John studied architecture at Newcastle University and qualified as an architect in 2000.
He worked in Japan for Itsuko Hasegawa which started a fascination with understanding architecture through a social and cultural lens rather than solely through a formal spatial one.
He co-founded the Ushida Findlay’s London studio before running his own practice for seven years. He joined Aedas and then Woods Bagot where he was the Design Intelligence Leader for Europe.
In 2013 he moved “client side”, helping to establish Pegasus Life as their Design Director, where he created new products and approaches that challenged and reinvented the retirement housing sector.
Since 2018 he has had a portfolio career as the Creative Director for Igloo Regeneration, co-founder of the consultancy business ROME. He has recently set up a developer/think-tank called Neighbourhood with Lou Dawson and Duncan Blackmore, working with those who want to create positive change.
In 2021 he was appointed as a Design Council Expert.
He is a founding rider of Cycle to MIPIM and Club Peloton, where he was a board member and trustee from 2005-2015, which has raised over 4 million for charity, in particular the children’s charity Coram. He was a trustee of Coram’s Legal Centre from 2014 to 2017.