Richard Lauderdale Paxton (born 21 May 1956 in Cosford, Shropshire; died

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

20 March 2006), was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, largely working in London.

Life and work

Paxton was one of four children of a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

officer and spent his childhood travelling around the world,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

in particular. He attended Brighton and Hove Grammar School, followed by architecture school at

Kingston Polytechnic , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

. After graduating, Paxton worked for Ahrends, Burton & Koralek. In 1985 he established the practice of Paxton Locher, with Heidi Locher (whom he married in 1987). He supplemented their income with part-time teaching at Kingston and the Bartlett School in London. The practice worked on a number of house projects in London, including a revamp of the home of author Douglas Adams. In 1996 the practice won a commission to design the new Soho Theatre. Their design incorporated a redundant synagogue as the theatre auditorium. It opened in 2000. Richard Paxton died in London on 20 March 2006, aged 49, on the verge of completing a low-energy house project in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, where he planned to celebrate his 50th birthday. Paxton designed homes featured on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

Living with the Future ''Living with the Future'' is a television documentary series first broadcast on 15 January 2007 on BBC Four. It is a follow-up series to '' Living with Modernism'', also on BBC Four. In each episode, presenter Simon Davis visits the owners of a ...

(aired on 15 January 2007 in the UK) and Channel 4's

Grand Designs ''Grand Designs'' is a British television series produced by Boundless and broadcast on Channel 4 which features unusual and often elaborate architectural homebuilding projects. The programme has been presented by Kevin McCloud since it first ...

(aired on 2 April 2008 in the UK).

References

External links

Richard Paxton Architects
* The Times Online
Space invader
* Channel 4

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paxton, Richard 20th-century English architects 1956 births 2006 deaths People educated at Hove Grammar School