PRESS RELEASE: C&P Architecture and Interiors - A Concise History

Conran & Partners is founded in 1980 by a group of architects and planners who during the 1970s headed the ground-breaking design of Milton Keynes, led by Fred Roche, the new town’s chief architect. Entrepreneur Terence Conran provides the funding for the design practice and his business empire becomes its largest client.

During the mid-1980s, the company’s most prestigious job is the redevelopment of Butlers Wharf, recently acquired by a consortium led by Terence Conran. The team now leading Conran & Partners - Richard Doone, Paul Zara and Matthew Wood – all join the company to help mastermind this pioneering, 20-year regeneration project, including some of the UK ’s earliest warehouse conversions.

The Butlers Wharf Building and the Design Museum at Butlers Wharf, and the multi award-winning restoration of Michelin House in Fulham are the landmark projects from this period.  With the expertise gained from designing Milton Keynes, Conran & Partners is also in demand for master planning, including the Royal Docks in London and Cardiff Bay.

1994 sees the completion of the Longman publishing HQ, Harlow, a building that pioneered environmentally friendly workplace design in Britain. Terence Conran retains his financial interest and support with important commissions from his growing retail and restaurant businesses. During this time, however, Doone, Zara and Wood are winning increasing amounts of work for clients outside the Conran group, including the regeneration of Leith Docks in Edinburgh (Ocean Terminal, Royal Yacht Britannia) and early projects for urban living pioneers, City Loft Developments.

The company grows to 80 staff as international commissions also begin to form an important part of the Conran design portfolio, as the reputation of the practice grows worldwide. The most prestigious of these is Roppongi Hills, a major mixed-use development for the Mori Building Company in Tokyo.

Today, Conran & Partners’ residential portfolio in the UK and overseas is growing, with a fascinating diversification into work for housing associations, plus research projects in modern methods of construction and family housing. The practice is now undertaking large-scale architectural commissions working for a diverse range of clients from major blue-chip PLCs to privately-owned companies, including:

• New phases of development at Roppongi Hills
• The Futako-Tamagawa Master Plan in Tokyo won in international competition in 2005
• Major residential projects in Salford, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Cardiff
• High-class restaurants in London , including Plateau, Floridita and Royal Exchange
• A major redevelopment of the Eldridge Pope Brewery in Dorchester
• Radical, eco-friendly social housing projects in Brighton
• The redevelopment of Notting Hill Gate for Metro Shopping Fund (LandSec/Delancey)
• Redevelopment of historic Greenwich Pier in time for the 2012 Olympics
• Conran’s first new-build home in the UK, a £3.5 million townhouse in Kensington

For further information please contact: Paul Zara, Director, Conran & Partners: cp@conranandpartners.com

October 2006

Conran & Partners Architecture and Interiors History
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