I’m Johan, a designer and researcher in London. I think about construction and buildings, and the companies that lead it will be the ones that care about craft and experience as much as speed and cost.

I’ve spent my career close to that shift. I’ve worked on mass timber - helped bring these systems into US mareket, raised over $2M in research funding, co-developed a USDA-funded timber procurement platform, and helped rebuild homes in Altadena. I founded Startup Architecture at ETH Zurich to bring architects, founders and investors together. Today I do due diligence and bring new building systems to market at Waugh Thistleton.

I’m looking to build, or back, the next generation of construction companies.

Professional Experience

Research & Development Architect

Waugh Thistleton Architects, London · 2025 – present

Architect and strategic consultant focused on materials development, technical due diligence, and the application of AI to industrialised construction. Advises financial institutions, developers, and policymakers on project viability, procurement strategy, and regulatory adoption across the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia.

• Conducts technical and market due diligence informing pre-commitment capital allocation for developer and capital partner clients


• Assesses manufacturing businesses and supply chain companies as acquisition and scaling targets; produces structured risk and readiness reports for investors


• Supports due dillegence in regenerative materials manufacturing and R&D; frames technical and market readiness to reduce investment risk


• TimberHaus support (EU Horizon), a psychophysiological research programme on occupant wellbeing and investment differentiation


• Builds AI-powered tooling: document management, procurement tracking, and programme reporting workflows

Founding Organiser, Startup Architecture Conference

ETH Zurich · 2024 – present

Founded and organises an annual conference at ETH Zurich bringing together investors, founders, architects, and academics to explore architecture as a venture-backed business.

• Curates panels on construction technology investment, startup formation, and the commercialisation of research


• Builds relationships across European and North American academic and investment communities

Guest Faculty & Researcher

ETH Zurich, Institute of Technology in Architecture · 2024 – 2025

Taught and conducted AI research at ETH Zurich, co-teaching Architecture in Large Quantities alongside Gilles Retsin. Research focused on how generative AI models and prefabricated systems can deliver affordable, sustainable homes at scale.

• Applied research directly to the Altadena wildfire recovery programme in Los Angeles, helping the Altadena Collective simplify and scale rebuilding across 80+ destroyed homes


• Mentored students in entrepreneurial models of architectural practice engaging automation, AI, and the construction process


• Investigated computational automation and modular construction as tools for reducing cost and delivery time in residential programmes

Designer, Researcher & BIM Manager

LEVER Architecture, Portland & Los Angeles · 2020 – 2024

Part of LEVER's Research and Innovation team, advancing mass timber design and digital project delivery. Balanced hands-on design with performance-based research, collaborating with engineers, code officials, and supply chain partners. Secured over $3M in research grant funding.

• Kirkland Urban East, Washington State. BIM manager and designer for a 180,000 sf six-storey mass timber office building developed for REWS. Coordinated performance-based design of a timber diagrid lateral system with engineers and building officials; oversaw prefabrication models and supply chain logistics.


• Oregon Acoustic Research Lab. Led schematic design and acoustical research for a mass timber laboratory at the Port of Portland housing the West Coast's first accredited floor-ceiling testing chambers.


• Oregon State University Fire Testing Lab. Contributed to design development for a full-scale fire testing facility integrated with the A.A. Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Laboratory.


• NHERI TallWood Project. Contributed to the NSF-funded ten-storey seismic shake test, the tallest timber structure ever tested seismically; produced data summaries for codification studies and resilient design guides.


• Forest-to-Frame. Co-developed a USDA-funded digital procurement platform with Ecotrust and Sustainable Northwest linking regional timber sourcing, supply chain transparency, and carbon metrics.


•  World Forestry Center Expansion. Oversaw BIM and design coordination for a campus expansion using Mass Plywood Panels, glulam beams, and salvage timber.


• USDA Wood Innovation Grants. Helped secure and implement grants for the Portland Museum of Art Blueprint Project and the Killingsworth Creative Office rocking-wall systems; managed grant reporting and research deliverables.


• Net Zero Fellowship. Conducted life-cycle carbon modelling for the Energy Trust of Oregon comparing Passive House and mass timber pathways across affordable housing, rental apartments, and commercial typologies.

Consultant

Department of Health Services, Los Angeles County · 2020

Brought prefabrication and data science expertise to a public health housing programme, advising on procurement and supply chain strategy for modular construction at county scale.

• Delivered financial risk modelling and construction timeline analysis to evaluate prefabricated housing strategies for supportive housing


• Produced procurement roadmaps for scaling modular housing across the county, focusing on cost control and occupant wellbeing

Architectural Designer

Gilles Retsin Architecture, London · 2018 – 2020

Hybrid role blending architectural design, robotics, and digital fabrication to reimagine cultural institutions and push the boundaries of computational construction.

• Helsinki National Museum Annex Competition. Developed a competition proposal reinterpreting traditional Finnish boathouses using robotically manufactured modular CLT building blocks.


• Royal Academy of Arts, Real Virtuality Installation. Led parametric modelling and digital fabrication workflows for a large-scale exhibition investigating augmented reality, discrete assembly, and timber automation.


• Digital Futures Workshops, Tongji University, Shanghai. Instructed participants in modular timber systems, robotic fabrication, and mixed-reality workflows.

Advisor and Architect

Escher GuneWardena Architecture, Los Angeles · 2011 – present

Long-term part-time advisory role across historic conservation, adaptive reuse, and cultural commissions spanning residential, gallery, and institutional work.

