Architect of the Week: Nicholas Grimshaw

Nicholas Grimshaw. Image from Grimshaw Architects.

Nicholas Grimshaw was born in Hove, East Sussex on October 9th 1939. After studying at Wellington College, he won a scholarship to the Architectural Association in London. There he met Peter Cook of Archigram, John Winter and Cedric Price.  After leaving he formed a partnership with Terry Farrell, becoming the Farrell/Grimshaw Partnership.

125 Park Road (1970) by Farrell Grimshaw Partnership. Image from Grimshaw Architects.

Together, Grimshaw and Farrell designed houses, apartments and factories. There most famous designs were; 125 Park Road, an apartment block overlooking Regents Park with flexibly planned interiors, the Herman Miller building in Bath, a factory scheme clad in fibreglass panels, and also a  service tower for student accommodation in Paddington, which added bathroom facilities to a Victorian terrace. The partnership went their separate ways in 1980, with Farrell pursuing a more Post Modernist style.

Financial Times Print Works, Poplar (1988). Image from Grimshaw Architects.

Grimshaw stuck to the Hi Tech, modernist path he had followed since leaving the AA. A number of his projects from the 80s and 90s have recently been listed; the Sainsbury superstore in Camden and its attached housing on the Grand Union Canal , the former Financial Times Print Works in Tower Hamlets and the Western Morning News offices in Plymouth.

Sainsbury's Store, Camden (1988).

Like his contemporaries, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, his designs were in demand all over the world. His practice, now named Grimshaw Architects, have produced projects throughout Europe and in Australia and the US. Grimshaw was knighted in 2002 and was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 2019. The same year he stepped down as Chairman of the company but continues to be involved as a partner.

Buildings- Falling Lane, Grand Union Canal, Homebase Brentford, Sainsburys Camden