We are a practice of architects, landscape and interior designers based in South London. We have been recognised as one of the UK's leading young practices through Architect's Journal's '40 under 40', Architecture Foundation's 'New Architects 4' and Wallpaper* magazines '20 practices to watch'. We are ARB registered and an RIBA Chartered Practice.
We aim to be approachable and to be open about ourselves and our business. Our team come from a diverse range of backgrounds with different ways of thinking about and approaching the work we do. This creates richer and more imaginative projects and helps us support and empower our clients whatever their needs or circumstances.
nim
Nim is director and co founder of nimtim architects, starting the practice in 2014 alongside Tim. Nimi brings energy, positivity and sense of adventure to everything she does.
Nimi is a qualified garden and landscape designer and leads our nimtim landscapes department. A UK qualified architect since 2008, she has worked for some of London’s most highly regarded practices including Penoyre & Prasad and Hawkins/ Brown where she was a project architect for Corby Cube and other significant developments such as Metropolitan Whaf in Wapping.
Nimi is a member of the Design South East Panel. This multi-disciplinary panel of leading construction professionals provides a clear, constructive and consistent voice on design quality in the built environment for Local Authorities across SE England. She is also a member of Frame Projects and sits on both the LB Camden Review Panels and LB Barking & Daggenham Review Panels. She is a judge for the Architect's Journal Awards, a steering member for the RIBA Guerrilla Tactics conference programme and an External Examiner at Manchester University.
Nimi enjoys baking, country walks and cuddles on the sofa with Corbi the dog.
tim
Tim is director and co-founder of nimtim architects, starting the practice in 2014 alongside Nim. His sensitive, playful and pragmatic approach to architecture has helped shape the practice and the work it has produced.
A UK qualified architect since 2008; Tim has worked at OMA in Rotterdam and David Chipperfield architects in London. Prior to setting up nimtim architects in 2014, Tim was senior architect at RCKa where he was project runner for the RIBA award-winning TNG Youth Centre in Lewisham.
Tim is passionate about collaborative design and developed nimtim’s process-driven design approach that embeds co-creation with clients and building users in every project the practice undertakes. He spent a number of years teaching and lecturing at UK architecture schools and continues to contribute to the education of future architects through school workshops, mentoring and programmes that support those from under-represented groups to enter the profession. He uses his voice through lectures, articles and self published essays to advocate for better pay, better representation and a more empowered, ethical profession. In between all this, he is also a member of Croydon's Design Review Panel.
pippa
Pippa Grayson completed both her Bachelors and Masters in Architecture degrees at the University of Nottingham, graduating in 2015. She later concluded her studies at Kingston University and is an ARB registered architect.
In 2013, Pippa spent a year working in Tianjin, China, on large scale master-planning projects and speculative public projects, including a new university campus and the conversion of large disused quarry sites to public space.
Since graduating, Pippa has worked in London on small scale residential projects, and prior to joining nimtim was working in south-west London, completing residential refurbishment and extension projects within the borough of Richmond-upon-Thames.
Throughout university, she explored architecture in both sparse rural as well as dense city landscapes, and within her final year Thesis she explored the identity of demarcated landscapes within the UK and the potential of under-sung landscapes for facilitating fast-changing forms of architecture.
Outside of architecture, Pippa has a keen interest in music, particularly in attending and participating in live concerts.
allie
Allie is a qualified architect in South Africa and nimtim’s longest-serving team member. She has a particular affinity for understanding the needs of clients and building users. She brings colour, sensitivity and a sense of playfulness to her work which has become a defining characteristic of the practice.
Allie has delivered many of nimtim’s most recognised and celebrated projects including Cork House, Hutch House and Pitch Perfect.
‘Prior to joining nimtim, Allie worked for a Dutch-based practice Play the City in creating games as a method for collaborative urban design - using gaming as a playful way to bring top-down decision makers together with bottom-up members of society.
In 2013 Allie worked in Berlin on small to medium-sized residential refurbishments and extensions - understanding the richness and sensibilities of the existing city fabric.’
Apart from her interest in architecture Allie is interested in many forms of art and design including pottery, surface/textile design and photography – she has recently developed her first reel of film after her trip to Iran.
federica
Federica is a qualified architect and an urban designer. She completed her Master in Architecture and a postgrad Master in Italy, before studying Urban Design at Bartlett, in London.
Aiming to give her contribution against the housing crisis in the UK, she worked for three years in modular construction in London. Previously, she gained experience in the West Bank and Italy working on landscape, urban and planning strategies, public consultation, and bespoke housing restoration and refurbishment for private clients.
Federica also collaborated for three years with the University of Bologna and Italian Local Authorities, mapping assets confiscated from organised crime for studying and designing their social and strategic reuse.
