Cheryl Choo, Associate
After studying in Kuala Lumpur and Liverpool Cheryl gained her Master of Architecture qualification from the University of Westminster. She joined Denton Corker Marshall in 2017 and was appointed as our newest Associate in 2021.
Cheryl has previously worked on a variety of building types from concept to completion including large scale residential and mixed use projects.
She is currently leading a team on the highly complex high-rise Art’otel project in Shoreditch which incorporates a hotel and amenities, co-working floors, and an art gallery located on a tight city centre site as well as our Vita T3 project which is an extensive multi-user F&B facility alongside the river Irwell in Manchester.
In addition to her project work Cheryl leads our Internal 'Revit Forum' and acts as the mentor and supervisor for our young architects in the process taking their RIBA Part 3 Professional Qualifications.
Stephen Quinlan, Partner
Stephen studied architecture at the University of Edinburgh and began his career as an architect in the public sector, working on a very broad range of architectural projects – from prestigious British Embassies to practical Telephone Exchanges.
Stephen left the public sector and established Denton Corker Marshall’s London office in 1990, subsequently becoming a main board director of the international practice.
He now acts as the Managing Partner of the UK practice, which includes studios in London and Manchester. Stephen is responsible for the strategic direction of the practice, including the introduction of appropriate IT solutions and supporting an increasing focus on issues relating to energy and carbon.
Stephen is experienced in all aspects of the design process and project management on complex projects. His background in the delivery of award-winning projects brings an intimate knowledge of the needs of clients and the part played in world class projects by rigorous management processes.
He has recognised skills in project leadership and client liaison and, as such, is personally involved in each of our projects, maintaining the constructive relationships essential to successful projects.
In addition to his design practice responsibilities, Stephen has contributed to professional journals, lectures at academic institutes and conferences and has acted as a judge on design award panels.
John Rintoul, Partner
John studied architecture at Heriot-Watt University/Edinburgh College of Art in Edinburgh. His early experience was in London, working on major commercial projects in the City.
In 1992, John joined Denton Corker Marshall in Hong Kong working on major commercial, hotel and residential projects as a Project Associate. Before returning to the UK in early 1997, he saw through to completion a US$45m mixed-use commercial project as a first of a five phase Masterplan development in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
John was the Project Associate for the Sanderson Hotel, London, Ian Schrager’s 150 room flagship in the Grade ll* Listed Sanderson Building. Here, in collaboration with Philippe Starck, DCM helped to create the first truly boutique hotel in London.
John was the Associate Director in charge of the prestigious £120m Manchester Civil Justice Centre, winner of the 2008 English Partnership Award for Sustainability and 28 other prestigious design awards including the RIBA National Award for Architecture and a nomination for the 2008 Stirling Prize. John managed other major commercial projects in Manchester including a 10,000m2 new office building on New York Street and a £60m mixed-use development on Whitworth Street West. In London, John was Director in charge of the project teams for Plot No. 1 at the Athletes Village, The London Edition Hotel and both 20 Cannon Street and 28 Savile Row office regeneration projects.
John is currently leading the design teams on four high-rise Private Rental Sector residential and co-living projects in Manchester and Salford with Partner Irwin Lopez, and additionally on Maslow’s Soho, a co-working and members club building in London as well as the new British Embassy in Rome.
Peter Tsang, Associate
Peter studied architecture at the University of Westminster, London, and completed his professional experience at Denton Corker Marshall’s London office. Peter qualified as an architect in 2010 and became an Associate of the practice in 2018.
Peter has in-depth knowledge and experience across a range of project scales and types. This extends from new build developments to upgrading, refurbishing and the regeneration of existing buildings. Peter is fully conversant with, and appreciates, the different challenges of working on existing building projects when compared to new-builds and he understands the divergent approaches that should be taken between the two.
Peter specialises in the technical understanding of facade design and, as an Associate, overseas most of DCM’s large-scale, new build, envelope detail design, both with the design team and facade-sub contractor. Notably, he was responsible for the facade design and development for the Exhibition Centre Liverpool and Pullman Hotel as well as the £100m residential development at Trinity Riverview and Riverside in Manchester for Select Property Group. Peter is responsible for developing the facade concept for the building envelope and co-ordinating the detail development with the facade contractors.
Peter is currently Project Associate on the Greengate project in Salford, a 50-storey residential tower under construction and one of three towers in the overall Masterplan development.
Irwin Lopez, Partner
Irwin joined Denton Corker Marshall in 2008 becoming a Partner in 2014. He is responsible for the management of the design office in Manchester and acts as the technical project lead on significant projects within the North West.
Irwin has considerable experience in the management and delivery of large scale and complex projects particularly those with specialised procurement routes. He has had extensive involvement as project leader on a wide range of building types including public buildings, residential, leisure, offices and hotels ranging in value from £5m to £75m. This experience is complemented with well-practiced methods in the running of projects for multi-stakeholder clients and reporting at key strategic review panels. These are skills developed through his role as a Technical Advisor to Her Majesty’s Court Service (now Ministry of Justice) for a number of years.
Irwin was the team leader on the new build Exhibition Centre Liverpool and Pullman Hotel project which was completed in 2015. The project was within the World Heritage buffer zone of the Liverpool waterfront dock area and involved joint funding from the Chrysalis Fund and Liverpool City Council.
Irwin is also involved in a number of large scale projects including leading the design teams on Trinity Riverview and Riverside Private Rental Sector developments, Union T1 + T2 Co-living projects, the Greengate residential tower and a high profile leisure project in the North West.
Irwin has been a mentor with the RIBA Student Mentoring Scheme since 2016 – an initiative between the University of Manchester, the Manchester Metropolitan University and the RIBA to provide architectural students with practice experience.
Graham Smith, Associate
Graham studied architecture at the University of the West of England. Graham qualified as an Architect in 2012, joined Denton Corker Marshall in 2013 and became an Associate of the practice in 2018.
Graham has over 18 years of experience in the profession and has worked on a wide range of national and international projects for various public and private clients. Many of these projects have been prestigious, highly complex and challenging, often with numerous stakeholders, but have always been executed to achieve a high standard of design and service.
Graham has been Project Architect for many of DCM’s recent residential schemes in North West England. He is currently Project Associate for the Trinity Riverside and Riverview residential developments for Select Property Group which will be fully completed in 2021. Graham is also Project Associate on the Vita’s ‘Union’ T1 + T2 projects, two new co-living residential towers located in the regeneration zone of St John’s, Manchester’s newest city centre neighbourhood. Graham has also taken a leading role in some of DCM’s other high profile hotel, leisure and public sector projects across the UK and internationally.
Graham combines his day-to-day role with the responsibility of pushing forward the practice’s Building Information Modelling (BIM) agenda. Having extensive experience and knowledge of BIM and its application to large and complex projects, Graham moved the office to being a fully BIM working practice.