Phil Smith
Director
Phil is the Director of Collingridge and Smith Architects Asia Pacific and he leads the practice’s sustainable design.
Phil studied at De Montfort University, Leicester England, gaining a BA honours degree in 1996 and a Graduate Diploma with Distinction in 2000. Phil became registered with ARB and RIBA in 2001 and achieved a further Post Graduate Diploma in Practice Management in the same year. Phil is a Registered Architect in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, a member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and the Design Institute of New Zealand (DINZ).
Upon graduating in 2000, Phil was invited to join Foster and Partners, where he followed his passion for sustainable design, working on prestigious environmental projects such as the Hearst Tower, New York’s first ‘LEED’ Gold-rated office building and leading the design of several City Academies, low-energy high school buildings, the first of their kind in the UK. While at Foster and Partners he also designed Z2, a concept scheme for a new city quarter of London achieving zero carbon and zero waste, which helped form the criteria for the sustainable initiatives of the London Olympics.
In 2006 Phil emigrated to New Zealand seeking a more sustainable life. In 2007 he established his own practice with the sole purpose of creating beautiful human spaces. He completed his own sustainable home in Auckland and was invited to be an assessor for the NZ Green Building Council (NZGBC). In 2008 he was appointed as their technical adviser, leading the team who created NZ’s first Green Star Education rating tool. Phil then designed the NZGBC office to a 5 Green Star Interiors Rating in 2015. In 2019 he became a qualified NZGBC Homestar practitioner and in 2021 he was invited to join the NZGBC Advisory Board.
In Spring of 2012, Phil joined with Graham Collingridge in the UK to form Collingridge and Smith Architects (CASA) to build on their collective expertise and take the first steps towards a global practice.
Phil continues to innovate in sustainable design, with his design for the Te Mirumiru Early Childhood Centre receiving 11 international and national awards, culminating in 2014 with the World Green Building Council’s Leadership in Sustainable Design Award, the only building in the whole of the Asia Pacific region to receive such a title.
Under Phils guidance, CASA has strived to produce beautiful, sustainable spaces, with the practice completing over 100 early childhood centre designs in 4 different countries, winning 30 international and national awards to date. In 2020 the practice will complete its first Early Childhood Centre in Australia, which will be certified as a Living Building Challenge building, possibly the highest ‘green’ building standard in the world.
