Robin Partington

Robin Courtland Partington (born 5 August 1960)[1] is a British architect; he led the design team for the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe) when at Foster and Partners.

His parents were architects, his father died in a sailing accident whilst he was very young and was brought up by his mother, who later remarried Ronald Bellis who owned Richard Hough Limited manufacturing Calendar Bowls in a factory in Nelson Square Bolton.

School holidays were spent immersed in heavy engineering and cutting oil nurtured a fascination for the properties of materials, how things are made and a healthy respect for the craftsmanship and skills involved.

He worked for a year at Scott Brownrigg in Surrey from 1981 to 1982, then completed his Part II RIBA degree Bachelor of Architecture with Honours at Liverpool from 1982–84.

The company started life as Robin Partington Architects Limited, changing its name to Robin Partington & Partners to reflect the rapidly growing team and finally in 2018 the company became an Employee Ownership Trust, moving to its new offices at 235 St John Street in Clerkenwell, London.