Design watchdog CABE has appointed four new commissioners, including three women, to its board.

The new members are: Joyce Bridges, chair of English Heritage's London Advisory Committee;

MJ Long, a senior partner at Long & Kentish; Lorna Walker, a former director of Arup and a member of Richard Roger's urban taskforce, and Deyan Sudjic, newly appointed director of the Design Museum.

All the commissioners, apart from Sudjic, will take part in a shadowing exercise until August when they will take up their roles. Sudjic will shadow deputy chair Paul Finch from October 2006 until he leaves in August 2007.

Architect Sunand Prasad, Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate Gallery, and architect and planner Les Sparks, all of whom have been with the commission since its inception in 1999, will step down in August 2006.

It was extremely wrong for Lipton to leave CABE

Sunand Presad

Prasad, founder of architect firm Penoyre & Prasad, spoke to Building about his seven years at the commission. During this period founding CABE chair Sir Stuart Lipton was caught in a row over conflict of interest.

Prasad said the row, which resulted in a rule that no property developer could head CABE, had adversely affected the organisation.

He said: "It was extremely wrong for him to go - he left prematurely. It is unfortunate that people with industry knowledge are excluded from serving. It's a tragedy."