Deborah Saunt is an Australian-born British

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

urban designer Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

and academic. She co-founded the London-based architecture, urban design and spatial research studio DSDHA with David Hills.

Early life and education

Saunt was born in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, and grew up in Kenya and England. She attended

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

and the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Saunt gained her PhD with the

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

Practice Research Programme, was awarded a Fellowship in the Built Environment from the

Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the international exhibition of 1851, officially called the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations. The Great Exhibition was held ...

and has held academic appointments at

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

and the

Career

Saunt's first architectural work was with

van Heyningen and Haward van Heyningen and Haward is an architectural practice, founded in 1983 by Birkin Haward and Joanna van Heyningen, and now owned and managed by James McCosh and Meryl Townley. The London architects work primarily in education, and have also work ...

followed by a role in the early 1990s on the British Library in London under

Colin St John Wilson Sir Colin Alexander St John ("Sandy") Wilson, FRIBA, RA, (14 March 1922 – 14 May 2007) was an English architect, lecturer and author. He spent over 30 years progressing the project to build a new British Library in London, originally planned t ...

and

MJ Long Mary Jane Long, Lady Wilson, Order of the British Empire, OBE (July 31, 1939 – September 3, 2018), known as MJ Long, was an American architect, lecturer and author, best known for her work as a principal architect partner on the British Library ...

. She later worked for MJ Long's practice, Long and Kentish, before starting to teach in 1997 at the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in t ...

, the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

and at the University of Cambridge. She also worked for

Tony Fretton Tony Fretton (born 17 January 1945) is a British architect known for his residential and public gallery buildings, as well as other British and international design work. He graduated from the Architectural Association (AA) and worked for vario ...

. Saunt established DSDHA with David Hills. With DSDHA, Saunt has designed a flat-iron building for Bosideng on

South Molton Street South Molton Street is a street in Mayfair, London, that runs from Oxford Street to Brook Street. Bond Street Underground station is at the north end of the street. The street was built in the mid-18th century as part of the Conduit Mead Estate ...

, a residential block for the Riverside development on the

Greenwich Peninsula The Greenwich Peninsula is an area of Greenwich in South London, South East London, England. It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the River Thames, Thames, between the Isle of Dogs to the west and Silvertown to the east. To the south is the ...

, an

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

block in East Village, a studio-gallery for

Edmund de Waal Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal, (born 10 September 1964) is a contemporary English artist, master potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or th ...

West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east ...

, and a jewellery studio for Alex Monroe in

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...

. In 2009, DSDHA’s St Anne’s SureStart Centre in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

was nominated for the EU Mies Van der Rohe Award. Saunt and Hills designed a new building for Christ's College in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, for which they were shortlisted for the RIBA

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...

in 2010. Saunt is a commissioner for the

Independent Transport Commission The Independent Transport Commission, abbreviated to ITC, is a research charitable organization, charity and think tank based in the United Kingdom, devoted to exploring issues in the fields of transport, planning and land use. It is politically n ...

, a member of the Expert Advisory Group for

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

, a Board Member of the City Property Association, and was a jury panel member for the international competition to re-imagine London's

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable re ...

. She has lectured at the

Royal Academy of Art The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

and regularly broadcasts on architecture and her belief in the broadest participation in city-making. She has been included in Forbes 500 and in

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

’s Progress 1000 of the most influential people in London. Saunt "has always looked beyond the confines of the building" in high-profile spatial strategies, urban masterplans and public realm projects. She is active in the democratisation of architecture and the celebrating the role of women in the profession, setting up the

Jane Drew Prize The Jane Drew Prize is an architecture award given annually by the ''Architects' Journal'' to a person showing innovation, diversity and inclusiveness in architecture. It is named after the English modernist architect Jane Drew. Background The Jan ...

in Architecture and is a Founding Director of the

London School of Architecture The London School of Architecture, known as the LSA, is a small independent higher education provider based in London. It is England's first independent school of architecture since the Architectural Association opened in 1847. History In the ...

, where she is now a trustee.

Personal life

Saunt is married to her business partner, David Hills. They live in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

with their two children.

References

External links

www.dsdha.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunt, Deborah Living people Australian expatriates in England Australian women architects New South Wales architects Architects from London British women architects Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Heriot-Watt University People from Croydon Australian emigrants to England 21st-century Australian architects 21st-century British architects 20th-century Australian architects Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women