Biography
Jolyon is a senior architect and strategic planner with experience leading a diverse range of architectural projects in the United Kingdom and abroad.
Since joining Grimshaw in 1998 Jolyon has fulfilled several senior leadership roles, including a period as the practice’s Chief Executive from 2011 to 2015. His architectural portfolio is defined by its diversity, covering a broad range of sectors and scales.
His expertise in large-scale super-efficient enclosures is typified by his work on the Eden Project Biomes. He has gone on to design schemes for Eden Project destinations in China and Australia, as well as concepts for Heathrow Airport’s Expansion Programme.
Jolyon has led the design of other large infrastructure projects through complex planning processes, including Stansted Airport’s expansion and Sizewell C – a new nuclear power station - both of which involve building design and master planning. His skills in these areas have led to his involvement in an urban extension north of Harlow and a number of regeneration master plans centred around railway infrastructure, including Euston’s HS2 project.
Jolyon’s building designs skilfully combine a wide range of influences. The efficiency of natural forms has inspired a number of buildings for Eden Project and NIRAH. His skill for carefully integrating projects with their contexts is evident in the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Headquarters, where the building forms part of a sustainable ‘ecosystem’. Jolyon’s enjoyment of collaboration is demonstrated by his work on The Core at Eden Project and The Laboratory at Dulwich College, on which he collaborated with the sculptor Peter Randall-Page RA.
A passion for enquiry has led to Jolyon’s involvement in various research initiatives, ranging from the Aerogenerator wind turbine, Grimshaw’s carbon-neutral Ecorainforest project, and his influential paper London: Hub City.
