Chris is a chartered architect with over 30 years' experience and is passionate about providing the best possible quality of environment for his clients.
"There is a tendency to think of the practice as being mine, that it’s all about Chris Loyn. This is understandable, but absolutely not the case. Loyn + Co works as a design studio: we all share and take ownership of our designs. It has become a wonderfully talented team; many colleagues are past students of mine. We still draw and sketch by hand as well as use computers. Our office is really an extension of university life. Our solutions are always contextual and site specific."
As the founder of Loyn + Co Architects, he set up in practice in 1987. Together with the team, he works both locally and nationally. Completed projects have included numerous one-off residential commissions, multiple housing and apartment schemes, as well as arts, commercial and ecclesiastical schemes. Chris has a strong design philosophy providing bespoke projects that build on a consistency of language and techniques developed and tested over time. In 2015 Chris received the Dewi Prys-Thomas Award for his personal contribution to architecture in Wales.
Chris is a founder parent of Bobath Children's Therapy Centre Wales: a charity for children in Wales who have cerebral palsy. His youngest son, Jack, born in 1989, has cerebral palsy. As a result of his direct first-hand experience, the practice have undertaken many architectural projects – either adapting existing buildings or constructing new – to meet the needs of individuals, families or organizations involved with disability.
Chris is a visiting / external tutor at The Welsh School of Architecture and also teaches at a range of other Universities in the UK. Chris was recently awarded the title of Professor of Practice at University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Chris also runs a drawing course at The Wales Institute for Sustainable Education at the Centre for Alternative Technology.
Chris is also a well-recognised artist and a member of the Royal Watercolour Society of Wales, exhibitions of his work have been held in South Wales and London, including at the Royal Institute of British Architects. He has made regular contributions on radio and television, and was a presenter on the BAFTA award winning series 'Hot Houses' which featured many examples of the practice's work
Originally from Chiswick, West London, Victoria graduated from the Welsh School of Architecture in 2007. She joined Loyn + Co Architects in 2008 having previously worked at Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects and Block Architecture in London. Whilst at PTEa her principal role was assisting on the refurbishment and extension of the Grade II Listed Brockwell Park Lido. Victoria was made a Director at Loyn + Co in 2018.
Her projects at Loyn + Co allow Victoria, a chartered architect, to work with a wide variety of clients and families on their existing and proposed homes, as well as a mixture of mixed use schemes and community projects. Victoria has been project architect on one of the practice's largest multi housing projects to date, 104 new homes at Porth Teigr, a new sustainable neighbourhood by igloo regeneration in the heart of Cardiff Bay. Two of her most recently completed projects include Conway Mews, a scheme for eight houses on a tight suburban site in Pontcanna, Cardiff and most recently Vila Mir, a unique family home on a steeply sloping site in Abergavenny.
Victoria has a particular focus on the notion of 'how we live now' and architecture of 'the everyday', combining this research with her own lessons learnt from working in practice. Her work exploring this research has been exhibited at Ruthin Craft Centre and the Bay Arts Gallery. Victoria is a visiting tutor and critic at the Welsh School of Architecture and is also a trained ‘Building for Life’ assessor. She is also proud owner of one of the practice's three office dogs, Woody. A miniature wire haired dachshund with a penchant for naturally lit interiors where he can bask all day in the sun.
James was brought up in a small coastal town in Wales before going to study at Oxford School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes. He joined Loyn + Co Architects in 2008 after graduating with first-class honours in Interior Architecture. James was made a Director in 2018.
James has been project designer for some of the practice's most prestigious and demanding projects including the multi award winning Stormy Castle, which was named as Britain’s Best New Home in 2014 and Outhouse, nominated for the Stirling Prize in 2016. He has experience of a variety of commercial and residential schemes, including a café and ice cream parlour in his hometown of Porthcawl and works to a Grade II Listed dwelling. More recently James was the project designer for a dwelling built for the former Archbishop of Wales and his late wife. He is currently working towards gaining consent for schemes in the Cotswolds and Market Harborough countryside, under Paragraph 55 of NPPF.
