Deborah Saunt

Deborah Saunt is the co-founder of the architecture, urban design and spatial research studio DSDHA, whose work spans across scales – from infrastructure to intimacy – producing spatial strategies and bespoke designs that tap into each project’s latent potential to foster positive urban change.

Known for their innovative buildings and public spaces, often in highly complex environments, they have been recognised with 19 RIBA Awards to date, shortlisted for the Stirling Prize, and twice nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, the Mies van der Rohe Award. In 2019 DSDHA completed the refurbishment of the Smithsons’ iconic Economist Plaza in St James, London.

Deborah is active in the democratisation of architecture, having set up the Jane Drew Prize in Architecture and helped co-found the London School of Architecture, which focuses on broadening access to architecture.

She gained her PhD with the RMIT Practice Research Programme and her academic appointments include visiting professorships at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, the Architectural Association, and the University of Cambridge. She recently edited AD’s (Architectural Design) The Business of Research: Knowledge and Learning Redefined in Architectural Practice.