Nicholas started his career in the firm on the venue for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia, the Telstra Stadium, focusing on the planned conversion of the stadium to its post-Olympic 80,000 seat mode. Since returning to England, Nicholas has worked on a diverse portfolio of innovative designs around the world including sensitive refurbishments of Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis Club, and new performance venues in Shanghai, Abu Dhabi and Copenhagen, and large sports masterplans in the Middle East.

Nicholas was Design Principal for the O2 Arena, a revolutionary scheme involving the construction of a 26,000 capacity arena within the Millennium Dome, Greenwich. This exciting proposal, part of a scheme to transform the entire Greenwich Peninsula, has since its opening in June 2007 become the highest grossing arena in the world, with state of the art facilities for a great variety of entertainment, sport and leisure events.

He is currently working on a number of new projects including, a new 60,000 seat football stadium for Olympique Lyonnais, with an adaptable concert capacity from 20,000 to 60,000 spectators. This unique stadium, is defined by a dramatic polycarbonate roof which through its articulation defines and filters the landscaped public realm by acting as the foliage of a tree, generating a meeting space of civic proportions, providing shelter, shade and comfort. At night it will illuminate into a glowing form advertising the stadium against the sky and creating an icon which les Lyonnais can identify with.

Most recently Nicholas headed the Populous design team which successfully won the Sochi 2014 Olympic stadium. The 40,000 seat stadium is driven by a desire to utilize the form and transparency of the skin of the building, to expose structural elements and preserve viewing corridors to the mountains and sea. In addition to being the focus for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the full FIFA stadium compliant design meets Russia’s world cup host venue ambitions.

He is responsible for design development in the office, promoting innovation, sustainability and high design quality throughout the design, documentation and construction phases of all projects. Nicholas is a guest critic at the ecole speciale d’architecture and a regular speaker at conferences around the world on the architecture of sport and entertainment buildings, their social impact and the role that branding and sponsorship plays in defining their design.