LA London’s Year in Review: 2025
It’s been a particularly busy year for us here at LA London, with several major projects completed and significant progress on others. Our landmark renovation of the Menier Chocolate Factory completed in the autumn, providing almost 12,000 sq ft of boutique office space, and we delivered a number of prestigious residential projects in London and Surrey. We have also been appointed to several projects in a crisis recovery role, taking over from the previous teams to get work back on track with minimal impact on the overall schedule and budget.
From individual achievements to team events, here are some of our highlights from the past year:
Team Milestones
Our talented team continued to develop their skills and qualifications this year. In April, Ema Benzar passed her RIBA Part 3 exams and interview to become an officially Registered and Chartered Architect, while Senior Architectural Technologist Megan Burrows successfully completed her CIAT accreditation to become a Chartered Architectural Technologist. Since then, Megan has also been promoted to the position of Associate in recognition of her contribution to the practice.
Meanwhile, Jake Goodger also passed his RIBA Part 3 exams, which allowed him to register as a Chartered Architect.
Above, L-R: Ema Benzar, Megan Burrows and Jake Goodger
This year we continued to award ‘Colleague of the Quarter’ to recognise individual contributions to the LA London team. The winners this year, as voted for by their colleagues, have been Mai Smith, Megan Burrows, joint winners Mariana Benitez Rickmann and Angelika Kuczynska-Hajdasz, and Susannah Howlett.
Business Milestones
Clinton Tetteyfio and Cristian Tudose of LA Surveys
Throughout 2025 we continued to strengthen our commitment to sustainable business practices, increasing our PRIME score to 11. And as a further reflection of our ambition to deliver exceptional standards of social and environmental performance, we are now working towards attaining B Corp certification next year.
Following our rebrand from Lees Associates to LA London in 2024, we have spent time this year working together as a team to clarify and refine our values, messaging and purpose. This has been an extremely rewarding and inspiring process, and we’re looking forward to sharing the results early in 2026.
2025 was also a busy year for LA Surveys, with the appointment of Assistant Survey Manager and Architectural Assistant Clinton Tetteyfio to help oversee a growing demand for architect-led point cloud surveys alongside Director Cristian Tudose, with our busiest year of surveys to date.
Project Completions
Our most notable project completion of 2025 was the Menier Chocolate Factory. We delivered a substantial and sensitive renovation to both the exterior and the interior to create elegant, light-filled office space. Our client, boutique property management company Southwark Square, also happens to manage the LA London offices.
It was enormously rewarding to watch this wonderful project unfold in our own neighbourhood, and the client was delighted with the results. Sophie Stade Cohn, Managing Director of Southwark Square and Menier Venues, said:
“Working on The Menier Building project with LA London was a rewarding experience. Their connection to the London Bridge area and familiarity with our building portfolio meant we were aligned from the outset and the process felt very collaborative.”
We also completed two exceptional private prime residential projects in London: the refurbishment of a house in Little Venice and the renovation of a substantial family home in Chelsea. We have since commenced work on a second project in Little Venice.
We also completed a stunning residence on St George’s Hill, which was taken over as a rescue project at the commencement of fit-out stage.
Project Progress
2025 saw great progress at a number of our projects across London and the home counties, most of which are, unfortunately, subject to strict confidentiality agreements!
Planning granted in Notting Hill
In London, we were appointed to take over a architect for a number of premium residential projects that were experiencing difficulties, highlighting the recognition in the market of our experience and skill in a crisis recovery role. These included a project in Little Venice, which is at fit-out stage, a project in Kensington, which had started on site, a house in St John’s Wood, and a project in Westminster.
We also secured planning permission and started work on site for a beautiful renovation project in Notting Hill, which will complete in late 2026.
Finally, we were delighted to be appointed to an exciting project in Hampshire, where we’ll be rebuilding a barn as an entertainment space and guest accommodation. Work on site will begin imminently.
Events
2025 wasn’t just about hard work: we had plenty of fun along the way! In September, we hosted our annual summer party, welcoming partners, collaborators and clients for drinks and canapés on our sunny roof terrace.
Guests at the LA London summer party in September
As usual, in March we entered a team in Better Bankside’s annual charity pancake race - always guaranteed to provide some enntertainment!
Also in March, the team took a trip to Smith & Brown cabinetmakers to learn about their processes and tour the workshop. It was inspiring to see the skill and craft behind the company’s beautiful joinery, and we even had the chance to attempt veneering ourselves!
A quick selfie during Movement Hour 2025
To top off a busy month, several members of the team took part in Joe Wickes’s Movement Hour with a 5km run along the Thames, and in the summer we gathered with our families for a barbecue. Halloween saw us enjoy a movie night in the office, and we’ve recently tested our logic and quick thinking with an immersive gaming team activity this Christmas.
Our popular project team socials continued this year, along with with several partner get-togethers and our popular breakfast clubs in The Shard – soon to become tea clubs! We were also generously hosted by many of our industry friends and collaborators, including The Luxury Property Forum and Imperium, which celebrated its 10th anniversary.
LA London Partner Kathryn Archer joined the R&H Golf Group, taking part in several events with other women in industry. She also attended the Harper’s Bazaar International Women’s Day event, where fellow guests included Emma Barnett and Geri Halliwell-Horner.
Just recently, we were delighted to sponsor and attend the magical Place2Be Carol Concert, which featured a wonderful lineup including an unrehearsed duet by Paloma Faith and Jamie Cullum. We were also honoured to contribute to Better Bankside’s Christmas Gift Appeal, which provides gifts to those in our community who are supported by six local charities and services.
LA London in the News
LA London received some excellent coverage in industry publications this year. We were thrilled to be featured by The Luxury Property Forum, which cited our ‘reputation for reliability, discretion, and design excellence’.
LA London Associate Miruna Stroe also took part in the LPF’s seminar discussing ‘The Impact of AI on the Luxury Property Market’, and her insights were subsequently featured in a dedicated thought leadership report. Managing partner Andrew Paulson also contributed to Accouter’s 2025 Global Wealth & Luxury Interiors Report.
Our summer party, an annual gathering of the industry’s key players, once again featured in Prime Resi magazine as a highlight of the year.
And finally…Thank you!
It just remains for us to say a big thank you to our clients and collaborators for helping make 2025 such a busy and successful year. We’d like to wish you a restful and joyful Christmas break and a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. Meanwhile, we’re looking forward to more exciting projects, team successes, development and growth – and a whole lot more fun – in 2026!
