It has been announced that Thomas Bryans will take full ownership of the 15-strong company while Sarah Castle – who returned to the North West to set up IFDO’s Manchester office – and Suffolk-based Al Scott will leave to pursue other directions in their careers.
This ‘next stage of their respective professional journeys’ could, the AJ understands, include setting up their own practices.
The three friends first met in 2002 at the University of Edinburgh, but it wasn’t until 12 years later that they reconverged to form the practice with the intention of creating ‘diverse, generous and inclusive’ projects that had ‘a positive impact on users, the environment and the surrounding community’.
Over the past decade, the studio has won numerous awards and was included in the 2020 edition of the AJ 40 under 40.
It has become known for place-based and community architecture, such as the 2017 Dulwich Picture Gallery pavilion, the rejuvenation of the decaying Hastings Observer building and the transformation of the nearby Eagle House, which took home the top prize at the 2026 AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards.
According to the company, current projects ‘will continue as planned’, including the recently approved 63ha film hub at the Langleybury Estate, the net-zero Kentish Town Neighbourhood Space won through the Greater London Authority’s Architecture + Urbanism Framework, and the community workspaces with the Margate Creative Land Trust.
Bryans, 42, said: ‘Al, Sarah, and I met on our first day of architecture school. Building IFDO with them has been one of the defining experiences of my life, and I can’t thank them enough for their friendship, their talent, and everything they’ve put into the practice.
‘Today [we have] an exceptional team, wonderful clients, and a body of work that we can all be proud of. Those are the foundations I want to build on, so that IFDO’s next 12 years make an even greater difference to people, places and communities.’
IFDO’s Eagle House in Hastings
Source: Killian O’Sullivan
Castle, 43, who is from Manchester, said that setting up the company, after time working with Lina Ghotmeh and as an associate at Threefold Architects, had been ‘one of the best decisions I have ever made’.
She added: ‘[Being] part of growing it over 12 years has been a real joy and privilege. Together, we have built a practice rooted in care for people and place, and delivered work that I hope has made a meaningful difference to the communities and clients we serve.
‘I am deeply proud of the team and all that we have achieved together. I look forward to what comes next, and wish the IFDO team great success as the practice moves into its next chapter.’
Scott, 42, said he wished Bryans and the team ‘every success for the future’ as he went on to ‘pursue new opportunities’. He added: ‘Over the past 12 years, IFDO has been a huge part of my life, and I’m immensely proud of the practice we’ve built together.
‘What I value most are the relationships formed along the way, with our team, our clients and the many collaborators who have helped make the work possible.’
IFDO’s Eagle House youth centre in Hastings is one of three schemes shortlisted for the community and faith category in the forthcoming AJ Architecture Awards.
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