Spencer de Grey Introduced by Christopher Le Brun

Architect Spencer de Grey talks about his life in architecture, and his work at one of the world’s most famous architectural practices, Foster and Partners, where he is head of design, and shares responsibility for the business’s projects.

De Grey was director in charge of Stansted Airport and saw the project through to completion in 1991. He has worked on many high-profile buildings over the decades, including The Sackler Galleries at The Royal Academy; the HSBC building in Hong Kong; the Law Faculty at Cambridge University; the Great Court at the British Museum; the Sage Music Centre at Gateshead; HM Treasury in Whitehall; and the Great Glasshouse at the National Botanic Garden of Wales; and nine city academy schools in the UK.

In Germany, de Grey worked on the Commerzbank Headquarters in Frankfurt and the recreation of the huge pre-war railway station in Dresden. Cultural projects in the USA included The Boston Museum of Fine Arts; the Winspear Opera House in Dallas; and the National Portrait Gallery Courtyard at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.

De Grey joined Foster and Partners in 1973.  He is president of the Building Centre Trust, was made a CBE in 1997 and elected a Royal Academician in 2008. He will be introduced by Sir Christopher Le Brun, past president of the Royal Academy.

This is the festival’s Inaugural Royal Academy Lecture sponsored by John Roberts FRIBA.