The Team

James Mitchell

Founding Director

James founded Orkidstudio in 2008 and has delivered a diverse range of structures and building types internationally, with expertise in both design and construction. He leads the setup of our projects and on-site construction management. James spends most of his time overseas working directly with the communities we build for.

James has extensive experience in social and economic development, with a particular focus on infrastructure provision through local small and medium scale enterprises. With Masters degrees in Architecture and Fine Art, he is also a Lecturer in Humanitarian Architecture at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art. A competent speaker, James is available for events on request.

Tom Woodward

Projects Coordinator

Tom handles the practical setup and management of the design and construction phases on projects and has particular experience with concrete construction and other wet trades in the UK and overseas. He has significant expertise in architectural design for tropical climates and leads our environmental design process for each project.

Gaynor Duthie

Marketing & Relations

Gaynor coordinates our wider team programmes, including volunteers, consultants and sub-contractors. She has a strong background in commercial and corporate marketing and is responsible for our wider media and marketing strategies. Gaynor is also part of our funding team and provides expertise in material procurement when on-site.

With an academic background in Law, Gaynor also works as the Marketing Manager for specialist marketing company Genoa Black, based in Scotland.

Anna Webster

Projects Coordinator

Anna has experience working with low-tech building methods and has previously worked on and delivered projects in Ghana and India. She has developed designs for a number of simple construction techniques easily accessible for local communities and recently received acclaim for her Nkabom House project in Ghana.

Kerry Edwards

Projects Coordinator & Enterprise Development

Kerry has a background in business management before studying architecture. Her combined experience has been instrumental in the development of our enterprise projects and she has a particular interest in developing new market opportunities for low income communities. Kerry is also involved the management and delivery of our construction projects.

Carolina Larrazábal

Project Manager

Carolina studied architecture at the University of Navarra in Spain where she specialised in City and Landscape. She has since gained further experience working in urban regeneration and informal settlements in South America (with the Barrio Mío Program) and in South Africa (with Urban Think Tank). At Orkidstudio, she leads both the design and on-site construction management of projects.

Johanna Mayr

Projects Coordinator & Relations

Johanna has worked on the design and construction of a wide range of community projects in south east Asia. Her experience includes earthquake resistant housing and designing for regions of limited resources and extreme climates.

Nick Polet

Techincal Developer

Nick is a highly talented freelance programmer, animator and web designer with a wealth of experience delivering solutions for a range of high-profile companies and clients internationally. He provides critical technical and web support, managing our online media, software and IT requirements.

Nick is heavily involved in developing mobile and technological solutions for local trade as part of our longterm enterprise projects. Away from the computer, Nick has joined us on site where his competent construction ability and people skills are a key benefit to projects.

Andrew Perkins

Project Manager

Andrew is a competent designer and builder, with extensive construction project management experience. He has worked on a diverse range of projects in the US, Asia and Africa. Andrew also has experience as an educator, having led students on design and build workshops at the Parsons School of Design in New York and the University of Buffalo.

Dan Wilcox

Economic Development

Dan is an economist and qualified accountant, and his expertise in community development and financial planning are instrumental to ensuring that our projects are economically sustainable as well as helping catalyse growth locally. He has significant experience with micro-finance and other financial services for the poor, and is central to our involvement in a diverse range of markets outwith design and construction.

Mary Kariu

Kenya Women's Housing Manager

Mary is the Manager of our Women’s Housing Project in Kenya which aims to provide secure land and homes for poor women in rural areas through small-medium scale enterprises in the livestock and agricultural markets. Having previously established and run a number of highly successful small businesses in Kenya, Mary brings a wealth of local knowledge and business expertise to our team.

Mary also has experience working with Orkidstudio in earthbag construction, where she has taken on key leadership roles on site. She is a creative and strong leader, with good team and project management skills.