Design practice Hassell has announced that six key members of staff have been made principals as part of a wave of 59 promotions across its nine studios.

One of the world’s largest design firms has moved to reward top talent within its ranks.

Delivering great design and unlocking value

Half a dozen existing staff members at Hassell – three in Australia, two in the UK and one in China – have become principals. The news comes as the design practice unveiled details of no fewer than 59 promotions globally.

Steve Coster, managing director of Hassell, said that the new principals reflect its drive to develop talent capable of delivering great design and unlocking value for clients through a mix of creativity and strategy.

“The number of internal promotions again this year highlights our focus on continually being bold and confident in talent from within the business,” he added. “It is also great to reflect a balanced representation of our practice, including gender and geographic locations.

“These promotions reflect each individual’s contribution toward designing the world’s best places – places people love. It recognises what they have contributed to date, but more importantly our confidence that they will continue to make a significant leadership contribution into the future.”

Hassell’s six new principals

The new principals include Alix Smith (Melbourne), an experienced architect with expertise across all phases of the design process and a global perspective, having previously worked in Hassell’s Shanghai studio. Also stepping up is landscape architect Daniel Kallis (Brisbane), who has worked on projects spanning public realm, health, transport, education, master-planning and open space design over 18 years of practice.

Another new principal, Sophie Bond (Perth), has an impressive track record encompassing both architecture and interior architecture schemes in the firm’s Perth, Sydney and London studios, including in the commercial, education, workplace and cultural sectors. And Sean Lin (Shanghai) gets the nod in recognition of the fact that the landscape architect has nearly 20 years of design experience across a host of award-winning projects in China, Taiwan, the Middle East and Europe.

Meanwhile, workplace designer Anthony Dickens (London) is made principal after gaining extensive experience in hospitality, residential and corporate workplace schemes throughout Europe, Australia and Asia. And Catherine van der Heide (London), a workplace design specialist who has served in Hassell’s London, Brisbane and Bangkok studios, has been promoted after excelling in leading on a range of corporate projects, not least the Sky Central campus in the UK capital.

A raft of new senior associates and associates

Hassell has also revealed that Allison Hortz, Michael Copeland, Stephen Watson, Alfred La Spina, Sarah Tyson, Alex Chow, Chris Harty, Jeroen Hagendoorn, Tam Dao, Alex Jones, Shizuka Nagaya, Michelle Zhu and Chris Kelly have been promoted to senior associate. Moreover, Clayton Bray, Emma Ludwig, Rohan Patil, Matthew Moore, Douglas Fung, Rose Tan, Aurelio Bethencourt, Darren Hall, Clare Chippendale, Yoshia Kashima, Matthew Watson, Doug Pott, Pamela Jouwena, Lucia Choi, Shuya Xu, Sophie Zhou and Yann Frampton have stepped up to associate.

Hassell, which was founded in Adelaide in 1938, currently has offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, San Francisco and London.

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