About us

Alastair practised for over 40 years as a solicitor with Cleaver Fulton Rankin in Belfast, retiring in 2015. He was president of the Law Society of Northern Ireland in 1997 and represented the Society for 15 years on the Council of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe. He sits as a fee-paid judge in the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) and as a legal chairman of the Pensions Appeal Tribunal Northern Ireland. He retired as chair of Belfast Philharmonic Society in 2020; is a board member of Chamber Choir Ireland; Hon Secretary of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society and Hon Treasurer of McCracken Memorial Presbyterian Church, Belfast. In 2020 he joined the newly-formed Northern Ireland Grants Committee of the National Churches Trust. He was awarded the MBE in the 2021 New Year's Honours.

Marcus is an architect who worked with historic buildings in Glasgow and Edinburgh before returning to Belfast in 1978 to run Hearth Housing Association. Through Hearth he was involved in the restoration of some fifty historic buildings, many of them having been derelict buildings at risk. He has been on the committee of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society for many years and chaired the Historic Buildings Council for Northern Ireland for seven years till retiring in 2020. He was awarded the OBE in 1995 and is an Academician of the Royal Ulster Academy.

Verity is an architect originally from Eglinton, Northern Ireland. She studied architecture at Queen’s University Belfast and has developed an interest over the years on how design impacts wellbeing. She has a background in research and completed her PhD in architecture in 2014 with a thesis entitled “Designing for Dementia: An Assessment of the Impact of the Physical Environment on Wayfinding Success in Long Term-Care Settings.” During her secondment to Rome, Italy, in 2011 she was responsible for completing a report on how European Union (EU) policy considers the dignity of older people in regards to the design and inclusion of technologies. She has a love for the built environment, its history and fabric and how it impacts on our wellbeing and has a role in enhancing our lives. Verity currently works as a senior architect for van Dijk architects and is based in their Belfast office.

Rita is NI Support Officer for the Architectural Heritage Fund. From 2000 to 2013 she led on planning campaigns for the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society and developed its education programmes. Prior to that she was employed as Heritage Officer with Belfast City Council; researcher with Rachel Bevan Architects; and Northern Ireland Development Officer for the Ecology Building Society. She currently serves on the board of the Irish Landmark Trust, which saves and restores historic buildings to provide holiday accommodation across the island of Ireland. She has an MA in Town Planning from Edinburgh College of Art and a Royal Society of Ulster Architects’ Diploma in Historic Building Conservation. Rita was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to study best practice in universal access to historic buildings in Scandinavia and the United States.

Karen has over 40 years’ experience in the architectural heritage sector in Northern Ireland. A previous chairman of Hearth Housing Association and Revolving Fund, she has also served on the Historic Buildings Council for Northern Ireland, The Irish Landmark Trust, the Ulster Architectural Heritage committee and is currently a Trustee of the Architectural Heritage Fund. Karen is a member of the UK Designing Libraries Advisory Board and the European Research Libraries Architecture Forum. Karen had a 45-year career in university libraries and currently works as a library building consultant. She has served on judging panels for the UK RIBA awards, the IGS Conservation Awards, the Australian Library Design Awards, and library building design competitions in Europe and China. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, an Honorary Member of the RSUA and was awarded an OBE for services to architectural heritage.

Geoff is a Chartered Architect with extensive experience in both private practice and central government. Geoff was responsible for conservation and new-build projects on several major buildings in the Northern Ireland government estate. As Head of the Design Unit in Planning Service, part of his role involved engagement and negotiation with agents and developers on design issues associated with major development proposals to ensure successful outcomes. At this time Geoff also contributed to the commissioning and direction of identified conservation area and supplementary planning guidance, and policy. Latterly Geoff worked in Northern Ireland’s Historic Environment Division as Assistant Director responsible for identifying, and listing, buildings of special architectural and historic merit.

Richard is a retired Housing Manager. He was heavily involved in the redevelopment programme of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in South and East Belfast. He also worked in the area rehabilitation programme that ran in tandem with redevelopment. He is currently a board member with Clanmil Housing.

Andrew is an economist with extensive experience in commercial leadership, business development and economic research. He is Chair of Belfast City Centre Management and a board member of Action Renewables. Having previous experience as a Government economist he is currently Chief Economist with Grant Thornton.

Errin works for National Museums NI as a Project Officer on their Capital Investment Programme. Previously employed by Ulster Architectural Heritage for two years, Errin undertook a variety of different roles including Heritage Projects Officer and Project Development & Planning Officer.

Errin has a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Ulster University as well as a Master's degree in Conservation Studies (Historic Buildings) from the University of York. Whilst completing her Masters studies, she had the opportunity to complete an internship with the North York Moor National Park Authority as a Building Assistant and volunteered with the York Civic Trust as a Planning Caseworker.

For her Masters dissertation she investigated "Negotiating Heritage values: Post Fire Disaster Recovery".

Catherine brings many year’s experience of corporate governance at multinational organisations to her role as a Hearth Trustee. In recent years she has specialised in enterprise risk management and resilience planning, and is delighted to be able to combine this expertise with her love of heritage buildings.

Mari has ten+ years' experience working in a variety of roles within the heritage sector for organisations including Historic Environment Scotland, RCAHMS, and the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as the private sector. She joined Hearth in September 2022 after returning from living in New Zealand where she spent four years working in conservation building survey for Salmond Reed Architects.

Mari has a Bachelors in Architecture and a Masters of Science in Architectural Conservation from the University of Edinburgh.

Jason has 15 years’ experience working in the heritage sector for various organisations including National Museums Northern Ireland, Linen Hall Library and Clifton House. He joined Hearth in May 2024 as Community Engagement Officer to work on the Riddel’s Warehouse project.

Having studied Modern History at Queen’s University Belfast, Jason was awarded the James E. Todd Prize for the highest scoring Masters dissertation written on an aspect of Irish history.

He is perhaps best known for his ever-popular history articles for the Belfast Telegraph and also as host of the Historical Belfast Podcast.

Rachael Campbell-Palmer joined Hearth in October 2024 as Heritage Development Officer (Maternity Cover).

Rachael brings over 15 years of experience in the arts and cultural sector, with expertise in leadership, partnership and business development. Previously, Rachael was the Director of The Black Box for six years, a venue renowned for nurturing artists, festivals, and creative communities. More recently, Rachael was Director of The Court House in Bangor, a music and arts venue that opened in October 2022 in a restored Victorian listed building on Bangor’s seafront.

Rachael holds a BA Hons Degree in Fine and Applied Art and a Master’s in Fine Art from Ulster University, and a European Diploma in Cultural Project Management through the Marcel Hicter Foundation in Belgium.

In addition to management and operational roles, Rachael has designed and produced a number of creative programmes, projects and events.

Michelle has over five years of experience in digital communications within Trust healthcare and the third sector, driven by a commitment to purpose-led, non-commercial marketing. With expertise in strategic messaging, visual storytelling, and brand development, she led the successful rebrand of Parenting Focus, enhancing the charity’s digital presence and impact among key audiences. She joined Hearth in November 2024 as Marketing and Communications Officer to work on the Riddel’s Warehouse project.

Michelle holds a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design from the University of Edinburgh and recently completed a PGCert in Audiovisual Post-Production from Queen’s University. Known for her creativity and dedication to meaningful communication, she crafts strategies that foster engagement and drive organisational success to benefit communities across NI.