FX Awards 2017: The Winners
Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Design
Winner: Ken Shuttleworth
Sponsored by Duravit
During the course of his 40-year career Ken Shuttleworth has worked on some of the most revolutionary architectural landmarks in the world, and is rightfully recognised as one of the world’s leading architects. Today, he continues to deliver a portfolio of iconic, innovative and sustainable buildings.
Beginning his career in 1974 at Foster + Partners, Shuttleworth spent 30 years working on some of London’s most high-profile developments, including Millennium Bridge, City Hall, the Wembley Stadium arch, and the 30 St Mary Axe, aka the Gherkin. Having contributed to equally distinguished buildings abroad, including Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airport and Frankfurt’s Commerzbank, he was promoted to director in 1984.After the completion of 30 St Mary’s Axe in 2003, he founded Make Architects, a 100 per cent employee-owned practice dedicated to democratic design process.
Within a few years the company gained a reputation for challenging convention and pursuing design excellence. Today, Ken Shuttleworth continues to oversee the design development of every scheme, guiding the practice’s 150 staff spread across London, Hong Kong and Sydney. Under his direction, Make Architects has established itself as one of the UK’s foremost architecture firms, winning numerous projects and accolades across a range of sectors in the UK and abroad.
In 2009 the company cemented its Asia practice with a studio in Beijing and an office in Hong Kong. The latter boasts an impressive portfolio of work, including a 23-storey residential tower in Kowloon. Following this, in 2013 Make opened a practice in Sydney, where its Wynyard Place scheme – the redevelopment of one of Sydney’s busiest transport hubs – gathers pace. Make’s recently completed projects include The Temple House in Chengdu, The Barn at the University of Nottingham, the Hiscox Building in York, and in London St James’s Market (West End), LSQ London (Leicester Square), and the Monument Building.
Acting as a CABE commissioner from 2002 to 2011, he is currently president of the British Council for Offices, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a member of the UK Government Advisory Group on Professional and Business Services.
The recipient of honorary doctorates from De Montfort University, the University of Westminster and the University of Nottingham, he has an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. As well as this he regularly contributes to industry magazines and lectures at architecture schools worldwide.
Most recently Ken Shuttleworth established the Future Spaces Foundation to advance research and debate the future of the spaces we live in. Comprising an independent panel of experts from a huge range of sectors, it aims to promote smart design that enables strong communities and first-class living and working spaces.
We are delighted that Ken Shuttleworth has been voted by the readers of FX magazine to receive the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Design award. He is a most worthy recipient.
