Rafael has worked on a diverse portfolio of education projects, both in the UK and abroad. He brings a wealth of experience in designing learning environments as well as expertise in client engagement, project management and sustainability.

He is currently leading the Lancaster West Estate Refurbishment project, working in collaboration with the Lancaster West Residents’ Association and Kensington & Chelsea Council in a co-design process to refurbish the 1960s Estate following the Grenfell tragedy, the new Grenfell Nursery, and James Paget Hospital in Norfolk.

He recently led Oriel, a £220m project to create a new home for Moorfields Eye Hospital, UCL Ophthalmology, and Moorfields Eye Charity. Oriel takes a radical approach to the integration of sight related care, research and education. The project’s aims include driving innovation and speeding up the translation of research findings into treatment.

Prior to this he led the Bobby Moore Academy project, a £35m all-school comprising separate primary and secondary schools located within the London Olympic Park. Previous projects include Minster School, winner of a Sorrell Award for Best School Design, and Crouch Hill Community Park, a mixed use carbon negative development in North London and winner of a 2015 RIBA National Award. Other projects include Kings College Dubai, a £39m competition-winning design for a 2000 place all-through school and Moseley School in Birmingham, a combined new-build and refurbishment of a Grade II listed Victorian building.

Recently, Rafael took time out to work on a number of different projects outside the office. This included a stint at HOK London where he led design teams for two major international education projects – an $80m international all-through school for 2,500 children in Kuala Lumpur, and a $60m educational campus in Dar es Salaam for the Aga Khan Development Network. He is presently acting as Client Design Advisor on this project. He also spent four months working voluntarily for the architectural charity Article 25 where he led a project to reconstruct a school in Haiti.

He has taught and lectured at a number of different architectural schools including the University of Cape Town, London Metropolitan University, South Bank University and Cambridge University. Rafael is a Trustee of Dulwich Hamlet Junior School and Trustee of the Dulwich Hamlet Educational Trust which is currently building a free school in south London.