Katie Thornburrow is the Leader of Cambridge City Council and Cabinet Member for Planning and Transport. She has been a City Councillor since 2018 and has been a ward councillor, Executive Councillor for Streets and Open Spaces and Executive Councillor for Planning, Building Control and Infrastructure. She currently represents Petersfield Ward.
Katie was born in Hong Kong and received her architectural training in the UK. She has worked in practice and research and was a partner in a commercial architectural practice before founding her own practice, Granta Architects, in 1995. Granta specialises in the restoration and extension of historic buildings and has completed work in London, Kent, and throughout East Anglia, and advised on projects in France, Hong Kong and China.
Katie joined Cambridge Architectural Research in 1997 and was a Director from 1998-2016. She is currently an associate and principal researcher focusing on conservation management plans for historic buildings including the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
In 2024 she helped to set up the Cambridge Room in collaboration with the University of Cambridge’s Department of Architecture and the Cambridge Association of Architects. The Cambridge Room provides a neutral, “one-stop-shop” for local urban planning and community consultation.