Richard Breslin has been appointed head of Australian and New Zealand projects at Populous.

He will work alongside Paul Henry and Andrew James as part of the key Australian/Asian leadership team.

Breslin has spent the past decade working on some of the firm’s flagship projects in London, South Africa, Europe and New Zealand and specialises in designing stadia for the big event with a sustainable aspect.

He joined Populous in the 1990s. His initial work on ANZ stadium (the main venue for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games) led him to London and the design of the new Wembley Stadium.

Breslin led the design of the main stadia in Portugal for the UEFA Euro 2004 Championships before his appointment as project leader for the successful masterplan for the London 2012 Olympic Park.

Since then he worked on Soccer City for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and most recently, in New Zealand, leading the design of the main stadium for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, at Eden Park in Auckland and also the design of Forsyth Barr in Dunedin, the first ever fixed roof stadium over a natural turf field of play.