Current and recently completed projects in London include the comprehensive redevelopment of Capitol Way, Colindale, to provide some 900 apartments, community workspace and retail facilities and a CHP plant that will serve the wider area, a 150-unit mixed tenure housing scheme in Greenwich and a 600-apartment and commercial renewal project in Dartford. He has also recently completed fit out work at the Whitechapel Gallery and a range of airside strategy and fit out projects for BAA at Terminal 5, Heathrow.

He has advised Westminster City Council on redevelopment proposals for the Berwick Street area in Soho and produced plans for the Coolsingel area of Rotterdam for the City. He has led the masterplanning teams on the Amstelveen masterplan in the Netherlands and the Gdansk shipyard project in Poland, advised on the public spaces in the Belvedere Quarter in Vienna and produced a masterplan for the restructuring of the National Museum of Art in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Recently completed major retail projects include Carosello in Milan, Donau Zentrum in Vienna, Täby Centrum in Stockholm and Metropolis in Moscow. He is currently leading the DC team on the 100,000m² Cherrywood Town Centre project in Dublin. He advises funds such as ING and Meyer Bergman on property strategy and acquisition and Brussels Airport on retail matters. 

Charles is a member of the RIBA. He qualified from the Architecture Association in 1980 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He worked for four years for BBL, mainly on residential, mixed-use and community-based projects before joining Fitch-RS in 1984 where he became the director responsible for architectural projects in London and mainland Europe. Completed projects from this period include Uxbridge Town Centre (British Steel Award), Leeds Market refurbishment (Yorkshire Conservation Award) and Crinan Street Offices, London, (DAAD Award, CDS Minerva Award, Mansell Commendation).

In the Netherlands he led a number of projects such as La Vie in Utrecht (ICSC Award), Zailland in Leuwarden (NCSC Award) and Magna Plaza in Amsterdam (ICSC Commendation, MIPIM award, Sikkens award).

He moved to the Netherlands in 1991 as head of the MAB Concept Group, focusing on large-scale inner city renewal projects, invariably carried out in public private partnership, such as De Barones in Breda, Alexandrium in Rotterdam, the Z1 masterplan in Munich and Amstelveen Town Centre, where he was also architect for the Binnenhof.

Charles returned to the UK in 1997 to set up 20|20 Architects. He carried out strategic masterplanning studies for Ottakringer Brewery in Vienna and Breuninger in Stuttgart, St Mary-le-Port, Bristol and the Bargate area in Southampton during this period, as well as retail work for clients such as Liberty.

He has lectured across Europe at conferences and universities, such as Edinburgh and the Rotterdam Academie van Bouwkunst, and held masterclasses for both the NRC and property funds. His work has been widely published and he has been architectural supervisor for the Ridderkerk Centrum plan 1998-2002 and advisor to the Council of Europe on the drafting of development guidelines for archaeologically sensitive sites. He is a director of the Whitechapel Gallery Estates Trust.