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ANDREW MORRIS

Andrew Morris (b Bermondsey, London 19/8/1951) is a British architect and an expert on the legal, contractual and commercial framework which defines how architects work in the UK. As senior commercial partner at RSHP until his retirement in 2021 and having worked in similar roles at its predecessors, the Richard Rogers Partnership and Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, his responsibility was to assess and ensure the legal and financial viability of the many innovations which made it one of the world’s leading architectural firms. Andrew’s knowledge and expertise helped to make the visions buildable, and the risks of innovation insurable. He also made a distinctive contribution to the imagery of 'high tech' architecture.

His contributions to various industry studies and investigations have helped to shape the framework for contemporary architectural practice. These studies include the Reading Construction Forum, which builds on the thinking contained within the Latham Reports (1994), the Egan report: Rethinking Construction 1998 , the Building Down Barriers initiative (2000) and the 2018 report by the Science and Technology Select Committee of the House of Lords, Off-site manufacture for construction: Building for change.

Andrew’s interest in construction technology tuns deep. He began his career as an architectural technician, qualifying through a day release course. But it was studying to become an architect at the prestigious Architectural Association, beginning in 1975, that demonstrated the importance of matching design vision to technical knowledge. His tutors included several people who were already in Richard Rogers’ circle including Alan Stanton and Mike Davies. In 1980 they introduced him to Rogers and Andrew’s association with his firm began in 1980.

Having recently completed the Pompidou Centre, RRP was engaged on projects which required innovative technical solutions, to which Andrew contributed. They included several ‘hi-tech’ factories, the headquarters for Lloyds of London and the Coin Street development in central London, though unbuilt became the seed for many of Rogers’ later proposals for the city.

To realise the visions for these projects the firm had to develop new skills to support its ambitions to push their appearance, function and construction. Andrew worked closely with Rogers and Laurie Abbott to find ways to explore the three-dimensional qualities of the spaces that Rogers conceived, and to develop very detailed drawings of the innovative details and components that their buildings needed. Together they made a significant contribution to the imagery of ‘hi tech’ architecture.

All this required intense collaboration with colleagues both within the firm and with consultants and suppliers outside it. That in turn raised questions about procurement methods and liability for performance and specification. Working closely with the then managing director Marco Goldschmied, Andrew helped the Richard Rogers Partnership to develop expertise in the contractual and legal framework that shapes architectural practice. Andrew continued this work after Goldschmied’s departure, until his own retirement.