Madeleine Kessler Architecture is an architecture, curation and urban design studio dedicated to designing joyful, people-centred places that contribute positively to our planet.

We work across culture, infrastructure and public space, bringing communities into the heart of the design process. Our work ranges from buildings, installations, and public spaces to research, policy and strategy, working with government, cultural organisations, local authorities and community groups.

Many of our projects begin before a brief has been written. Through research, workshops and participatory processes, we work closely with clients and collaborators to understand places, test ideas and develop projects from their earliest stages through to design and delivery. Alongside practice, we undertake research into cities and public space through teaching, writing and curation, with each informing the other.

Madeleine Kessler MEng. AADip. PGDip. ARB RIBA

The studio is led by Madeleine Kessler, an architect, curator and urbanist with a background in engineering. She co-curated the British Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale with The Garden of Privatised Delights, and is currently the Built Environment Fellow at the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, where she is embedding design thinking in early-stage government decision-making.

Alongside practice, Madeleine is a member of the National Infrastructure Commission's Design Group, an Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins and the Architectural Association, and was previously Visiting Professor at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. She is an Accreditation Visitor and Examiner for the Architects Registration Board, and Arts & Culture Expert on Design Review Panels including Islington, Hackney, Thanet and Ebbsfleet, and regularly sits on awards and competition juries.

Madeleine regularly contributes to national and international television, radio and print media, lectures at universities and cultural institutions internationally, and writes on architecture, infrastructure and public space. Her work has been recognised with awards including the Architects' Journal's 40 under 40 and the RIBA Rising Star Award.

Find Madeleine on LinkedIn.

Rosie Hervey BA. DipArch. ARB

Rosie is an architect with a background in civic infrastructure and participatory design, principally working on community led schemes in the education and public realm sectors. She has led the delivery of multiple engagement projects, and enjoys working collaboratively with clients, communities and stakeholders to understand physical and cultural contexts.

Rosie has worked with us on projects including The Garden of Privatised Delights, Foraged Fables, and Hackney Wick. She is currently researching intergenerational community led housing under the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust fellowship in partnership with the UK National Housing Federation. Rosie is investigating how different models of collective living can help to deliver sustainable communities and facilitate informal social networks of care. She has trained in intergenerational workshop facilitation with Age Exchange and currently also teaches undergraduate architecture studios at Cambridge University and The Bartlett, UCL.

Ellie Cunningham BA MArch. RIBA Part II

Ellie is an architectural designer who works across architecture, interiors, craft and community engagement. She is interested in socially engaged and interdisciplinary approaches that bring together spatial design, collective storytelling and community-led making to explore questions of care, identity and belonging.

Ellie is currently working with MKA on a participatory design project with The Havens, having previously led and facilitated engagement projects with cultural institutions, charities and community organisations, including Old Diorama Arts Centre, The Lethaby Gallery, Happy Baby Community and The Feminist Library.

Ellie graduated with Distinction from Central Saint Martins in 2024, where she was awarded a Cultural Equity Award. Her work has been exhibited at the Design Museum's Future Observatory and the Politics of Care exhibition at Central Saint Martins.

Selected Clients

Architectural Association (AA)
Arrival
British Council
Built Environment Trust
GIANT Gallery
Igloo Regeneration
London Borough of Camden
London School of Economics (LSE)
Maeda
Museum of Architecture
National Saturday Club
National Health Service (NHS)
Oslo Architecture Triennale
Skyroom
Somers Town Community Association (STCA)
Tate Modern
The Havens
THAT Group
University College London (UCL)