He was born in Manchester, Great Britain and studied at the Central Saint Martins School in London under Ralph Koltai. Upon completion of his studies he was awarded the Friedrich von Schiller Prize, which led to a secondment at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg and the Schaubühne Berlin. He has directed and designed the set for a number of operas, including Richard Strauss’ The Egyptian Helen [Die ägyptische Helena] (Metropolitan Opera, New York), Thaïs, Rinaldo (Grange Park Opera), Idomeno, Arabella (Garsington Opera), the Turk in Italy [Il Turco in Italia] (English National Opera), Gerald Barry’s The Intelligence Park (Almeida Opera), Saverio Mercadante’s Elisa and Claudio [Elisa e Claudio] (Wexford Opera House) and Otello (Düsseldorf). His theater works includes plays such as Jean Racine’s Britannicus (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Harold Pinter’s Betrayal (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow), Thomas Bernhard’s Elisabeth II (Best Director and Set Designer, Time Out, 1993). As a designer he has worked with a number of renowned directors of his generation, including David Alden, David Pountney, Nick Hytner and Keith Warner. He has designed the sets for the operas The Ring of the Nibelung [Der Ring des Nibelungen] (New National Theatre of Tokyo), Xerxes, Rientsi (English National Opera), The Clemency of Titus [La clemenza di Tito] (Glyndebourne Festival), Wozzeck, Rigoletto (Scottish Opera), Elektra (Welsh National Opera), Julius Caesar in Egypt [Giulio Cesare in Egitto] (Paris) and the musical My Fair Lady (tour in England). In the 2007/08 season, he designed the set and costumes for the GNO production of Simon Boccanegra (Athens Concert Hall).