Top Architectural Practices: Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners

Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners is headed up by Richard Rogers, an architect who co-founded Team 4 in 1963 along with Su Brumwell, Wendy Cheeseman and Norman Foster who Rogers met at the Yale School of Architecture. Roger's pedigree is second to none within the industry and his early career saw him collaborating with Renzo Piano, the architect behind The Shard, after Team 4 had dissolved. Roger's career was catapulted into the limelight when he won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in Paris, noted for having many of the building services on the outside of the building to create extra space inside, which is a feature which was later seen on the Lloyds Building in London. The Lloyds building design was the subject of critical acclaim and disdain which made the Richard Rogers Partnership one of the most recognised and distinctive brands in modern architecture, synonymous with cutting edge design.

The market was perhaps standoffish about Rogers bold designs and it is said that he was not awarded any commissions for two years after the Lloyds building design was released. If Rogers needed any reassurance that he is amongst the A list of architects, it lies in the fact that he was commissioned to design one of the towers that will stand on the site of the World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich Street, a 1240ft (378m) tower that resembles some of Rogers bolder architectural designs with visible trusses but with a softer delivery and the utilities on the inside of the building!

A lot of Rogers commissions are in London as opposed to New York City including the Millenium Dome (02 Arena), the Terminal 5 building at Heathrow Airport which is the largest free standing building in the UK, the new extension to the British museum and Paternoster Square near to St.Paul's Cathedral which was devastated by the blitz in World War 2. Rogers influence on architecture across every industry is recognized by a list of awards which have included the RIBA Gold Medal in 1985, the Thomas Jefferson Medal in 1999,  the Sterling Prize in 2006 and 2009 and the Pritzker Prize in 2007 which is documented in this short videoclip.