Sophia Ceneda

Sophia takes an interest in innovative materials and technologies which can be used to minimise environmental impact. With her background as a researcher, she prefers to use evidence-based design and data to inform design choices. She also writes about sustainability and environment, helping to summarise complex topics for colleagues and collaborate with other consultants and practitioners.

Sophia has been our Sustainability Lead since 2019 and has spearheaded our efforts to reduce carbon emissions in both our projects as well as in our offices. She has developed an internal toolkit to help interrogate our design options, gathered information to help benchmark building components, and has delivered training on low carbon design. She regularly leads sustainable workshops and discussions with design teams at early stages and provides advice on best standards to attain (LETI, RIBA, UK NZCBS) to ensure the initial vision is ambitious enough to address the climate and biodiversity crises. She helps the team to follow through on these commitments with the various consultants including design optioneering as the projects develop further.

Sophia is Project Lead for Graven Hill, a 2000-unit masterplan project with a strong emphasis on low energy and passive design, including woodland, allotments and a network of cycle and footpaths to promote active travel. The first pioneer units were featured on Grand Design series ‘The Street.’

Sophia is an active member of ACAN and a member of LETI and has contributed to several industry-wide initiatives to improve best design practice in the context of the climate emergency. She qualified in 2013 after studying at London Met University and the Graduate School of Environment at the Centre of Alternative Technology in Wales. She was an Expert Assessor in the Sustainability category of the New London Awards in 2024 and the Masterplan and Place-making category in 2025. In 2025 she also contributed to several London DPR/QRP as an expert panel member on sustainability.

Sophia is the co-designer of Angle House (her own home), which was designed to Passivhaus principles and was given the New London Architecture Award for dwellings in 2020 and an Honorary mention for Sustainable Design from Haringey Council in 2021.