High-tech pioneer Nicholas Grimshaw dies aged 85

Breaking news: Grimshaw founder Nicholas Grimshaw, who designed the Eden Project and the International Terminal at Waterloo Station, has passed away.

Grimshaw, whose death was announced by the eponymous studio he founded earlier today, was one of the UK's best known and highly respected architects.

The winner of the RIBA Gold Medal in 2019, Grimshaw was one of the early pioneers of the high-tech movement, alongside Norman Foster, Nicholas and Patty Hopkins, Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano.

His studio has designed numerous well-known and influential buildings, 10 of which he highlighted in 2019 when he stepped down from the studio as chairman.

Grimshaw dropped out of college at the age of 17, before studying at the Edinburgh College of Art and then heading to the Architectural Association in London, where he  graduated in 1965.

He spent his first few 15 years of practice in a partnership with another celebrated British architect, Terry Farrell, before establishing his own studio in 1980.

"From the very first day I arrived at the practice in 1986, I felt the warmth and generosity of Nick's leadership," said Grimshaw chairman Andrew Whalley announcing the founder's death.

"The lack of hierarchy in the studio, shaped by his amiable and open personality, was its true strength. It created a collegiate spirit, a place where people genuinely enjoyed working together, supporting one another, and finding the tenacity to deliver some of the most complex buildings," he continued.

"His architecture was never about surface or fashion, but always about structure, craft, and purpose - about creating buildings that endure because they are both useful and uplifting and, in Nick's words, ‘bring some kind of joy."

More to follow.

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