Luke Butcher [CV] is a designer with an interest in the built environment and author of The Architecture of the Profession. He is currently a Thouron Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Design, studying towards a Masters in Environmental Building Design (MEBD). Prior to this he studied at the Manchester School of Architecture between 2006 and 2012 and currently holds a first-class BA (Hons) Architecture, BArch with Distinction and MA Architecture + Urbanism with Distinction. In 2010 he co-founded Flex, a collaborative design practice focused on architecture and urbanism.
Luke received a first-class with honours Bachelor of Arts in Architecture in 2009, a Master of Architecture and Urbanism with distinction in 2011, and a Bachelor of Architecture with distinction in 2012, all from the Manchester School of Architecture (jointly run by the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University). His academic work has been recognised with a number of prizes and commendations, including a nomination for the RIBA Presidents Medals and an Outstanding Academic Achievement Award by the University of Manchester, both in 2009, and has been exhibited in Manchester, London and Vienna. Luke has also undertaken a period of study at the Manchester Business School in 2009, being granted a scholarship for a four week course entitle the "Mini-MBA High Flyer’s Summer Programme". In 2011 he spent three weeks studying as part of a winter school in Havana, Cuba, on a programme organised jointly by CUJAE and the Münster School of Architecture.
In September 2012 Luke took up a position as a Part II Architectural Assistant and Trainee Manager at Mace in London. He is currently on sabatical from the company whilst he purues his studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Mace is an international consultancy and construction company, offering integrated services across the full property and infrastructure life cycle. As part of his employment Luke also took part in the Graduate Management Training Programme, an exciting opportunity that will allowed him to work alongside programme and project managers, specialists in construction delivery and cost consultancy and facilities managers.
His previous experience in architectural practice, includes one year working in the Manchester studio of Building Design Partnership, where he worked on a £35 million education and community project – the Abraham Darby Sports and Learning Community. This period in a professional environment has built upon previous experience as a summer intern at Broadway Malyan and two separate periods of on-site experience, working for a construction company in Peterborough – Hamlet Construction. He has also been employed as a Teaching Assistant at the Manchester School of Architecture, working with students in the first year of the BA (Hons) Architecture course.
He has previously contributed to the webzine Notes on Metamodernism and Look Up Manchester. Luke has also been actively involved in Manchester's architectural community for a number of years, holding various positions within the Manchester Student Society of Architecture and being a student representative on the Manchester Society of Architects Council. In 2011 Luke was invited to join the RIBA Education Trust Fund Committee.
Originally from Peterborough in the United Kingdom, Luke has lived and worked in Manchester and London. He currently lives in Philadelphia, USA.
