The simple answer is No. The article was written by Alf Faddy's son and, not surprisingly, is very positive about his work. Although Faddy had been in the aircraft business since the war his experience was not great, a draughtsman in the small team at Parnall, a company which produced a few prototypes but few production aircraft. He joined Supermarine in 1930, part of a recruitment drive initiated by McLean, the boss of both Vickers Aviation and Supermarine. He was nearly ten years older than Supermarine's Chief Designer, Reginald Mitchell.
Each new formal project at Supermarine was assigned a project leader to coordinate the work, and Faddy was fortuitous to be selected to head that for the Spitfire. He was a tough taskmaster and not particularly well liked by some of the younger members of the design team, to who he was 'old Fad' and 'always living in the past'. Like many who were associated with the Spitfire his reputation appears to have been somewhat polished over the years.
So, yes, a senior member of the design department who did much to bring the Spitfire project to fruition and then made ready for production, but not necessarily a proactive 'designer' or 'ideas man'. The sketch shown in the article in Aeroplane really cannot be described as a project, simply a quick schematic sketch typical of the early thoughts on aircraft layouts produced by many in the industry. It is neither an official Supermarine project nor one in embryo, which would have received a TD designation. It certainly cannot be described as 'a design ahead of its time' as there were a great many doodles, sketches, concepts and potential projects produced by the industry at this time and Faddy's drawing does not stand out as anything novel.
