A London-founded international architecture practice, led by Pritzker Prize winner Sir David Chipperfield, with a London studio and UK projects from Margate to Wakefield.
David Chipperfield Architects is an architecture practice founded in 1985 by Sir David Chipperfield in London. It has offices in London, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai and Santiago de Compostela. Its work includes museums, galleries, offices, hotels and masterplans. In the UK its projects include the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Turner Contemporary in Margate, The Hepworth Wakefield, BBC Pacific Quay in Glasgow, One Pancras Square and One Kensington Gardens in London, the Cafe Royal Hotel and the Royal Academy masterplan.
The practice does not have a formal mission statement on the pages we could read, but its attitude has been described by critics and by its founder. Critic Rowan Moore called its work "serious, solid, not flamboyant or radical, but comfortable with the history and culture of its setting." Chipperfield himself has said an architect should not "limit your way of thinking to a style, or a material" and that projects must respond to local circumstances. The Royal Academy project in London, completed in 2024 together with Julian Harrap Architects, shows how it works with historic buildings.
The UK sits at the heart of the story. The practice began in London and its London studio is one of its main bases. Projects across the country, from Margate on the Kent coast to Wakefield in Yorkshire and Glasgow in Scotland, show that the practice works well beyond the capital. Turner Contemporary, with its six connected glass galleries on pylons, and The Hepworth Wakefield, made of ten blocks clad in concrete coloured on site, are two examples where an art gallery has become part of a town's identity.
On recognition, the practice's projects have won more than 100 architecture and design awards. The Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, Germany, won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2007. David Chipperfield was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2011 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2023. Those awards belong partly to him as a person and partly to the practice. The pages we could read do not give staff numbers or ownership, so we cannot say how many people work in the London studio.
A practice of this size employs architects and architectural assistants, model makers, technical specialists, and communications and business teams across its studios. If you like museums, galleries and the thought that goes into how a building sits in a place, the practice's UK projects are easy to visit and a good way to start studying architecture. Its own website carries its latest projects and any vacancies.
Website: davidchipperfield.com
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