Elyse joined Orms in 2023 after 17 years at Grimshaw, where she led conservation teams on several listed 20th-century projects and served as the heritage lead on several major infrastructure projects in London. Her diverse sector experience spans masterplanning, commercial, leisure, transport and higher education, with notable expertise in adaptive reuse of heritage assets. At Orms, she leads the Grade I listed Custom House hotel-led conversion and Grade II* Waterhouse Square mixed-use development, bringing specialist knowledge in building fabric analysis, documentary research and contextual design solutions. This approach, as well as her work for Historic England Heritage at Risk team, led to her being recognised in the Architect’s Journal 40 under 40 list in 2021.
What does ultrapractical mean to you? Historic buildings are ultrapractical! The fact that many of them have been around for tens if not hundreds of years means that they have already demonstrated their value and adaptability. Ultrapractical architecture needs to tell a story about why it is, the way it is. Whether that’s one of process or people, and its our job to uncover that, share it, and use it to inform our designs. Because only with that understanding are we able to make the best decisions for existing buildings to ensure their long-term sustainable use.