People · Podcast guest
Neal Morgan-Collins
What on earth is an Executive Architect? Ft. Design Delivery Unit at Scott Brownrigg
Neal Morgan-Collins, Managing Director at Scott Brownrigg, leads the Design Delivery Unit. His take on executive architecture and delivery.
- Current role
- Managing Director
- Practice
- Scott Brownrigg
- Location
- London, United Kingdom
Conversation
The thinking behind the work.
Episode 0203 · Architecture Social
What on earth is an Executive Architect? Ft. Design Delivery Unit at Scott Brownrigg
Perhaps you've heard the term knocked around or online for an "Executive Architect" but what does that actually mean?
Explore episode moments
Use the timestamps below to find each moment in the full episode.
- 05:00 · Design, technical delivery and where people add value ↗
- 10:00 · Scott Brownrigg's Design Delivery Unit and project examples ↗
- 15:00 · Redesigning, resolving and improving technical issues ↗
- 20:00 · Tall buildings, movement and practical delivery realities ↗
- 25:00 · CVs, portfolios and who fits executive architecture roles ↗
- 30:00 · Learning from past projects and raising standards ↗
Selected work
Selected work.
Southfields, London, United Kingdom
Cambium
A 110-home Southfields neighbourhood organised around new streets, shared landscape and a retained Capability Brown oak.
Explore the project ↗Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom · 2024
Shinfield Studios
A one-million-square-foot film and television studio campus at the Thames Valley Science Park, completed in 2024.
Explore the project ↗Southampton, United Kingdom · 2016
The Spark, Solent University
A six-storey, BREEAM Excellent academic hub centred on a full-height atrium and flexible teaching spaces.
Explore the project ↗Other public work
Longcross Film Studios ↗
A long-running Chertsey masterplan combining film-production stages, offices, backlots, housing and open space.
Museum of Military Medicine ↗
A planning-secured Cardiff museum designed to make 350 years of military medical history publicly accessible.
About
The story so far.
The person behind the work.
Neal Morgan-Collins is Managing Director at Scott Brownrigg, the global architecture and design practice. He joined in 2007 as a Part II architectural assistant and developed his expertise in residential and mixed-use design before helping to establish Scott Brownrigg's executive architecture brand, the Design Delivery Unit (DDU), in 2012. He grew the DDU into an AJ100 award-recognised business and was promoted to Managing Director at the end of 2025, chairing the practice's Operations Board.
In this Architecture Social conversation, Neal explains what an executive architect actually does: picking up a scheme after planning and resolving the technical, regulatory and construction detail needed to turn a concept into a building. He talks about the mindset the work rewards, why delivery deserves more recognition in the profession, and how the Building Safety Act is reshaping the way practices demonstrate compliance.
Watch or listen to the full conversation in the Architecture Social CPD: What on earth is an Executive Architect? Ft. Design Delivery Unit at Scott Brownrigg.
The practice
Scott Brownrigg
We enrich lives through the built environment.
Architecture practice · Greater London
Expertise
What I bring.
- Current role
- Managing Director
- Practice
- Scott Brownrigg
- Location
- London, United Kingdom
- On the podcast
- 1 episode · 2024
Profile updates
Something needs updating?
Claim your profile, suggest a correction or report a concern. Our team reviews every report.