Former employee sets up own architect's firm

Sustainability consultant Inbuilt has closed down its architectural division with the loss of seven jobs, but a former director of the firm has set up on her own architectural practice with six former colleagues.

Architect Lynne Sullivan formed her own company, Sustainable By Design, after Inbuilt closed down the division she was running. Sullivan said Inbuilt was concentrating on its consulting business and, as the design division was the most recent addition, it was the first to go. She said: “As we had ongoing work we decided to carry on and make a go of it even though it’s the worst possible time to be doing this.”

The new company hopes to capitalise on its environmental modelling skills, a capability Sullivan said many practices lacked. She added she was working with a couple of other practices, but declined to name them. The new company will continue to work with Inbuilt on some of its projects.