony Kettle has teamed up with two former colleagues at RMJM in a new Scottish-based venture with global ambitions.

Kettle, who has masterminded a number of high-profile projects in the UK and abroad, will be joined by Colin Bone and David Tripney to form Kettle Collective.

The trio will create a design house, funded by private backers, with a head office in Edinburgh and a studio in Dubai which will act as a hub to provide links to key markets in the Middle East and Russia.

Apart from architecture, the firm will deliver urban, interior and product design. They hope to have a staff of up to 25 over the next year.

Kettle, who is design principal at the new business, spent a 25-year career at Edinburgh-based RMJM.

During that time he was instrumental in leading the design of the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland and the Lakhta Tower, the 462-metre (1,515 ft) headquarters for the Russian oil giant Gazprom in St Petersburg, which will replace the 310-metre (1,016 ft) Shard in London as the tallest building in Europe on completion in 2018.

Tripney spent 20 years in Dubai, latterly overseeing the sale of his company Holford Associates to Hyder Consulting.

He was responsible for the delivery of some of the biggest construction projects in the region, including Mall of the Emirates, one of the world’s most successful integrated retail and leisure destinations.

During five years at RMJM, Bone most recently headed up the European Studio as managing principal, with a focus on opening up new markets such as Bahrain, Eastern Europe, Qatar and Russia.

Commenting on the new enterprise, Kettle said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to establish a new design house in Scotland with an international focus, building on our team’s previous experiences.”