Former partner joined the firm’s predecessor Foster Associates in 1973
Spencer de Grey has retired from Foster + Partners after 52 years at the practice.
De Grey joined Foster Associates, the predecessor of Foster + Partners, in 1973 and worked on some of the firm’s best known projects including the HSBC Building in Hong Kong.
His retirement comes two years after he stepped down as a director of the firm, although he remained on the management and design boards.
Prior to joining Fosters, De Grey studied at Cambridge University under Royal Festival Hall architect Leslie Martin before working for four years at the London borough of Merton.
He moved to Hong Kong in 1979 to set up the firm’s office in the city in order to build the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, one of the most influential office buildings of the late 20th century.
De Grey returned to London in 1981 to become the director of Stansted Airport’s new terminal building, which he worked on for most of the 1980s and is now recognised as a landmark of airport terminal design and High-tech architecture.
He became a partner in 1991, the same year which the terminal opened, and later worked on projects including the British Museum’s Great Court, Dresden Hauptbahnhof and the Sage music centre in Gateshead.
In 1997, he was made a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to architecture.
In 2008, he was elected a Royal Academician and in 2019, Spencer was chosen to curate the architecture room at the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition.
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