Richard Pender

Richard began his career in Public Affairs, predominantly working on environmental issues.  His route in to development came about first through small scale property development and then through the design and delivery of his parent’s house in Northumberland.  Self-built Shawm House, won an RIBA National Award and was runner up in Grand Designs House of the Year.  The experience led him to found Shawm Ltd., a design and build company, which amongst other projects designed and delivered the first certified Passivhaus on Tyneside.  Richard has a diverse academic background with a BA in History and Politics, and MSc’s in both Psychology and Renewable Energy, and is a certified Passivhaus Consultant.  Prior to joining TOWN Richard spent a year with KLH Sustainability, a built environment sustainability consultancy, building a more rounded understanding of sustainability across the sector. He has a real passion for trying to bring about better processes and ways of working in order to realise better, more sustainable outcomes.