Patrick Manwell trained at Bristol University and then at the Polytechnic of Central London and qualified in 1979. His early years in practice were with DEGW, where he became an Associate and worked on the design for a community centre, conversion of an industrial building, and space planning projects for office buildings. He developed a strong understanding of the importance of the way buildings are used and how this changes over time and was one of the researchers and authors of the influential ORBIT study.In 1983 Patrick joined Phippen, Randall and Parkes (PRP). Here he became involved in a broad range of residential projects including mixed use commercial/residential schemes, housing for older people, high density developments and affordable family housing. He added a strong understanding of residential design to his knowledge of commercial buildings and was quickly promoted to Associate.In 1993 Patrick founded Archadia and further developed his expertise in the field of social housing, as well as building the practice and generating work in the education, health, commercial, private housing and community sectors.Patrick continues to develop his interest in housing for older people and has become an authority in this field. In 2015 Patrick was delighted to see Archadia's design for a housing scheme at Castlemaine Court, Byfleet win Inside Housing's "Best Designed Development of the Year". Patrick retired from Archadia in July 2016 but retains an interest in architecture and remains an RIBA member.