Richard is a Senior Principal at Populous and is part of the management team of the Brisbane office. Richard is responsible for all of the firm’s projects in New Zealand and Australia.

In 1997, Richard commenced work with the team on the design of Stadium Australia (now ANZ Stadium), the main venue for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. At this time, he also worked on the event overlay for the Games, reviewing initial designs for Homebush Olympic Park.

Following the successful delivery of the 2000 Summer Games, Richard moved to London to work on the design of the 90,000 seat Wembley Stadium. His eventual role was as the client liaison, ensuring Wembley National Stadium Limited’s (WNSL) interests were being met during construction of the project. Richard brought his experience from previous stadia and major events to ensure opportunities could be recognised and developed upon.

Still based in London, Richard led the design team for two stadia constructed in Portugal (Estadio da Luz in Lisbon and Estadio Algarve in Faro) in preparation for the UEFA Euro 2004 soccer competition, and in 2006 was Project Leader for the design of the Soccer CIty Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

He was also appointed project leader for Populous’ successful master plan for the London 2012 Olympic Park. Populous has since been appointed as overlay planning consultants for the London 2012 Summer Games, and has also designed the main stadium, to seat 80,000 during the Games and 25,000 post-games.

In 2007, Richard emigrated to New Zealand, where he led the teams on the design of the 60,000 seat Eden Park redevelopment in Auckland and the 30,000 seat Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, the first fully covered fixed roof stadium with a natural grass pitch. Both are venues for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Richard is also leading the design of the Claudelands Event Centre – a new combined arena, exhibition and conference centre in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Richard has been a guest speaker at a number of conferences around the world, a selection of which include:
• 2002 Bid for Benefit Conference in Manchester
• 2004 Stadium and Arena Conference in Milan
• 2005 Stadium and Arena Conference in Munich
• 2008 Stadia Conference in Poland
• 2011 Venue Management Association conference in Hunter Valley

Richard is a Senior Principal at Populous and is part of the management team of the Brisbane office. Richard is responsible for all of the firm’s projects in New Zealand and Australia.

In 1997, Richard commenced work with the team on the design of Stadium Australia (now ANZ Stadium), the main venue for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. At this time, he also worked on the event overlay for the Games, reviewing initial designs for Homebush Olympic Park.

Following the successful delivery of the 2000 Summer Games, Richard moved to London to work on the design of the 90,000 Read More »