Architect Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners opened an office in New York this week.
The practice decided it needed a US base as a result of the number of projects it has picked up across the Atlantic. These include an arts centre in New York and the Blennerhassett Island Bridge in West Virginia.

Grimshaw attributes the increasing workload to the general popularity of European practices in the USA. This, says the practice, is explained by the "environmental responsiveness" of European companies' buildings.

The office will have 10 staff and will be headed by senior associates Vincent Chang and Mark Husser.

The US office is the fifth that Grimshaw has opened outside Britain – the others are in Switzerland, Australia, Germany and Spain.

A spokesperson for Grimshaw said the practice had no concrete plans to expand the New York division.

She said: "It would expand if necessary, according to the workload."