Richard joined HDT in 2022 as a consultant, having spent 25 years' working abroad since graduating from the University of Auckland School of Architecture in 1995. He has practiced in the UK, Ireland, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar. In 2019 Richard also worked for Médecins Sans Frontières as a construction manager in Khost, Afghanistan - an experience he considers a career highlight.
A LEED Legacy Accredited Professional, Richard has specialised in sustainable design since 2008. He has also achieved BREEAM International, Australian Green Star, and EarthCheck accreditations. In 2023 he became a Living Future Accredited Professional, bringing to HDT expertise in the Living Building Challenge, the world's most rigorous sustainable building standard.
His views on sustainability are informed by seven years spent working with sustainable bamboo forestry, treatment, and construction in Southeast Asia, work he carried out part-time while working as an architect in Bangkok. This provided real-world insight into developing holistic and economically viable interactions between natural systems, remote communities, and architecture.
Richard returned to Aotearoa with his wife Pond and son Max in 2020 to undertake a PhD at Lincoln University in spatial agroecology. Richard is involved with postdoctoral research internationally and locally, including work with Te Whakatōhea iwi, Opotiki, in the design of future productive landscapes combining Western science and mātauranga Māori.