Sir Michael John Hopkins (born 7 May 1935) is an English architect.

Career

Michael Hopkins was born in Poole, Dorset, and educated at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors ...

Some Fascinating and Famous Alumni...

. Retrieved 24 February 2011. and trained at the

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme ...

. He worked for

Frederick Gibberd Sir Frederick Ernest Gibberd (7 January 1908 – 9 January 1984) was an English architect, town planner and landscape designer. He is particularly known for his work in Harlow, Essex, and for the BISF house, a design for a prefabricated council ...

before entering into partnership with

Norman Foster Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...

, where he was the project architect of the Willis Faber headquarters in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

. With

, Richard Rogers, Terry Farrell and Nicholas Grimshaw, Hopkins was one of the leading figures in the introduction of high-tech architecture into Britain.Michael Hopkins RA
Royal Academy, 15 July 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2011. In 1976 Hopkins set up what became

Hopkins Architects Hopkins Architects (formerly Michael Hopkins and Partners) is a prominent British architectural firm established by architects Sir Michael and Patricia, Lady Hopkins. Background The practice was established in 1976 by Michael and Patty Hopkins ...

in partnership with his wife,

Patricia Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United State ...

, who had ran her own practice. One of their first buildings was their own house in Hampstead, a lightweight steel structure with glass façades.Glancy, Jonathan
Architects honour husband and wife team

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

, 17 February 2004. Retrieved 24 February 2011. Early Hopkins Architects' buildings, such as the Greene King brewery in Bury St Edmunds and the Schlumberger laboratories near Cambridge, used new materials and construction techniques. The firm challenged conventional architectural wisdom by demonstrating that lightweight steel-and-glass structures could be energy efficient and pioneered the use in Britain of permanent lightweight fabric structures, of which the Mound Stand at Lord's Cricket Ground is a notable example. From the mid-1980s the practice began to explore what they called the "updating of the traditional materials",Royal Gold Medal: 1994 Michael and Patricia Hopkins
,

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

. Retrieved 24 February 2011. adding to the expressive potential of traditional crafts like masonry and carpentry by combining them with contemporary engineering. The practice became recognised for its combination of ultra-modern techniques with traditional architecture, broadening their palette of materials and forms. Together Michael and Patty Hopkins received the

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

, awarded in 1994. The citation describes the Hopkins' work as "not only a matter of exploiting technology to build beautifully, nor simply of accommodating difficult and changing tasks in the most elegant way, but above all of capturing in stone and transmitting in bronze the finest aspirations of our age", praising their contribution to the debate about the "delicate relationship between modernity and tradition" and adding: "For Hopkins, progress is no longer a break with the past but rather an act of continuity where he deftly and intelligently integrates traditional elements such as stone and wood, with advanced and environmentally responsible technology." Michael Hopkins was elected to the Royal Academy in 1992 and appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

and knighted for services to architecture.

Examples of work

Rose Bowl (cricket ground) The Rose Bowl, known for sponsorship reasons as Ageas Bowl is a cricket ground and hotel complex in West End, Hampshire. It is the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club, who have played there since 2001. It was constructed as a replacement ...

Gallery

Image:Wellcome.jpg,

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

building on Euston Road, London Image:Schlumberger Cambridge Research Centre 05.jpg, The Schlumberger

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

Research Centre, opened in 1985, was one of Hopkins' earliest buildings and shows his distinctive use of a suspended, high-tech, fabric roof Image:Portcullis.house.london.arp.jpg,

Portcullis House Portcullis House (PCH) is an office building in Westminster, London, United Kingdom, that was commissioned in 1992 and opened in 2001 to provide offices for 213 members of parliament and their staff. The public entrance is on the Embankment. Part ...

, Westminster, London Image:Djanogly Library, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham University.jpg, All of the Phase 1 Construction on the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

Jubilee Campus The University of Nottingham operates from four campuses in Nottinghamshire and from two overseas campuses, one in Ningbo, China and the other in Semenyih, Malaysia. The Ningbo campus was officially opened on 23 February 2005 by the then Britis ...

was designed by Hopkins Image:Rosebowl.png, The

Rose Bowl, Southampton The Rose Bowl, known for sponsorship reasons as Ageas Bowl is a cricket ground and hotel complex in West End, Hampshire. It is the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club, who have played there since 2001. It was constructed as a replacement ...

, showing the

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

with its distinctive fabric roof File:The Round Building - geograph.org.uk - 1166550.jpg, The

David Mellor David John Mellor (born 12 March 1949) is a British broadcaster, barrister, and former politician. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1990–92) and ...

cutlery factory in

Hathersage Hathersage ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It lies slightly to the north of the River Derwent, approximately south-west of Sheffield. Toponymy The origin of its name is disputed, although it is ...

1990

References

External links

Practice web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Michael 1935 births Living people People from Poole Modernist architects from England 20th-century English architects People educated at Sherborne School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth Royal Academicians People from Dorset