She is keen to bring social value to any of her designs and experiences. She values the input that every user can bring to inform the design, and she always tries to create and stimulate this interaction in any projects and scales.
Outside design, Federica enjoys travelling, making, and any form of art, from music to literature and anything that stimulates her curiosity; anyway, you can often find her kickboxing in an East London basement.
maia
Maia Rollo completed her Bachelors in Architecture at DeMontfort University in Leicester and her Masters degree at the University of Nottingham, graduating in 2020.
Following her Bachelors degree Maia spent 3 years working in Leicester on community art and architectural projects including contributing to a community street design project with Sustrans and Leicester City Council. Collaborating with community groups has fostered a love of working closely with people and a passion for empowering groups to effect positive change in their environments.
For her thesis project Maia studied power in the English landscape; exploring how new public realms can be woven into working landscapes making them more accessible, connected and responsive.
Maia has 3 years experience tutoring undergraduate Architecture along with delivering architectural workshops to Key Stage 2 students and is passionate about engaging young people in architecture.
Outside of architecture Maia enjoys cycle touring and wild swimming and is looking forward to travelling again soon.
richard
Richard is a Part II Architectural Assistant, having completed his Bachelors in Architecture at Northumbria University followed by his Masters at London Metropolitan University, graduating in 2020 .
Throughout his Masters, Richards’ thesis projects focused on the regeneration of urban spaces, starting first and foremost with the people already populating these spaces. He spent time exploring how the introduction of light industrial spaces and simple alterations to the public realm could reinvigorate the High Street. Following this, Richard’s final year thesis pealed back the history of a 1960s housing estate to address issues overlooked or ignored by previous interventions, explored how such an estate could be enhanced to increase building performance and vastly improve the living conditions and environment for residents.
Richard has worked at a number of small practices across London, working on residential projects at a range of scales. Richard is passionate about sustainable building methods and the adaptive re-use of spaces and materials.
Outside of architecture Richard always like to have a few projects on the go, from knitting a fresh pair of socks for the cold months or spending time down at his allotment. Richard always like to get involved with his local community and can often be found volunteering at the Nunhead Repair Cafe.’
neil
Neil Cockburn is one of our longest-serving colleagues and collaborators. Neil is often working on his own research projects but maintains an ongoing collaboration with nimtim.
Neil Cockburn completed his undergraduate degree at the Glasgow School of Art in 2015 before joining nimtim architects later that September. He has since returned to university gaining a Masters from London Metropolitan University where he researched and responded to existing food production and distribution in South East London.
Since joining nimtim architects Neil has worked on a variety of residential projects across South London. He particularly relishes model-making and sketching by hand. He's particularly passionate about the benefits of building with timber which has been a great influence on the work of the practice.
Outside of architecture, Neil has a great passion for cooking, sport and travelling. He was made lifetime champion of the office bake-off challenge after 3 consecutive triumphs and holds the trophy in perpetuity.
mary
Mary Holmes is an artist and architectural assistant. Having graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2022 with a Bachelor’s degree in architecture, she spent time working on a range of built projects across Europe before joining nimtim in September, 2023.
Mary loves imagining, experimenting and making. Whether that be art, architecture, networks of solidarity, shelves or cakes. She has lived on the Outer Hebrides building campervans, worked in the Yorkshire Moors renovating farm buildings and helped run a design summer school in northern Italy. She is a co-founder of Queer Aided Design, a platform that connects and supports queer students and space makers, and a volunteer for the Architecture Fringe. Her varied work informs her continually evolving practice of architecture as a tool of care, joy and radical possibility.
Her voice and collaborations have been shared by the RIBA Journal, Dezeen, the 20th Century Society and the AJ; her work has been formally recognized by the RIBA, who awarded her the 2022 Bronze Presidents Medal.
sarah
Sarah is office manager, website co-ordinator, book-keeper and voice-of-reason at nimtim architects. She fits this in around other part time roles and as mother of 3 children from age 2 to 16. She is generally regarded as super-human within the office.
Sarah gained her BA and MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. Since then she has worked primarily in the arts. Prior to being office manager at nimtim Sarah was gallery manager of the Zelda Cheatle Gallery for 5 years and then manager of a photographic archive.
When not at work Sarah can be found walking her dog around the various parks of South London or dragging her family around various local, and not so local, art galleries.
Corbi graduated from the Dulwich Dog School in 2013 winning the prestigious ‘most improved puppy’ prize.
Having gained significant experience in the Parks and Waterways sectors, Corbi heads the office’s landscape team with a particular focus on daily surveys of nearby parks and woods.
Corbi retains an interest in domestic architecture, particularly comfortable sofas and window seats. Outside of the office, Corbi enjoys chasing tennis balls, chocolate cake and cuddles.
corbi