Jessica Mailey is an Architect Director at BDP and a recognised specialist in higher education planning, estate strategy and academic environments. Since joining BDP in 2004, she has led the design and delivery of major university and research projects across the UK, Europe and the Middle East, helping institutions align their physical estates with evolving teaching, learning and research priorities.

An NLA Education Panel Expert, Jessica brings extensive experience in developing strategic estate solutions that maximise space utilisation, support institutional growth and improve the performance of existing assets. She has led the design and delivery of major academic buildings spanning learning resources, libraries and student amenities to complex research laboratory projects, major new build and refurbishment including historic environments. Her portfolio includes projects for the University of Cambridge, University of Birmingham, University of Leicester, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of London, University of Hertfordshire and Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul.

Jessica specialises in the integration of estate planning, stakeholder engagement and design strategy, working closely with universities to evaluate future scenarios, optimise campus environments and develop investment priorities that support long-term academic objectives. She believes in testing early strategic principles, how they may improve estate efficiency and maximise the value of the project for the immediate building users within the wider university context. Her outputs consider flexible briefing needs, achieving net zero carbon, integrating future technologies, achieving business case funding, all within the parameters of university guidelines, policies, processes and project governance.

She has extensive experience leading complex workshops with academic, operational and estates teams, testing options from estate rationalisation and adaptive reuse through to major campus transformation programmes. Her work is underpinned by a strong commitment to sustainability, Net Zero Carbon objectives and creating flexible, future-ready learning and research environments