• Pilot House Restoration. Documentation and restoration of A. Quincy Jones and Whitney Smith's 1948 Pilot House; reversed decades of alterations, restoring plywood, timber, and glass elements while inserting modern infrastructure invisibly.


• Eames House Conservation. Contributed to the Phase I conservation plan for Case Study House #8; assessed building fabric and laid groundwork for the Eames Foundation's 250-year preservation project.


• Jeweled Isle, LACMA. Exhibition design integrating spatial and cultural narratives for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.


• Flora Animalia. Helped transform a former fish market and clothing factory into an edible garden and workshop for designer Rozae Nichols.


• Los Angeles ADU Standard Plan Programme. Helped design pre-approved ADU plans for the City of Los Angeles orienting units around a veranda linking interior and garden.


• Hermès Petit h Installation.  100 cabinet of curiosities at Hermès South Coast Plaza; metallic quartz-like boxes punctuated by ikebana-inspired arrangements of California plants.


• Sharon Lockhart Exhibitions. Collaborated on site-specific exhibition designs across multiple museum venues including the Vienna Secession.


• Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. Developed over twenty exhibition designs and spatial interventions for Washington University's art museum.


• Guggenheim Helsinki Proposal. Competition entry for a wood-framed museum with a walkable green roof connecting park, city, and sea; prefabricated waffle-grid timber panels with continuous gallery circulation.

Skills & Capabilities

Investment and Advisory

Technical due diligence · Market and feasibility analysis · Fund raise support · evidence and reporting · Asset risk assessment · Procurement strategy · Regulatory and code adoption

Construction Technology

Mass timber and prefabricated systems · Performance-based design · Fire, acoustic, and seismic testing · Supply chain management · Prefabrication logistics · BIM and digital delivery · Residential and commercial programme delivery

Research and Evidence

Grant writing and management (USD $3M+ secured) · EU Horizon programme research · Carbon and LCA modelling · Psychophysiological research · Timber supply chain analysis · Academic publishing and editing

AI and Computation

Generative AI workflow development · Parametric and computational design (Rhino, Grasshopper, Dynamo) · BIM management (Revit, AutoCAD) · Deep learning research (GANs, RNNs) · Stable Diffusion and ComfyUI · Digital twins and AR/VR platforms (Unity, HoloLens) · Python, C#, PyTorch, TensorFlow

Teaching and Communication

ETH Zurich guest faculty · University seminar instruction · Startup Architecture conference organisation · Client and stakeholder presentation · Cross-disciplinary team leadership

Languages

English (fluent) · German (basic) · Sinhala (basic)

Academic & Publications

Education

MSc UCL · 2018–2019

Distinction. Dissertation: Domain Transfer in Pretrained Networks and GANs for Architecture. Supervised by Dr Sean Hanna and Khalid El-Ashry.

Bachelor of Architecture, SCI-Arc, Los Angeles · 2012–2017

Distinction. Full scholarship. Visiting studio: University of Applied Arts, Vienna (2016), Studio Kazuyo Sejima.

Research

TimberHaus, EU Horizon · 2025 – present

Co-investigator on a psychophysiological research programme examining occupant health and wellbeing in mass timber environments. Evidence base applied to ESG reporting and asset differentiation across European investment portfolios.

Energy Trust of Oregon, Net Zero Fellowship · 2024 – 2025

Carbon reduction research and LCA modelling comparing Passive House and mass timber pathways across affordable housing, rental apartments, and commercial typologies. Published as Seeing the Forest Through the Trees; findings presented at public events in 2025.

Reacts and NHERI TallWood Project, NSF-funded · 2022 – 2024

Contributed to the seismic shake test, the tallest timber structure ever tested. Produced data summaries for codification studies and resilient design guides.

Forest-to-Frame, USDA Wood Innovation Grant · 2021 – 2024

Co-developed a digital procurement platform with Ecotrust and Sustainable Northwest. Timothy Cooke (2023).

Domain Adaptation Research, UCL Bartlett · 2018 – 2019

Conducted under Dr Sean Hanna on generative adversarial networks for architectural spatial analysis and generation. Explored layer-wise domain adaptation and the projection problem, drawing on Elman's foundational work at UCSD.

Publications

Seeing the Forest Through the Trees, Energy Trust of Oregon (2025)

Research report on zero-carbon building strategies; presented at public events alongside senior fellows.

Bartlett Journal Vol. 10: Algorithms Are Here to Stay (2019)

Curated and edited essays on architecture, automation, and ethics in computational design. Published by UCL Bartlett.

Binary Shelter: Notes on the Unhoused, Underscore Journal Vol. 3 (2016)

Visual essay on temporary housing and spatial precarity in Los Angeles.

Exhibitions

Venice Architecture Biennale, Reporting from the Front (2016)

Exhibited at visiting studio.

Teaching

Architecture in Large Quantities, ETH Zurich · 2024 – 2025

Co-taught with Gilles Retsin. Focus on AI, prefabrication, and scalable housing delivery.

Forest to Frame, University of Oregon · 2023

Seminar on sustainable timber supply chains, carbon flows, and intentional sourcing. Taught with Timothy Cooke.

Digital Futures Workshop, Tongji University, Shanghai · 2019

Instruction in AI-assisted design, robotic fabrication, and mixed-reality workflows.

Pop-Arch Community Outreach, SCI-Arc, Los Angeles · 2015 – 2017

Design-build workshops for local high school students; introduced underrepresented youth to spatial thinking, model-making, and digital tools.

Lectures

Manufactured Wood Products and the Future of Timber Construction

Woodbury University, 2025

Forest to Frame

ETH Zurich, 2024

AI and Architectural Details

Various venues, 2023 – present