David Chipperfield

Spear’s Review

Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Sir David Chipperfield’s practice is active across four continents and has offices in London, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai and Santiago de Compostela; its designs align with a core ethos of ‘social and environmental sustainability of the built environment’.

One third of the current staff at the London office are continental European, a factor that has been integral to the firm's success. ‘The transfer of knowledge, of ideas – a cross-fertilisation of cultures and of thinking – is really important in the creative sector,’ the firm says. Since establishing his practice in 1985, Chipperfield has designed buildings such as the Neues Museum in Berlin  and the Kunsthaus Zürich in Switzerland, as well as Valentino stores across the world. His buildings are typically stark and striking, with a trademark serenity. 

Renowned for his public schemes, he has also designed for a small group of discerning private clients. His first commission was a London home for fashion photographer Nic Knight.