Skip to main content
Howells
Howells .uk

Adam Desborough

Adam co-leads a design studio in our Birmingham office and has extensive mixed-use, commercial and masterplanning experience, predominantly in Birmingham and the North West.

He has a broad range of design and project management skills and leads projects from early-stage concept design through to delivery. He also works across a variety of scales from large, complex urban regeneration sites through to individual bespoke buildings.

Adam has a keen interest in materials and detailing, and particularly in how traditional materials such as terracotta, can be used in conjunction with modern methods of construction. Most recently he has been overseeing Wellington Square in Leeds, a new mixed-use live / work destination of two tech-hub workplaces with a landmark 45-storey hexagonal tower—which is set to become the tallest building in Leeds. He was also Project Lead on the award-winning 125 Deansgate, which was built in a rich red terracotta to create a strikingly crafted office building in Manchester.

Adam qualified as an Architect in 2012, having trained at the University of Liverpool and Birmingham City University’s School of Architecture and Design. He is a member of the BCO, having previously sat on the BCO NextGen Midlands Committee, where he was a keen advocate for promoting and raising design quality within the sector.


Get in touch

Adam’s updates

  • Located within Manchester’s Northern Quarter, NXQ will become a heritage-led Tech Hub for the city. Read more

    Concept model

  • Leeds Western Gateway will be a new mixed-use destination for both live and work communities in the form of two tech-hub workplaces and a landmark 45-storey hexagonal tower. Read more here.

    View of the two Tech Hubs

Adam’s latest projects

Adam’s input

  • A Rich Red Terracotta

    By Adam Desborough

    Next video in 5 sec...