We are all shocked and saddened by the sudden loss of such a gifted and dedicated member of our studio family.

Ross Ledsham will be fondly remembered by all of his friends and colleagues at O’Donnell + Tuomey. He was a fine architect and fine young man.

We interviewed Ross in London in the summer of 2017 and we were immediately impressed by his portfolio from his studies at Bath, carefully drawn designs, described in colourful plans and intricate spatial studies. Having no suitable vacancy for such a new graduate in London, we offered him a job in Dublin. He eagerly agreed to make the move to join our studio in 20A Camden Row. On 21^st August 2017, the day he arrived in the office, he went around the room and politely shook hands with each person in the office. Diffident but definite in his manner, a mixture of quiet determination and eagerness to get involved, ready for work.

Over the past four and a half years he worked with different teams on competition designs for Hamburg office buildings, the new museum for V&A East in Stratford Waterfront, the Academic Hub and Library in Grangegorman campus, the new School of Architecture in Liverpool University and a new studio to be built at the bottom of our garden in Rathmines, which was to be his case study for professional practice exam.

Every one of his colleagues spoke highly of his talent and commitment. He worked directly across the desk from us, made very little noise, not much of a man for office chat, but to be relied on to make a fine piece of work at very short notice. He made beautiful plan drawings, complex 3D digital models, elegant card models. He made the first study model for the V&A folded façade. He made a concentrated contribution to the design development for the façade for the new library in Grangegorman and the School of Architecture in the University of Liverpool. He was deeply involved in all the design work that steered our new studio through to planning permission granted in December 2021. He was looking forward to returning to work after the Christmas holiday to see that building through on site, his first building as project architect.

John Tuomey + Sheila O'Donnell