Luke Fox
In this episode of the ‘Inside the Archive’ series, Luke Fox, Senior Executive Partner at Foster + Partners, remembers joining the office and feeling impressed by ‘the unquenchable thirst for options and testing and analysis’ emanating from every member of the team in their creation of unique designs.
Mike Holland
In this episode of the ‘Inside the Archive’ series, Mike Holland, Head of Industrial Design at Foster+Partners, recalls his earliest years in the studio as he seized the opportunity to work with John Small and Norman Foster. Having joined the furniture design team in May 1995, Holland is keen to reaffirm the importance of product design which takes into account environmental impact.
Roger Ridsdill Smith
For the thirty-third episode of the ‘Inside the Archive’ series, we join Senior Partner and Head of Structural Engineering at Foster + Partners, Roger Ridsdill Smith. Joining the studio in 2011 to set up an internal structural team, he reflects how the experience widened his perspective on design. He immediately felt part of a culture of “intense discussion” to “evolve both the design and the design philosophy”.
Martha Tsigkari
For this episode of our ‘Inside the Archive’ series, Martha Tsigkari, Partner and Design Systems Analyst at Foster + Partners, takes us through working on projects as part of the Applied Research and Development group. Knowing of Norman Foster since architecture school, Tsigkari notes that during her career she has seldom encountered someone with “that sense of intuition”.
Piers Heath
For the thirty-fifth episode of the ‘Inside the Archive’ series we join Piers Heath, Senior Partner and Head of Environmental Engineering at Foster + Partners, who retraces his work providing strategy and design support for studio projects. Influenced by Norman Foster from early in his career, after starting his own practice and numerous meetings Heath joined Foster + Partners in what proved “a fantastic experience”.
Gayle Mault
In this episode of our ‘Inside the Archive’ series we join Gayle Mault, former Associate Partner in Communications at Foster + Partners, leads us through her time at the studio. Originally arriving as a freelancer, Mault eventually stayed with the studio for ten years as part of a busy team which witnessed an expansion in the number of projects, and the resulting greater need for coordinated communication.
David Summerfield
For this episode of our ‘Inside the Archive’ series, we join David Summerfield, Senior Executive Partner and Head of Studio at Foster + Partners, who recounts his first meetings with Norman Foster. These occurred at design reviews and site visits for the North Greenwich Transport Interchange, after which Summerfield moved to the very different environment of Hong Kong.
David Jenkins
In this episode of our ‘Inside the Archive’, architect, author, and Publisher at Circa Press, David Jenkins, remembers his earliest encounter with Norman Foster. While working on articles dedicated to Foster’s architecture, Jenkins’s ability to persuasively present compromised projects in a positive light won Foster’s admiration. It would be over a decade later when Jenkins again collaborated with Foster, moving into the studio itself.
Bobbie Michael
For the thirty-ninth of our ‘Inside the Archive’ series, Bobbie Michael, Partner and Financial Controller at Foster + Partners, looks back on her earliest position with the studio. With a background in the creative industries, and no prior experience of architecture, the post, initially temporary, was offered to her on a full-time basis. Michael joined the studio and began working directly with Norman Foster.
Martin Francis
For the fortieth episode of the ‘Inside the Archive’ series we join Martin Francis, Director of Francis Design Limited, and Co-Founder of RFR. He recalls first meeting Norman Foster while working for celebrated engineer, Tony Hunt. This encounter in a Covent Garden restaurant would prove ‘the start of a long and very fruitful friendship’.