Robin Courtland Partington (born 5 August 1960) is a British architect; he led the design team for the ''Gherkin'' (
30 St Mary Axe
30 St Mary Axe (previously known as the Swiss Re Building and informally known as the Gherkin) is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. W ...
) when at
Foster and Partners
Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide.
...
.
Early life
He grew up in Lostock, Bolton in
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
, then in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, attending Bolton School
then a direct grant grammar school, now and independent day school. His parents were architects, his father died in a sailing accident whilst he was very young and was brought up by his mother, who later remarried Ronald Bellis who owned Richard Hough Limited manufacturing Calendar Bowls in a factory in Nelson Square Bolton. He had wanted to become an aeronautical engineer and grew up surrounded by architects and engineers. School holidays were spent immersed in heavy engineering and cutting oil nurtured a fascination for the properties of materials, how things are made and a healthy respect for the craftsmanship and skills involved. He attended the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
to gain his Part I RIBA
Bachelor of Arts with Honours
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree from 1978–81. He worked for a year at
Scott Brownrigg
Scott Brownrigg (originally Scott Brownrigg & Turner) is a British architecture practice with nine offices in the UK and abroad, with staff of 280. It was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in London.
Company
The company was originally establis ...
in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
from 1981 to 1982, then completed his Part II RIBA degree
Bachelor of Architecture with Honours at Liverpool from 1982–84. He joined Foster Associates
now Foster + Partners in 1984 for his final year out completing his RIBA Part III in 1985. He became a director of Foster + Partners
1984 to 2001.
Career
Foster + Partners
He joined Foster + Partners in 1984, then returned to Liverpool to gain his Part III RIBA qualification. He became a qualified architect, registered with RIBA and the
Architects Registration Board
The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is the statutory body for the registration of architects in the United Kingdom. It operates under the Architects Act 1997 as amended, a consolidating Act. It began under the Architects (Registration) Act, ...
(ARB). He would work for Foster + Partners for seventeen years
1984 - 2001.
Hamiltons Architects
He joined Hamiltons Architects in 2001, and was responsible for the transformation of the practice over the following 8 years
2001 - 2009. Whilst there he was responsible for a wide variety of award-winning projects before leaving to set up his own practice in 2009.
Apt Works Limited
In October 2009 an opportunity presented itself to start his own business. Despite the financial crisis at the time, the practice rapidly grew in its first year through the support of significant clients including Land Securities, Orion Land and Leisure and European Land and Property Limited. The company started life as Robin Partington Architects Limited, changing its name to Robin Partington & Partners to reflect the rapidly growing team and finally in 2018 the company became an
Employee Ownership Trust An employee ownership trust (EOT) holds a permanent or long-term shareholding in a company on trust for the benefit of all the company’s employees. An EOT provides indirect (trust) employee ownership of a company.
Among the different forms of em ...
, moving to its new offices at 235 St John Street in Clerkenwell, London. To celebrate the change in company structure, ownership and address we rebranded to Apt Works... because it does. The studio is an endless source of inspiration, filled with talented people and boundless energy. It is a place with great projects and wonderful opportunities, where clients and colleagues collaborate in a hugely rewarding process.
Works
* 30 St Mary Axe (''The Gherkin'', 591 ft)
*
Strata SE1
Strata SE1 is a , 43-storey, multi-award-winning, building at Elephant & Castle in the London Borough of Southwark with more than 1,000 residents living in its 408 flats.
At the time of its construction, the building, designed by BFLS (former ...
''The Times'' June 2012
/ref> (''Strata Tower'', 467 ft)
* 1 Merchant Square (''The Cucumber'', under construction, 460 ft, the tallest building in the City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...
, next to the Westway or A40.
Personal life
He lives in Paddington, London.
See also
* List of tallest buildings in the United Kingdom
As of December 2022 there are 148 habitable buildings (used for living and working in, as opposed to masts and religious use) in the United Kingdom at least tall, 117 of them in London, 15 in Greater Manchester, 5 in Birmingham, 3 in Leeds, 2 ...
References
External links
Apt Works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Partington, Robin
1960 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Liverpool
Architects from Lancashire
People from Surrey