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RSHP is a British architectural firm, founded in 1977 and previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership which became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm rebranded from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to simply RSHP on 30 June 2022, after the retirement and subsequent death of Richard Rogers on 18 December 2021. Its main offices are located in the Leadenhall Building, London, completed to the firm's designs in 2014. Previously, they were at the Thames Wharf Studios. In its various incarnations RSHP has designed many important buildings including the Lloyd's building and the Millennium Dome in London and the Senedd building in Cardiff.
Key Information
Description
[edit]In addition to the principal offices, the firm also maintains offices in Shanghai, Sydney and Paris. As of October 2023[update] the firm has 10 partners, including Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour.[2][needs update] The practice is run with a profit-share scheme and a limit on the directors' salaries, in comparison with those of the lowest paid in the office.[3]
It is owned by a charitable trust, ensuring that no individual owns any share in its value and preventing private trading and inheritance of shares. The practice divides its profits among all of the staff and their chosen charities, according to publicly declared principles.[4][non-primary source needed]

The practice is strongly focused on sustainability, urban regeneration and social awareness. Celebration of public space and the encouragement of public activities is also a recurring theme.[5][non-primary source needed]
History
[edit]Soon after the Pompidou Centre in Paris was opened in 1977, Richard Rogers formed the Richard Rogers Partnership and started work on the Lloyd's building in London. Rogers explained that the reason for the change of the practice name from the Richard Rogers Partnership to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007 was because, "We wanted to avoid the situation where the name of the practice is someone who died 100 years ago. Architecture is a living thing. If I want to leave something to the future, it has to be able to change – but retain something of the ethos that we built up over 50 years."[3]
In November 2015, Rogers Stirk Harbour created five new partners including Tracy Meller, who became their first female partner. Founding partner Mike Davies stepped down.[6]
In June 2022, the company rebranded to RSHP, following Rogers' retirement in June 2020 and death in December 2021.[7]
Awards
[edit]In 2006, the practice was awarded the Stirling Prize for their design of Terminal 4 at Madrid-Barajas Airport[3]
In 2008, RSHP was awarded the Manser Medal for Houses and Housing, given for the best one-off house (Oxley Woods) designed by an architect in the United Kingdom.[8]
In 2009, it was awarded the Stirling Prize for Maggie's Centre in London.[9] It won the RIBA National Award 2015 for NEO Bankside luxury apartments in London and was subsequently shortlisted for the Stirling Prize for the second time.[10]
Notable projects
[edit]This list contains projects from the beginning of the partnership in 1977 through to the present day. For earlier work by Richard Rogers, Team 4, Richard and Su Rogers and Piano + Rogers, see the Richard Rogers page.
The Richard Rogers Partnership
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RSHP (and formerly Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners)
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Key personnel
[edit]Partners of the firm as of 2014[update] were Richard Rogers, Mike Davies, Graham Stirk, Ivan Harbour, Andrew Morris, Lennart Grut, Richard Paul, Ian Birtles and Simon Smithson.[needs update]
Current personnel
[edit]Ivan Harbour

Ivan Harbour joined Richard Rogers Partnership in 1985 and in 1993 was made a senior director. In 2007, the practice changed from Richard Rogers Partnership to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Harbour led the design team for the Senedd (National Assembly for Wales building), Terminal 4 Barajas Airport, Madrid (winner of the 2006 Stirling Prize), the Law Courts in Antwerp and Bordeaux and the European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg.
Harbour was lead architect for the Madrid Airport Terminal 4 project[3] and Project Director for the first Maggie's Cancer Centre in London (winner of the 2009 Stirling Prize), and 300 New Jersey Avenue, an office building in Washington DC (due for completion in Summer 2009).[17]
Graham Stirk
Graham Stirk joined Richard Rogers Partnership in 1983 and was made a senior director in 1995. He has been involved in the design of a number of projects in the United Kingdom and worldwide, including Japan, USA, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Ireland.
Stirk is the Design Director of several major projects, including the 48-storey office tower at 122 Leadenhall Street in the City of London and NEO Bankside in London, a residential scheme consisting of 229 apartments and an extension to the British Museum. Stirk also contributed to the design of several key masterplanning projects including Potsdamer Platz, Berlin and Paddington Basin, London. Stirk was Director in Charge of the expansion to the Lloyd's Register of Shipping building at 71 Fenchurch Street, One Hyde Park and 88 Wood Street.[18]
Previous personnel
[edit]Richard Rogers

Richard Rogers won most of the major awards available to architects, including the Royal Gold Medal in 1985, the Praemium Imperiale in 2000 and the 2007 Pritzker Prize. He was knighted in 1991 and made a life peer in 1996. In addition the practice has won numerous awards for individual buildings including the Stirling Prize twice, for Barajas Airport and the Maggie's Centre at Charing Cross Hospital.
