Alison Grant has recently joined the Siren London team as an associate director.
Alison brings a wealth of experience and a passion for sustainability.
Here we sit down with Alison to find out more about what makes her tick.
- Tell me a little bit about yourself and your work history?
I graduated during the 2008 recession, which, as you can imagine, was quite a challenge. I had landed a great first job in an architectural practice, but just a few months in, the company had to make cuts. With the job market tight, I needed to think outside the box to gain experience. I joined a hospital’s project team, where I spent two years learning about infrastructure, building regulations, and health building codes—alongside managing small projects, like a mortuary refurbishment (quite an experience!). It wasn’t the glamorous start I’d envisioned, but it was invaluable in shaping my understanding of architecture. After that, I kept my skills sharp with unpaid work at a local architect’s office and even worked on a horse stud farm, which was eye-opening in its own way (though not without its challenges—I did break my back riding a young horse!). Once I recovered, I found my way to Stantec, where I worked on large healthcare projects, and I couldn’t have been happier. About 10 years ago, I shifted to workplace design, combining my passion for wellbeing with a new challenge. That led me to explore sustainability in design, and most recently, I spent seven years working with Meta on various projects. Along the way, I began training for my BREEAM and WELL certifications, and am part of the Sustainable Design Collective, a think-tank of design professionals working to make a positive environmental impact through thoughtful design. I’m always learning and striving to find ways to reduce our impact while increasing the positive effect our designs can have on people’s lives.
Alison (bottom right) and the Siren London team.
Couldn’t be happier to have Alison join us! She’s such a fun, positive presence and honestly just the perfect addition. I’ve always wanted to work with her, and now that she’s here, it already feels like she’s been part of the team all along.
Elena Panagiotidis, Managing Director, Siren Design London
- Why Siren? What motivated you to join our team?
I first met Elena around 10 or so years ago and was struck by her tenacity and integrity. I’ve always admired her and we have discussed working together over drinks at Clerkenwell Design Week on more than one occasion. When Elena reached out to me about joining Siren I wasn’t really looking to move. I wasn’t the happiest in my job but I also felt loyal to it. But honestly, I couldn’t say no once I met Penny and understood what Siren were doing globally and locally. It really was a no-brainer and I felt honoured to be chosen to be part of this. Meeting the rest of the London team over cocktails and cabaret sealed the deal. Such a special group of talented people. The bar is high at Siren!
- What do you love about design?
For me, design is all about the emotional impact it can have on people. We can influence how people feel by carefully using colour to either calm or excite, creating spaces that intrigue, or designing environments that make people feel secure. The built environment has such power over our emotions, and being able to harness that to improve people’s day-to-day experiences is what makes design so rewarding.
- What are you passionate about?
Sustainability is my main passion, but I’m especially driven by the idea of educating and sharing knowledge with my peers. I love diving into research and applying it to our projects while helping others make more sustainable choices. I recently worked with a group to create guidelines on calculating and setting carbon limits for office fit-outs in the construction industry, which was a really rewarding project. Ultimately, I’m passionate about helping others in the industry understand how small changes can have a big impact, both on the environment and on the way we approach design.
- What are you most proud of (in a work sense)?
I’m very proud of a 350k sqft project I designed and delivered for Meta which won an award recently, it was delivered through the Covid-19 lockdown and whilst being on maternity leave (many calls were done marching round the forest with the baby in a sling!) Its crowning glory was a 5 storey bright orange staircase which sat in a glass atrium which each face sloped at differing angles and we had a bank of scenic lifts to contend with. It was really a feat of engineering and design which was testament to how important collaboration is – more than 30 different consultants / contractors / specialists were involved in bringing that dream to reality and it really is something special.
It was also the first project I worked in depth on carbon accounting for – so a great learning curve in many ways. The client really had to trust us as a design team and that is probably the other thing I am most proud of, the relationships I build because I care. The same client once said about my very special colleague and I that he comes to us because we care. It really made us both very emotional.
Alison Grant, Associate Director, London
- What do you hope to achieve in your role?
My goal is to help designers see that making sustainable choices doesn’t have to compromise the aesthetic, timeline, or budget of a project. I also want to help clients understand that sustainability is much more than just ticking boxes for BREEAM or LEED—it’s about telling meaningful stories through our designs. There’s so much we can do to have a positive impact on both the environment and the people who experience the spaces we create.