A Creative Mind with a Strategic Perspective

Sara Townley joined SPACE Architects in 2022 and now leads the practice’s brand and communications strategy. Working closely with the directors and design teams, she shapes and defines how the studio’s ideas, values and ambitions are expressed and translated internally and externally.

With a background in Fine Art, Sara brings a distinctly creative perspective to the role. She leads a small but highly focused in-house marketing team, delivering major initiatives from full website rebrands and campaign launches to award submissions, editorial features and social strategy. Much of the practice’s communications output is developed internally, reflecting her meticulous approach and commitment to clarity, qualities that mirror the architectural process itself.

Sara works directly with project teams to capture work as it happens, regularly visiting sites to photograph, film and speak with those who experience the spaces first-hand. Collaborating with photographers and videographers, and often stepping behind the lens herself, she distils architectural and sustainability thinking into clear, compelling visual and written narratives. She also plays a central role in delivering the practice’s key events, including the annual _shift climate conference, and is overseeing the year-long programme marking SPACE’s 70th anniversary.

Based in Northern Ireland, Sara works remotely while remaining closely connected to the Newcastle studio, regularly travelling across to spend time with the team and immerse herself in the energy of the practice. Outside of work, she enjoys yoga as a way to reset, and spends much of her time with family, her other half, and their dog, Rupert. For Sara, the privilege of the role lies in telling meaningful stories about purposeful architecture, giving equal visibility to the people behind the projects as to the buildings themselves.