He was the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate and was knighted in 1991 and made a life peer in 1996.[19]
Rogers' first work came when he co-founded Team 4 in 1963 with Su Brumwell, Wendy Cheesman and Norman Foster. Team 4's first project was Creek Vean, a residential property in Cornwall. Team 4 dissolved in 1967.[20] He then established a partnership with Su Rogers (née Brumwell), John Young and Laurie Abbott in 1967. By July 1971 Rogers had won a design competition to build the Pompidou Centre in Paris with co-partner with Italian architect Renzo Piano.
In 1977, he established the Richard Rogers Partnership with Marco Goldschmied and Mike Davies, where they went on to design the Lloyd's Building and Millennium Dome both in London, the Senedd in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg.
In September 2020, Rogers announced that he had stepped down from the practice and that his name would be removed from the firm's in due course. He had formally retired from the board in June of the same year.[21]
Mike Davies
Mike Davies was a founding partner of the Richard Rogers Partnership and a senior partner in RSHP.[22] He joined the partnership between Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano in 1971, shortly after they won the commission to design the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and later became one of the founding directors of the Richard Rogers Partnership in 1977.
Davies was the project director for the Millennium Dome in London and for Heathrow Terminal 5 and is currently project director for Grand Paris.[23] He stepped down from his role in the company at the end of 2015.[6]
Rogers Stirk Harbour reorganised the business at the end of 2015 and Davies stepped down from his role as a partner in the company. He continued working for them in a part-time capacity.[6]
Marco Goldschmied
Marco Goldschmied first joined Richard Rogers in 1969.[24]
He was co-founder of the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Mike Davies and John Young in 1977 became its managing director in 1984. He left the practice on 30 June 2004.[25] Rogers and Goldschmied were involved in a £10 million lawsuit, which was settled out of court in 2006, where the Richard Rogers Partnership would remain in the property along with River Café.[26]
Laurie Abbott

Laurie Abbott joined Team 4 as an assistant architect, working on Creek Vean in Cornwall.[27]
He built small development of properties in Frimley, was a senior director at the Richard Rogers Partnership, and was involved in the Pompidou Centre and the Lloyd's building.
Amanda Levete
Amanda Levete was born 17 November 1955. She joined the Richard Rogers Partnership in 1984, and left in 1989 to join Jan Kaplický as a partner in Future Systems.
John Young
Richard and Su Rogers along with John Young and Laurie Abbott, went into partnership after Team 4 had dissolved. He continued to work with Richard Rogers while in the Piano + Rogers partnership. Young along with Goldschmeid, Davies and Rogers set up the Richard Rogers Partnership in 1976.[28]
Other notable staff Numerous other architects worked in the practice before founding their own firms. They include Eva Jiricna, Alan Stanton, Chris Wilkinson, and Jan Kaplický.
Notes
[edit]- ^ "RIBA Announces 2015 Stirling Prize Shortlist". ArchDaily. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ "Partners". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Interview: architects Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour". The Guardian. 28 January 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
- ^ "Social awareness". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
- ^ "Theory: Public domain". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
- ^ a b c Laura Mark (17 November 2015). "Davies to step down as RSHP announces new partners". The Architects' Journal. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
- ^ "Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners rebrands as RSHP following Richard Rogers' death". Dezeen. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Oxley Woods wins the Manser Medal". RIBA. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
- ^ a b "RIBA Stirling Prize 2009". RIBA. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
- ^ "Riba Stirling Prize 2015: NEO Bankside". BBC News. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ "INMOS Factory – Richard Rogers". Retrieved 19 April 2009.
