Architecture Fringe Announces New Advisory Board!

Image: Advisory Board team (Back Row L-R; Maeve Dolan, Andrew Macpherson, Sophie Irvine. Front Row L-R; Lizzie Smith, Finni Porter Chambers, Simhika Rao and Fiona McLachlan) Photography by Theodora Van Duin.

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Our Advisory Board has now been appointed and we are excited to be announcing our appointees. We were delighted to receive so many strong applications for these roles and want to thank everyone who has engaged with this process, and look forward to working with the board in the coming months to help inform and shape the future direction(s) of the Fringe! Please read on to find out more about the board here.

Fiona McLachlan (Chair)

Fiona McLachlan is Professor of Architectural Practice at the University of Edinburgh and is a former Head of the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA). She teaches architectural design and colour design for architecture and is interested in the interrelationships between practice, research and teaching. Her practice– E & F McLachlan Architects– specialized in social housing and residential projects over a thirty-year period and has been included in international exhibitions and publications. She has authored three books: Architectural Colour in the Professional Palette, (2012)– which was stimulated by her work in practice– a co-author of Colour Strategies in Architecture, (2015) and author of Colour Beyond the Surface: Art in Architecture (2022). She applies her research on colour design to collaborative projects with architects, community outreach and installations. Fiona was the Director of the Matthew Architecture Gallery in Edinburgh for five years and has been an external examiner in the UK, Ireland and China.

Maeve Dolan

Maeve is a Glasgow-based architectural designer, facilitator and educator specialising in community-led development. Her work focuses on the design and delivery of social infrastructure, spanning public spaces, community development and place-based strategy. Maeve’s practice brings together engagement, brief development, meanwhile-use, spatial strategy and the delivery of built-outcomes to support organisations and communities to shape the future of their places. She is Associate of Place at New Practice and a Stage 1 studio tutor at the Mackintosh School of Architecture.

Sophie Irvine

Sophie Irvine is Head of Finance and Operations at Collective Architecture, a 100% employee-owned practice with studios in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee. She leads strategic financial planning and operations for the practice, which specialises in community-centred architecture and is currently pursuing B Corp certification.

Sophie’s career has spanned the architecture, retail, and interior design sectors, giving her broad experience in financial management, securing funding for growth, and wider business operations including marketing, PR, and HR. Before joining Collective, she held senior management roles overseeing substantial budgets and leading successful funding bids for expansion.

A Glasgow School of Art alumna with a keen interest in design, Sophie has deep roots in Scotland’s creative community. She believes finance should empower creative organisations rather than hold them back, and is dedicated to making financial concepts accessible to practitioners. She’s a strong advocate for fair work, and financial approaches that give mission-led organisations the freedom to be ambitious.

Andrew Macpherson

Andrew is a Director at Moxon Architects, working on projects across cultural, infrastructure, and heritage sectors throughout the UK. Since joining the practice in 2017, he has overseen the design and delivery of award-winning buildings in sensitive rural and historic contexts, combining architectural ambition with environmental performance and community value. His work reflects a belief that design excellence and sustainability are inseparable.

Before joining Moxon, Andrew worked with Foster + Partners in Edinburgh on major urban regeneration projects. Alongside practice, he is a visiting Design Tutor at Robert Gordon University, where his teaching explores community-focused and place-based design.

Finni Porter Chambers

Finni Porter Chambers (she/her) is a spatial designer and researcher with a background in socially engaged and regenerative methods. Based in Glasgow and from Liverpool.
As founder of Josafinni Studio, Finni explores how spatial design can support community, children and young people, mental health, disability, and neurodivergence through imaginative and participatory approaches.

Finni has recently worked on The Nook by SAMH with Anna Campbell-Jones, a mental health space where inclusive design supports wellbeing. She has worked as a research assistant at DesignHOPES. Her community-led commissions with clients such as Sustrans and Renfrewshire Council, celebrate co-design and playful creativity.

Guided by ecological thinking and careful experimentation Finni's practice explores the relationship between space, participation, and wellbeing.

Simhika Rao

Simhika Rao is an Architect, Tutor and Co-Founder & Director of MAC+RAO, a design & build practice exploring low-carbon design in rural domestic projects using modern methods of construction. Her practice spans architecture, construction and research, with a particular focus on digital fabrication, embodied carbon and supporting self-builders to make confident, sustainable decisions.

Simhika tutors 5th Year Masters students at The University of Strathclyde, where she co-leads a research unit on low-carbon design for a live project, creating links between practice and education. She also serves on the Board of ASF-International, leading the Training & Research Working Group and contributing to global frameworks for community led projects, social justice and equitable practice. With experience across rural housing, education, community processes and international development, Simhika brings a commitment to spatial justice and the belief that architecture can act as a transformative, public-facing cultural force.

Lizzie Smith

Lizzie is a researcher and educator with a background of over a decade in architectural practice before moving into research.

Currently working on a place-based policy innovation project, she is interested in how places work, both for people, and for the environment. Specifically, she currently investigates the Forth river corridor in Central Scotland as a regional planning initiative, focusing on ideas for innovation across green and blue infrastructure and community-scale planning.

Lizzie is also interested in the crossover of culture and creativity in the development of cities and urban spaces; her PhD research examined the role of socially engaged arts practices in community-led development and regeneration, particularly in Scottish towns. She completed her PhD research whilst spending over a decade working in architectural practice as an architect specialising in Urban Research, Strategy, Policy, Community Engagement, Cultural Regeneration, and Strategic and Conceptual Project Stages (RIBA Work Stages 0-2). Projects included Strategic Vision development, Placemaking Design Tool Development, Design Guidance for Green Infrastructure, the development of Community Engagement Practices, and Public Art strategies.