Magali Thomson

Magali is one of the 3rd cohort of Public Practice associates and has been placed at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where she is Project Lead for Place Making. She will be leading a transformational approach to public realm as an integral part of the planning process for Great Ormond Street’s new Children’s Cancer Centre.

She is also continuing her work at The Children’s Trust, which provides rehabilitation, education and community services for children with brain injury. She is assisting with them looking at their masterplan, reviewing their existing assets, carrying out a utilisation study and advising them on future strategies for development.

Magali is studying at the London School of Economics, carrying out an MSc in Cities, which complements her Public Practice placement, and is a step towards following her passion for cities, and spaces in between buildings, especially in relation to children and older people.

Previously Magali worked for 14 years at Marks Barfield Architects where she was a director and specialised in education projects, leading a successful education team. She has worked on the award winning Michael Tippett School, Saltley School part of Birmingham’s ambitious BSF programme, and the aspirational Cambridge Primary School located within the North West Cambridge development.

She also worked on a number of commercial opportunities, both within London’s west-end and outside London, ensuring that public realm, wellbeing and shared spaces are all considered from the outset.
She is particularly interested in wellbeing and the impact well designed spaces, whether it be a school, university or office, can have on our health and productivity.
Magali is the Design South East review panel, as well as on the Brighton and Sutton design panels providing design advice and assistance to local authorities, developers and communities in the south east.

She has also acted as a judge for the Architects Journal.

• Experienced in working in a range of sectors including education, health, commercial, and cultural.
• Strong communication, consultation and team leadership skills.
• Expertise in liaising with multi-headed clients and projects with a wide variety of end-users.
• Experienced in working with contractor clients.
• Enjoys collaborative working where teams are able to cross-fertilise and work together productively in pursuit of a common goal.