James represented the practice on the BBC series ‘Building Dream Homes’ which followed the construction of Upside Down House and in 2017 appeared alongside Alan Titchmarsh in 'Love your Home and Garden' presenting the 'Home' aspects of the show. He has exhibited work in the UK and abroad and is a guest critic at University of Westminster and Oxford Brookes University.
A true people’s person James’ passions are to create spaces that truly work, to get to know each and every client, their detailed brief and aspirations as well as to deliver rational, contextual and beautiful schemes from inside out.
Enireth (who is known to everyone as En) is originally from North Wales and is a fluent Welsh speaker. En moved to Cardiff at the age of 17. She has experience of managing small and large projects in private, public and voluntary sector organisations. She has managed small and large offices specialising in HR, Finance, Accounting and large corporate events. Enireth joined Loyn + Co in 2013 and along with her two Westies, Ralph and Nellie, she can usually be found on the ground floor of our offices in Glebe Street, Penarth. Enireth was made a Director at Loyn + Co in 2018.
En brings order and structure to a very busy and thriving practice. She is responsible for all elements of the day to day operational management of the practice, including organising Chris, finance, HR and facilities. En also works with two other organisations, one is UCAN Productions where she organises numerous events and helps with funding applications to secure funds for festivals and workshops for children and young people who are blind, have visual and hearing impairments, downs syndrome and other associated disabilities all over Wales. The other is Keima Ltd where she manages their two offices, one in the US and the other in Cardiff dealing with their accounts, HR and facilities, similar to Loyn + Co. Keima are an independent company empowering the wireless industry with innovative network planning solutions.
Originally from a small village near Aberystwyth Gari moved to Cardiff to study and alongside his architectural qualifications also holds a Business Degree. He has worked for a number of practises of various sizes during his career and found his home at Loyn + Co Architects in 2015. As a Chartered Architectural Technologist he has enjoyed a wide-ranging role on a diverse range of projects during his career, with experience in both the public and private sectors. He is passionate about delivering schemes which make a difference to people’s everyday lives; as he truly believes that architecture plays a vital role in improving our society. The Welsh spelling of his name is also a subtle indicator that he is a fluent Welsh speaker.
He has experience in a variety of sectors, from residential and leisure to education and commercial. Gari has experience of different role responsibilities; sometimes leading teams, sometimes supporting others but always keen to support the client in realising their vision. Thanks to having two young children he professes to having very little spare time, but if you catch him cycling, swimming, reading or re-designing his own house for the umpteenth time then it’s likely he has managed to sneak in a few minutes to himself.
Tim grew up in Bath before moving to Brighton to study Architecture and later Westminster University. After graduating from his first degree he worked for Sheppard Robson in London. Whilst at Sheppard Robson Tim was part of the team for the award winning Siemens HQ in Masdar City Abu Dhabi, the Norman Foster masterplanned zero carbon city. He also lead a multidisciplinary research project with Deloitte and the Watermann group, for the Kingfisher Group to identify how this retail client could move to a zero carbon property portfolio within the next ten years. This culminated in a zero carbon road map report and design guide for each of the territories Kingfisher operated in across Europe and Asia.
Before joining Loyn + Co Tim worked at Origin3 Studio in Bristol and was instrumental in working on the Bedminster Green masterplan, a large urban regeneration area in south Bristol just outside the city center. It included consent for the first tall building outside of the city center and marked a turning point for the regeneration of this part of the city.
Tim joined Loyn + Co in 2016 and as a chartered architect has since worked on several large scale masterplanning schemes as well as a selection of one off houses. He is passionate about designing high quality thoughtful homes and housing. Moving to Wales has also meant that his children could benefit from a bilingual education which is something he feels strongly about.
Originally from the East Midlands, Jenny moved to South Wales in 2010 to study at the Welsh School of Architecture. She has since worked on a variety of residential and commercial projects in Wales and the South West, before joining Loyn + Co in 2017. Jenny qualified as an architect in 2018, having achieved a distinction in her Part III diploma.
