John is a Founding Principal at Nicholson Sheffield Architects Inc. He has acted as the firm’s Principal-in-Charge of Design since 1987. His projects have won awards at the local, provincial, and national levels. He has acted as President and Vice President of the firm. John retired as a shareholder of the firm in 2017. He remains on the leadership team, acting as an advisor to the firm, particularly on matters of design.
John’s designs include a number of landmark projects in London and the surrounding area. He has worked on a broad range of project types, for many different clients and has been recognized for his ability to interpret client input into effective design.
John maintains an active role in the community. He chairs the London Community Foundation Housing Action Committee. He has been Chair of the LCF Board of Directors and of its Grants and Social Finance Committees. He has also been Chair of the London Arts Council and its Community Arts Investment Program. He founded the City of London’s Urban Design Awards program, and helped draft the City’s Public Arts Policy. He has sat on city advisory panels related to design, downtown, arts, heritage, housing, the millennium and creative cities, on the City’s Urban Design Peer Review Panel, and on LSA delegations to the city. John was named a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2001. John was named to the City of London Mayor’s List in 2014, and was awarded the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteerism in 2017.