Graham Saunders - School of Architecture

Graham Saunders Memorial Prize

Graham Saunders (1961 – 2017) spent his childhood in Berkshire, and studied in the BA at the Liverpool School of Architecture from 1980 to 1983. He then went to work for Michael and Patti Hopkins in his year out, followed by his Part 2 at the Architectural Association in London. Graham returned to Hopkins, notably working on Mound Stand at Lord's Cricket Ground. In 1988 he moved to the office of Roger Zogolovitch whilst also teaching at the University of Cambridge.

Man standing in front of front of building with Red Cross and Red Crescent symbols on wall

Graham changed careers in 1993 when he went to work for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD). He was posted to the Albanian capital Tirana, to assist with re-housing of political prisoners and displaced people after the final collapse of the Communist regime. In early 1996 he was one of the first construction professionals to work in Sarajevo after the end of the Balkan war, living there for four years and dealing again with displaced people, specifically seeking to reverse the physical manifestations of ethnic cleansing.

He moved to Nairobi, where he worked with the humanitarian aid organisation CRS to coordinate disaster response across the whole of Africa and south Asia and finally, over ten years ago, he joined the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), based at their headquarters in Geneva. Working for IFRC, Graham established the Global Shelter Program, and would be on 24-hour call to travel to any part of the world in response to a natural or man-made disaster.

The Graham Saunders Memorial Prize is awarded each year to BA and MArch students in recognition of contribution to the life of the school.

Further Reading