Throughout her studies and professional work, Jenny has become intrigued by how architecture can affect the way people live - both in a single home, and within the wider community. Whilst working in Bristol, she gained experience on projects of varying scale – from large masterplans comprising many homes, to small residential developments – allowing her to explore and design spaces both for a whole community and for a single family. Jenny also has experience designing and building in challenging conditions in Cameroon, where she helped to build an agricultural training centre in 2015 with the charity Orkidstudio.
Jenny also fosters a keen interest in photography, which she enjoys both at home in Wales and whilst travelling. When not designing buildings or taking pictures of them, Jenny can be found running in the parks of Cardiff, and during the winter months, skiing in the Alps.
Akash graduated from the Welsh School of Architecture, class of 2017 and has returned to Loyn + Co as a Part II Architectural Assistant. During his time at the WSA, Akash was tutored by Chris Loyn and worked with Loyn + Co as a Part I, in 2015.
As a Part I, Akash was exposed to a range of different aspects within the field, from communicating with clients in order to understand their needs and develop the design brief, to ultimately leading a project up to the stage of acquiring planning permission. The project comprised of internal alternations and the addition of a ‘Viewing Room’, to an existing, Grade II listed building in Carmarthen. The scheme sought to sensitively but distinctly highlight the relationship between the new and the old.
Akash is interested in the embodiment of Silence in Architecture. In particular, how architecture can enhance the relationship between man and the essence of being. Akash’s focus in architecture stems from his background in fine art and curiosity in philosophy.
Concerned for our sense of self, Akash dedicated both his Dissertation and Design Thesis to the matter, with the intention of investigating an approach that enables the creation of a ‘body’ for the ‘bodiless’, through the careful orchestration of the fundamental design principles in architecture, such as, volume, repetition, space, light and proportion. The purpose of this research was to formulate a methodology that creates richer, more profound experiences that aid living beings to acquire a sense of belonging within their place in the world.
Originally from North London, Abi made Cardiff her home in 2004 to study at the Welsh School of Architecture. She first joined the practice after graduating in 2007 and having been inspired by her tutor, Chris Loyn’s, obsession with detail and materials and his passion for people.
Abi passionately believes in the positive impact that well-designed architecture can make on the everyday living as well as the bigger community picture. She qualified as an architect at Loyn + Co in 2011 and prides herself in working with the team at collaborative, supportive efforts to create beautiful, functional architecture.
Abi has worked on residential alterations and extensions as well as new build projects, ranging from sensitive conservation areas, denser suburban locations to open rural sites. She also has experience working with clients and families needing to adapt their homes to suit physical needs and promote independence, which she has found particularly rewarding.
Some of the highlights of her collaborative work include leading the technical package for 2 new build dwellings overlooking the Bristol Channel in Sully, working with the team on the planning submission for award winning ‘Outhouse’ and delivering sensitive residential projects on site, such as ‘Heol Hir Barns’, a 159m2 sustainable extension to a converted brick barn in North Cardiff.
Outside of her day job, Abi enjoys family life, photography, swimming and church community.
Samuel grew up in the small coal mining village of Bedwas. He enrolled on the Architectural Design and Technology course at Cardiff Metropolitan University after finishing his A-Levels in his hometown. Samuel joined Loyn + Co Architects for work experience in his Easter term of his final year where he had a chance to experience how the practice works and get to know the team. He had made such an impression the first time around that when Samuel graduated in July 2018 he was invited to join the Loyn + Co team as a Graduate Technician.
Whilst in University Samuel discovered his dyslexia and grew aware of how that contributes to his problem solving skills and provides as an asset towards his detailing work in architecture. Throughout Samuel's childhood, his parents were keen property renovators and this hands on experience is where his knowledge for how buildings are put together stemmed. He is now developing his own passion for renovating property.
Samuel based his final year dissertation on the subject of low energy homes within the UK, highlighting the importance of sustainability in architecture. Samuel is inspired to connect architecture with the landscape and the surrounding life, contributing to the site, rather than impacting on it. If Samuel is not at work you will find him exploring new places around the globe or progressing his self-education in self-mastery and happiness. He is a keen digital entrepreneur and spends much of his free time researching how to grow passive income streams to help fund his urge for travelling.
