Operating from a small Pimlico basement, Michael Squire founded Squire and Partners in 1976 undertaking small residential projects in and around London. Paul Harrison joined shortly afterwards, and the pair quickly established a reputation for creating architecture with sensitivity to place and context, and concern for careful detail.

Following on from the practice's roots in residential architecture, Squire and Partners designed and built the first new building on London's Park Lane for many years, the highly prestigious Brook House. Later the practice employed an evolved and refined residential language for The Knightsbridge, completed in 2005, providing 204 luxury apartments centered on a landscaped garden.

The commercial side of the practice began with a series of small scale office fit-out projects, including several for the emerging design-led Derwent London. In subsequent years, larger award-winning commercial projects such as Belgrave House for Grosvenor, 30 Warwick Street for the Crown Estate/City Offices and 5 Hanover Square for Stanhope/Mitsui Fudosan firmly established the practice as confident in both the residential and commercial sectors.

The practice began to attract a number of public commissions, including a series of developments for The British Council. The new education facility for the Council in Nairobi, Kenya was awarded the Gold Medal by the Architectural Association of Kenya and was widely praised in the UK architectural press. Public commissions at home included a substantial new leisure facility for The Hurlingham Club in London and a boutique hotel in Kensington, The Rockwell. More recent projects have included the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Barnet, a new facility providing support for children with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions and their families, and The Zubabox – a prototype solar learning lab created from a shipping container - providing internet connectivity to remote communities without access to mains electricity, in a series of locations across Africa.

The practice has designed several tall buildings in the UK and abroad, including The Landmark Pinnacle in the Docklands, Lexicon in Islington, Southbank Place in Waterloo and One The Elephant in Southwark. Elegantly proportioned forms are clad with facades taking their cue from inherent structural and environmental issues. The practice spends considerable time researching and developing construction materials which are capable of responding to and working with the environment. .

After 16 years in their award-winning office King’s Cross, Squire and Partners moved to a new home in Brixton. Following our purchase of a dilapidated Edwardian department store, the space was entirely reimagined, allowing the existing fabric and layers of history to inform the new design. Collaborating with craftspeople and furniture makers, the restored and extended building provides an exciting array of creative workspaces for the practice. The building has won several awards including an RIBA National Award and New London Architecture Award.

As well as housing Squire & Partners architecture practice and their in-house Interior Design, Modelmaking, Illustration and CGI teams, the Department Store is also home to creative agency Mammal, Upstairs bar and restaurant, Downstairs exhibition and event space, and a selection of creative and retail units including a coffee roastery, vinyl shop and community Post Office.

Current projects range from small bespoke commissions to large scale urban masterplans, and from schools, art galleries and private homes to high rise apartment buildings, but are all driven by a desire to craft buildings which are unique to their location, and often innovative in their construction. The practice strives to create pieces of the city rather than standalone design statements. The emphasis is always focused on responding to context, sourcing the finest building materials and delivering a meticulously detailed product.