Michelle McDowell

Her approach was based on the conviction that architects and engineers sharing ideas and working together from the start of a project will result in the design of better buildings. She has led many award-winning education, workplace, historic and healthcare projects including the redevelopment of the Royal Albert Hall, BBC Mailbox and Roche Headquarters which won BCO’s Best of the Best award. She was leading the interdisciplinary team delivering the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster.

Michelle champions engineering as a career for everybody, promoting diversity and acting as a mentor both within BDP and across the wider industry.  She has an MBE for services to the construction industry, was invited to became a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and is a former Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year. In 2012 she was named the ACE's Engineering Ambassador of the Year and in 2014 was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Women in Construction Awards. She is also a past vice president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol.  She is passionate about encouraging more women into engineering and is proud to feature in Anita Corbin’s 100 First Women Portraits Exhibition which celebrates 100 pioneering 21^st century women from all walks of life.