- ^ Glancey, Jonathan (21 November 2001). "It's been so long, is terminal 5 now out of date?". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
- ^ Kennicott, Phil (23 July 2009). "Richard Rogers's New Jersey Avenue Building a Tame Return to Capitol". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ Moore, Rowan (23 January 2011). "One Hyde Park – review". The Observer. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
- ^ "NEO Bankside". New London Architecture. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ "Renzo Piano joins Rogers Stirk Harbour and Wilkinson Eyre for Sydney harbour overhaul". www.dezeen.com. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ^ "Ivan Harbour". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ "Graham Stirk". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ "Richard Rogers". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ "Richard Rogers, Architect (1933–), From the House to the City". Design Museum. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
- ^ "Richard Rogers, one of UK's top architects, to retire". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ Tim Walker (19 November 2011). "Any colour as long as it's red". The Independent. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
- ^ "Mike Davies". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ Allinson, Kenneth (2008). The Architects and Architecture of London. Oxford and Burlington: Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-7506-8337-1. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
- ^ "Rogers MD Marco Goldschmied declares retirement rumours true". HighBeam Research. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ "Rogers and Goldschmied end legal battle out of court". Architects' Journal. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
- ^ "Creekvean and Attached Entrance Bridge and Walls to Road, Feock". BritishListedBuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- ^ "Richard Rogers, Pritzker Speech" (PDF). Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners at Wikimedia Commons
RSHP is a London-based international architectural practice founded in 1977 as the Richard Rogers Partnership by Richard Rogers, which evolved into Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners before rebranding to RSHP in 2022 to reflect its collaborative studio structure and ongoing evolution.[1][2]
The firm employs over 200 architects, designers, and specialists, focusing on a diverse portfolio encompassing offices, residential developments, transport infrastructure, cultural venues, and civic buildings, with an emphasis on transformative, adaptable designs that prioritize user experience and environmental integration.[1][3][4]
RSHP has garnered acclaim for landmark high-tech architecture, including the Lloyd's Building in London (completed 1986), recognized as one of the 50 most influential tall buildings of the past half-century for its exposed structural systems and innovative servicing, and the Leadenhall Building (2014), similarly honored for advancing sustainable urban skyscraper design.[5][6]
The practice has received prestigious awards, such as the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize twice—once for Terminal 4 at Madrid-Barajas Airport (2006) and again for the Maggie's Centre at Charing Cross Hospital (2009)—highlighting its contributions to aviation, healthcare, and humane architectural responses to illness.[7][8]
While celebrated for technical innovation and urban legibility, RSHP has faced project-specific criticisms, including rejections of proposals for South Kensington station redevelopment due to concerns over scale and heritage impact, and debates over the aesthetic and functional merits of its British Library extension plans.[9][10][11]
Firm Overview
Founding and Rebranding
The architectural firm RSHP was established in 1977 as the Richard Rogers Partnership, founded by British architect Richard Rogers alongside partners John Young, Marco Goldschmied, and Mike Davies in London.[2][12] This followed Rogers' earlier collaboration on high-profile projects like the Centre Pompidou in Paris (1971–1977), co-designed with Renzo Piano, which established his reputation for structural expressionism and influenced the firm's initial direction.[13] The partnership began with a focus on innovative, technology-driven designs, securing early commissions such as the headquarters for the Fleetguard factory in Quimper, France (1979–1980).[2] In 2007, the firm rebranded to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to acknowledge the significant design contributions of partners Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour, who had joined in the 1980s and led key projects like the Madrid Barajas Airport Terminal 4 (1997–2006).[14][15] This change reflected a shift toward broader leadership recognition, as Rogers transitioned from daily operations while remaining a director; the rebranding coincided with the firm's growing international portfolio, including wins like the 2006 competition for the Masdar City masterplan in Abu Dhabi.[15] Following Richard Rogers' retirement in 2020 and his death on December 18, 2021, the firm underwent another rebranding on June 30, 2022, shortening its name to RSHP to symbolize a new phase of employee ownership and collaborative evolution, with no single name dominating.[2][16][12] Ownership had been transferred to partners and staff in 2015, emphasizing a partnership model that predated the final name change.[2] The acronym RSHP, long used informally, became the official designation, aligning with the firm's emphasis on collective design input across its offices in London, Barcelona, and beyond.[15]Organizational Structure and Global Presence
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) operates as a partner-led architectural practice emphasizing collaborative design processes. The firm's structure features a hierarchy comprising partners, directors, associate partners, senior associates, associates, senior architects, architects, architectural assistants, graduates, and support staff, promoting shared decision-making across levels.[17] This democratic approach, integral to RSHP's operations, leverages collective expertise for project execution.[3] In 2015, the practice formalized its organization into three studios to support long-term succession planning amid leadership transitions.[18] Following founder Richard Rogers' retirement in 2017 and death in 2021, RSHP rebranded in October 2022 to underscore a collective identity, moving away from eponymous naming.[19] The firm employs approximately 170 professionals, as detailed in its personnel listings.[17] Leadership includes multiple partners and directors overseeing operations, though specific counts fluctuate with projects and recruitment. This structure facilitates adaptability in handling diverse international commissions. RSHP's global presence is anchored by its headquarters in The Leadenhall Building at 122 Leadenhall Street, London EC3V 4AB, United Kingdom, a structure completed to the firm's design in 2014.[20] The practice maintains additional offices in Shanghai at Unit 321, 2nd floor, Building 3, No. 570 YongJia Road, Shanghai 200031, China; Paris at 23 rue du Renard, 75004 France; Sydney at Suite 05, Level 30, 200 Barangaroo Avenue, Tower Two, Sydney 2000, Australia; and Dubai at Level 19, Prism Tower, Business Bay, UAE.[20] A New York office is slated to open soon, expanding RSHP's footprint to support projects in North America.[20] These locations enable the firm to engage in commissions across Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and beyond, with approximately 180-200 staff distributed globally as of recent reports.[3]