Turnover and profit falls at Chipperfield

Turnover and profit fell at David Chipperfield last year, the architect said in its latest accounts filed at Companies House.

The practice said income slipped 15.5% to £12.5m with pre-tax profit dropping by half from £1.7m to £873,000.

Employee numbers also shrunk, from 109 staff in 2024 to 90 lat year.

North America remains its biggest region by far with an income of £8.2m – two thirds of last year’s revenue. Workloads in the UK dropped 17% t0 £1.7m.

In a note accompanying its accounts, the firm admitted last year had been “challenging” and that “projects were generally slow to materialise”.

But it said that it had secured several new projects during the year including a tower scheme in Brazil and a job in London – believed to be a City tower scheme at 133 Houndsditch.

The job would be the practice’s first in the Square Mile and will involve demolishing the former headquarters of Deutsche Bank and replacing it with a 22-storey office block.

In the accounts, Chipperfield added: “Our appeal to the UK workplace and educational sectors has been strengthened through several promising studies undertaken which may be realised in the new year.”

Year-end cash increased £100,000 to £4.5m.

Earlier this summer, the High Court rejected a bid to block Chipperfield’s plans for a new Chinese embassy next to the Tower of London.

Proposals were finally approved by the government in January after a years-long controversy centred on national security concerns. But the scheme was hit by a further setback in April, when local residents were granted a judicial review.