US architect Swanke Hayden Connell International has poached a Terry Farrell & Partners director to lead architectural design at its 100-strong London office.

Doug Streeter will next month replace David Walker, who resigned as Swanke’s original design director in London this June.

Streeter, who spent 24 years at Farrell, will join three other former Farrell architects at Swanke. Business development director Andrew Justice said the quartet would “form the nucleus” of the team handling major projects.

Streeter will be one of three new principals appointed as part of Swanke’s 18-month-old policy of diversification from its core business of office interior fit-outs.

At present, office fit-out makes up 60% of London turnover, but Justice said the long-term plan was for a 50-50 split between interior fit-outs and architectural design, including health and education buildings, hotels and offices.