Founder of Grimshaw celebrated for his ‘extraordinary ability to convince others that daring ideas were possible’
Nicholas Grimshaw has died at the age of 85, his practice has announced.
Grimshaw, the firm which Grimshaw founded in 1980, said this afternoon: “It is with deep sadness that the partners and practice of Grimshaw acknowledge the death of our founder, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw.”
Grimshaw was one of the most significant and influential figures in global architecture over the past four decades, known for his innovative structural designs and groundbreaking use of advanced engineering.
The firm described its founder as “a man of invention and ideas” who had an “extraordinary ability to convince others that daring ideas were possible”.
Grimshaw was born in Hove, East Sussex in 1939. He studied at the Edinburgh College of Art and the Architectural Association School of Architecture before forming a partnership with Terry Farrell in 1967.
He formed his own practice, initially called Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, in 1980. The firm’s breakthrough project was the printworks for the Financial Times, known as East India Dock House, which was completed in 1988 and earned the practice a string of awards. The building was grade II*-listed in 2016.
Grimshaw followed this up with the celebrated Waterloo International platforms at Waterloo station in central London, built as the original terminus for Eurostar. In 1994, the project won both the Mies van der Rohe Award and the RIBA Building of the Year Award, the predecessor to the Stirling Prize.
The firm’s success continued with the Eden Project, a visitor attraction in Cornwall, completed in 2000, which consists of two huge dome-like enclosures built using geodesic tubular steel structures.
Grimshaw was knighted for his services to architecture in 2002, served as the president of the Royal Academy from 2004 to 2011 and was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2019. Last year, the practice celebrated a second Stirling Prize win for the Elizabeth Line, shared with design team collaborators Maynard, Equation and Atkins.
Grimshaw chairman Andrew Whalley said: “From the very first day I arrived at the practice in 1986, I felt the warmth and generosity of Nick’s leadership.
“The lack of hierarchy in the studio, shaped by his amiable and open personality, was its true strength. It created a collegiate spirit, a place where people genuinely enjoyed working together, supporting one another, and finding the tenacity to deliver some of the most complex buildings.
“His architecture was never about surface or fashion, but always about structure, craft, and purpose - about creating buildings that endure because they are both useful and uplifting and, in Nick’s words, ‘bring some kind of joy.’”
In 2022, Grimshaw founded the Grimshaw Foundation, which has supported more than 500 under-represented young people to develop practical skills and confidence in the creative industries. Grimshaw’s practice described the organisation as an “enduring legacy”.
Grimshaw lived with his wife, Lavinia Russell, with whom he was the father to two daughters, Chloe and Isabel.
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