Prestigious roles for local architect

May 14 2008 by Graeme King, The Journal

A SENIOR member of staff at architecture practice Ryder has been chosen for two prestigious appointments.

Colin Haylock, urban design group leader at Ryder in Newcastle, has been appointed to lead the national Urban Design Alliance (UDAL) and elected to the executive board of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).

Mr Haylock is an architect and town planner with more than 30 years’ public and private- sector experience.

As part of his role with Ryder, he has held regional representation and specialist design and planning roles for CABE – the Government’s adviser on architecture, urban design and public space – since 2000.

His election to the RTPI executive board establishes him as a senior member of the planning profession with an architectural and design background. RTPI has a national and international membership of over 21,000.

UDAL represents all the professions and agencies involved in urban design and has a combined membership of more than 250,000.

Mr Haylock, based at Ryder’s HQ in Generator Studios on Trafalgar Street in Newcastle, said: “Election to the executive board of the RTPI is an honour, and I am really excited by the opportunity to exploit the great potential of the alliance for working together across a wide range of professional backgrounds to create towns and cities which bring real joy to us all.” Janet O’Neill, president of the RTPI, said: “Colin has passionately championed the importance of design in planning within the RTPI over the past few years.

“It is good for planning and for the quality of places we create in the future that he is now able to bring this passion and expertise to an organisation with the potential and influence of UDAL.”

Peter Buchan, executive director of Ryder Architecture, said: “We are keen to raise the bar for urban design across the UK. By supporting RTPI and UDAL we can help keep the focus on high- quality design while encouraging multi-disciplinary working.”

Ryder is one of the UK’s largest architectural practices and employs more than 140 people in Newcastle, Glasgow and Liverpool.

Sister company RyderHKS International in London is a joint venture between Ryder and US architects HKS.