Sheppard Robson is an ever-evolving collective of architects, interior designers and masterplanners. Together our team of 400 people design buildings, spaces and places that are people-centred and precision-made. Our family includes our interior design specialists ID:SR and AXIS, which applies our detailed design expertise to major projects by others.
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We work on a scale, and with a legacy of expertise, that means we can engage with society’s most pressing challenges. The most urgent of these is the need to achieve a better balance between humans and nature on our planet of limited resources. With no single solution, the mitigation of climate change can only be achieved with the critical application of an inventive, multi-layered approach, and by fundamentally rethinking how we live, learn, work and play.
Creative exchange
The masterplanning team crowded around a model, working through various iterations in a Design Review Group session. Collaborative and open discussions such as this are a vital part of life at the practice.
Our work is the result of creative, technical and intellectual exchange. People-centred design comes out of an engagement process where architects enable, listen and interpret as well as lead. With a robust methodology for testing ideas, we are able to fine-tune them without losing their pioneering spirit. Every project we make presents the opportunity to push our learning a little further, but we never forget that innovation should always be in the service of a clear purpose – to design for life.
Collective culture
From climbing mountains and playing softball together to painting murals and making ceramics, there is a varied social scene at our three studios.
The practice is a diverse, rich and fertile space where inventive design minds and innovative architecture are cultivated. We make room for new talents and lasting partnerships to grow and flourish. With a working culture developed over generations, we give people the opportunity to take an active role in shaping our portfolio, contributing to studio life and ultimately leaving their own mark on the legacy of the practice.
Opening Doors, Opening Minds
Sheppard Robson’s Alexandra Gould’s working with local school children as part of the Urban Learners programme.
We are actively involved with a wide range of community initiatives that engage young minds and champion diversity within architecture, design and the arts more broadly. Ultimately, we believe this will help to improve diversity and inclusivity and create social value within the built environment industries, by engaging with the potential designers of the future. We are well placed to connect a wide range of people to the power of creativity, and we believe every child should start life with as many open doors in front of them as possible.
We encourage our employees to engage with initiatives that they are passionate about, both on our projects and within our practice, which is further supported by our Equality, Inclusivity and Diversity Team. More detail on these initiatives can be found in our Opening Doors, Opening Minds publication.
Shared legacy
Sir Richard Sheppard (front centre) and Jean Shufflebottom (front right) founded the practice as husband and wife in 1938, with Geoffrey Robson becoming a named partner in the 1950s.
We are shaped by the legacy of our founders, Sir Richard Sheppard and Jean Shufflebottom, who established the practice in 1938 and were joined by Geoffrey Robson as a partner in the 1950s. Together they set out to engage with the most pressing societal issues of the time – a characteristic evidenced by our long-standing commitment to sustainability – and to instil a spirit of partnership, creating a practice that is still driven by the power of exchange.