Practice – Beasley Dickson Architects

About

Melissa Beasley and David Dickson met while studying at Newcastle University and established their practice in 2014 to work on projects that have enduring architectural ambition. Their approach is both practical and poetic. The studio works on a broad mix of projects, specialising in housing and creative clients. The studio works collaboratively and enjoy a process that values the many hands that make a building and a work ethic that takes pleasure in the process, collaborating within the studio, their clients and craftspeople.

The work is driven by a strong conviction in the critical design process, with every project tailored to the needs of the client with a hands-on personal approach. A rigorous exploratory approach is taken, to create architecture anchored in the specifics of brief, site and social context while revealing new and surprising relationships. The practice believes architecture is a physical condition, interested in the experiential and poetic qualities of space alongside the practical and functional. The practice has a passionate interest in materials and crafts, enjoying the detail and construction of each project.

Beasley Dickson Architects see architecture as an ongoing conversation that looks to past influences and considers future phases of development. The studio has successfully worked with listed buildings, in Conservation Areas and within complex planning areas such as AONBs. A full range of services is offered, inclusive of urban design, product design and interior design.

Team

Melissa Beasley, director

David Dickson, director

Ben Shaw, associate-architect

Alice Ponchaux, architectural-assistant

Bénédicte Valla, architectural-assistant

Melissa founded Beasley Dickson Architects in 2014. She enjoys working across a range of projects with particular specialisms in private houses, heritage sites and workplace. She manages new business and relationships, alongside close creative involvement in the development of all projects from inception to completion. Melissa places great value on successful, long-lasting relationships with clients and collaborators recognised as intrinsic to realising outstanding architecture. She studied architecture at Newcastle, Bath and Westminster Universities, and is a registered architect. After graduating she worked for Peregrine Bryant Architecture and Building Conservation, Russell Jones and Studio Octopi.

Melissa Beasley, director

David founded Beasley Dickson Architects in 2014. His experience spans a broad mix of building types and scales, with completed projects in the workplace and residential sectors. His directorial role is in the creative direction of the practice, closely involved in the development of all projects from inception to completion. He studied at Newcastle University, the Bartlett and Westminster University, and he is a registered architect. Before establishing his own practice David gained experience in housing and hospitality while working with Wilkinson Eyre, Niall McLaughlin and Tom Dixon’s Design Research Unit.

David Dickson, director

Ben Shaw studied at Kingston and Westminster Universities, subsequently working in design practices in Australia and London.

Ben joined Beasley Dickson Architects in 2016 and has been an Associate since 2021. His experience spans a broad range of building types and scales, with completed projects in the commercial, retail and residential sectors. He takes a lead in the practice’s technical knowledge, with a keen understanding of developing details with intrinsic rigour and craft. At BDA he has been project architect for several key residential projects including Vine House and Aldeburgh House. He is currently working on Hallen Industrial Estate and new build Grayswood House in Haslemere.

Ben Shaw, associate architect

Alice joined Beasley Dickson Architects in 2021. She studied Architecture at the Ecole d’Architecture de la Ville et des Territoires, Paris-Est. She has a particular interest in natural building materials, constructive resources and landscape. At BDA she led the refurbishment of the head offices of Universal Music Recordings’. Current work includes the conversion and restoration of the attic quarters of a Georgian manor house.

Alice Ponchaux, architectural assistant

Bénédicte joined Beasley Dickson Architects in 2021 after previous years working in France and London. She holds degrees in Architecture from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne. At BDA she has led the formation of a Spa Garden for a Georgian Manor House and a recently completed apartment and recording studio for a musician.