JCA was set up in 2009 by John Cooper and Hrafnhildur Ólafsdóttir. We have assembled a team of highly experienced architects and planners, who provide expertise in the design of healthcare, research and academic buildings and and provide expert consultancy service for our clients. The practice is rooted in a culture of innovative, yet pragmatic design, which never loses sight of the people who will use the buildings, and the human scale of experience. Collaboration and engagement are essential components in achieving these aims. We have rapidly established a significant healthcare portfolio, with major projects including our competition winning design for The Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in, South Africa in collaboration with Sheppard Robson, and the new West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven – the first of a series of projects in the UK. Experienced at working on projects at any scale, from the resolution of complex and highly functional acute schemes of up to £400 million, to finely detailed environments to support the delivery of cancer care, the practice is particularly skilled in being able to rapidly evaluate briefs, move quickly to innovative and effective design solutions and present them to stakeholders in an informed and engaging manner. Our design strategies win projects for clients and can be developed into elegantly resolved final designs which fulfill the needs of their users.