Architecture

Architecture at Foster + Partners

Architecture must be forward looking and should aim to create the kind of world we would like to inhabit in the future. We believe design can be a catalyst for positive environmental change. Our work is an attempt to realise this vision and to produce buildings that are ahead of their time. The practice integrates the skills of architecture with engineering, both structural and environmental, urbanism, interior and industrial design, model and film making, geometry, materials research and many more – our collegiate working environment is similar to a compact university. By working together from the outset, we learn from one another and combine our knowledge to devise fully integrated design solutions.

Architecture

Architecture

We believe the best architecture comes from a synthesis of all the elements that separately comprise and inform the character of a building...

Communications

Communications

The Communications team publicises the practice’s work through PR outreach, website and social media, award programmes, book publications and exhibitions. It also supports the technical teams with marketing, bids and competitions, graphic design and research.

Technical Design Group

Technical Design Group

The Technical Design Group ensures that specialised solutions and innovation, alongside construction quality and technical detail, are present in all the practice’s work. The Technical Design Group carries out reviews of the technical design of projects at regular intervals after scheme design until completion. This ensures that high standards of technical quality are maintained in every project.

Design Communications

Design Communications

The Design Communications team is responsible for the creation of visual artwork for all projects from sketches through to photorealistic imagery. Playing a key part in the explorative design process, the team creates and designs artworks that illustrate the complex relationships within the built environment with a strong focus on storytelling.

Environmental Engineering

Environmental Engineering

The Environmental Engineering group was conceived by the fundamental belief that environmental systems must be conceptualised in harmony with the architecture to support sustainable development...

Industrial Design

Industrial Design

Carrying out a diverse range of work, the Industrial Design team frequently works as an integral part of the overall studio, designing specific building elements...

Urban Design and Landscape

Urban Design and Landscape

Designing at the urban scale is a complex undertaking, whether it involves a masterplan for a city, a regeneration scheme for a neighbourhood, or planning a new public transport system. Our team includes planners and spatial designers, economists and anthropologists, and landscape architects and mobility engineers, working together to create thriving and resilient environments. In this era of unprecedented social, technological, and environmental change, our approach anticipates the evolutionary changes and rapid transformations shaping our urban environments.

Structural Engineering

Structural Engineering

The Structural team works on the design and delivery of projects all around the world. The design ethos of the team is to find the most elegant minimal resolution to the structural challenges of a particular project – to identify the ‘inevitable’ solution, where nothing more can be removed...

Sustainability

Sustainability

The principles of sustainable design have always been integral to the work of the practice.

Workplace Consultancy

Workplace Consultancy

The Workplace Consultancy team devises strategies to help our clients achieve their long-term goals. In the context of the physical space, the crafting of this plan entails a breadth of expertise and outputs covering four main aspects: an organizational level or people...

Visualisation and Film

Visualisation and Film

The Visualisation and Film team produce architectural visualisations, animations, motion graphics and films for the practice for use at concept stages, construction, marketing and final presentations.

Applied R+D

Applied R+D

The Applied R+D (Research + Development) team is an integrated multi-disciplinary team of architects and engineers, who are also expert programmers. Our expertise ranges from art, aerospace engineering, and computer science to landscape architecture, structural engineering and applied mathematics...

Materials Research Centre

Materials Research Centre

Providing an information and research service for the practice, the Materials Research Centre and the Information Centre together look at current and new materials, products, companies, technology, innovation, sustainability and technical issues. The Materials Research Centre is an in-house reference that houses over twenty thousand samples of materials and products. The Information Centre is a physical library of product literature including brochures, catalogues and technical information.

Specialist Modelling Group

Specialist Modelling Group

The Specialist Modelling Group focusses on three core areas, Geometry and Building Physics and Innovation. The Geometry team works on Complex Geometrical Modelling and Fabrication Strategies. The Building Physics team looks at the movement of natural light, air and sound, while focussing on occupant comfort. The Innovation projects include collaborative research with universities and industry partners, exploring far-reaching ideas from bio-inspired engineering to extra-planetary 3D printing.

Interiors

Interiors

By designing a building from the inside-out as much as from the outside-in, we inculcate a sense of continuity and connection to the wider world. The starting point for any design solution is to gain an understanding of people’s needs and the way in which a space will be used. The goal is the creation of interiors that are both functional and elegant, while evoking a sense of place and complementing a building’s outward expression.

Project Management

Project Management

The Project Management Group (PMG) provides key support to the design teams, enabling use of the most up-to-date project management standards implemented by the practice...

Modelmaking

Modelmaking

With our three in-house workshops, we construct presentation models, sketch models and mock-ups of all styles, sizes and scales. Speed, combined with an ability to quickly interpret a brief, is paramount in providing a reactive service. We maintain an up-to-date knowledge of all modelmaking activities, from techniques and styles to innovative new technology. This is in parallel to maintaining and developing our traditional handcraft skills. Our deep understanding of the latest industry developments is vital to our success and our ability to develop as a team. Our workshops are fully equipped with an array of digital and traditional machinery. Due to the growing demand for model innovation, our workshop spaces have grown with our creativity to incorporate larger workshop facilities, allowing us to expand our team, fabricate large-scale mock-ups and create large presentation and competition models.