Francis Cuthbert Duffy (born 3 September 1940) is a British architect, a founder of DEGW, the international

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and design practice best known for office design and workplace strategy and, more recently for advanced thinking on the programming of educational and arts facilities. Duffy is particularly noted for his work on the future of the office and the flexible use of space. He was president of the

RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

from 1993 to 1995. He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

New Year Honours 1997 The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

. In 2004, he received the British Council of Offices (BCO) President's Award for Lifetime Achievement and in 2008 was named by ''Facilities Magazine'' as one of 25 Pioneers of

Facilities Management Facility management or facilities management (FM) is a professional discipline focused on coordinating the use of space, infrastructure, people, and organization. Facilities management ensures that physical assets and environments are managed effe ...

in the UK. He is currently on the Board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation. In the 1960s, Duffy was responsible for introducing '' Bürolandschaft ''( office landscaping) into the English-speaking world. His

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

research at

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

was focused on the mapping the relationship between

organisational structure An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination, and supervision are directed toward the achievement of organizational aims. Organizational structure affects organizational action and provides the founda ...

and office layouts. In the 1970s, he was one of the pioneers who introduced North American practice in Space Planning and

Facility management Facility management or facilities management (FM) is a professional discipline focused on coordinating the use of space, infrastructure, people, and organization. Facilities management ensures that physical assets and environments are managed effe ...

into Europe. He coined the concept of "Shell, Services, Scenery and Sets"(or

Shearing layers Shearing layers is a concept coined by architect Frank Duffy, which was later elaborated by Stewart Brand in his book, '' How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built'' (Brand, 1994), and refers to buildings as composed of several layers ...

), the analysis of buildings and building components in terms of layers of longevity to facilitate the accommodation of technological and organisational change. This concept was later elaborated by

Stewart Brand Stewart Brand (born December 14, 1938) is an American project developer and writer, best known as the co-founder and editor of the ''Whole Earth Catalog''. He has founded a number of organizations, including the WELL, the Global Business Networ ...

in his book How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built (Brand, 1994). In the 1980s Duffy and his DEGW colleagues initiated the ORBIT (Office Research: Buildings and Information Technology) into the impact on office design of advances in Information Technology. This research had a substantial impact initially on key British office projects such as

Broadgate Broadgate is a large, office and retail estate in the Bishopsgate area of the City of London. It is owned by British Land and GIC (Singaporean sovereign wealth fund), GIC and managed by British Land. History The original developer was a joint ...

and

Stockley Park Stockley Park is a business estate and public country park located between Hayes, Yiewsley, and West Drayton in the London Borough of Hillingdon. In August 2020, it was listed in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic In ...

and then on office design worldwide. More recently Duffy's interests have focused on the challenges that increasing reliance on virtual communications is bringing into

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes based on geographical location. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, city, ...

– asking the question, "In an increasingly virtual world what arguments can architects and urbanists use to justify spaces and places?"

National Life Stories National Life Stories (NLS) is an independent charitable trust and limited company (registered as the "National Life Story Collection") based within the British Library Oral History section, whose key focus and expertise is oral history fieldwork. ...

conducted an oral history interview (C467/103) with Francis Duffy in 2013 for its Architects Lives' collection held by the British Library.National Life Stories, 'Duffy, Francis (1 of 3) National Life Stories Collection: Architects' Lives', The British Library Board, 2013
Retrieved 10 April 2018 Frank Duffy was editor of the Architectural Association Journal (1965–67) and of Facilities (1982–90). As a consultant specialising in Workplace Strategy for almost 40 years, Duffy has worked internationally for a wide variety of corporate and government clients. DEGW now has offices in the UK, the US, France, Germany, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Spain, Italy, Singapore and Australia.

Works

# "Burolandschaft", ''

Architectural Review ''The Architectural Review'' is a monthly international architectural magazine. It has been published in London since 1896. Its articles cover the built environment – which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism � ...

'' (February 1964) # "Some notes on Archigram", ''House & Garden'' 129 (February 1966) p. 171–172 # ''Office Landscaping'', Anbar Publications (1966), also published in Sweden as ''Kontolandsskap ''(1967) # "Work, Organization, Behavior, and Office Buildings: Some Proposals for Analysis and Design." Thesis (

Master of Architecture The Master of Architecture (M.Arch. or MArch) is a graduate professional degree in architecture qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation (internship, exams) that result in receiving a license. Ove ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(September 1969) # "Office Interiors and Organizations" Dissertation (PhD),

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

(1974) # Planning Office Space, Architectural Press, (1976), also published in Spain as ''Officinas ''(1976) #
Office Buildings and Organisational Change
, Anthony King, Buildings and Society (1980)
The ORBIT Study, Information Technology and Office Design
(1983)
The Changing City
Bulstrode Press (1989) with Alex Henney
The Changing Workplace
Phaidon (1992) with Patrick Hannay
The Responsible Workplace, Butterworth Architecture
(1993) with Andrew Laing and Vic Crisp
The New Office, Conran Octopus
(1997) with Kenneth Powell # "The New Office." Facilities Design and Management (12 October 1998)
New Environments for Working
Construction Research Publications (1998) with Andrew Laing, Denice Jaunzens and Steve Willis
Architectural Knowledge: The Idea of a Profession
E & FN Spon (1998) with Les Hutton
Design for Change: The Architecture of DEGW
Birkhauser (1998) also published in German as ''Flexible Gebaude''
Work and the CityBlack Dog Publishing
(2008)

References

External links

DEGW

Portrait of Frank Duffy (National Portrait Gallery)

HOW TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS ARE TRANSFORMING URBAN SPACES By Mitchell L. Moss and Anthony M. Townsend
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duffy, Frank Living people 1940 births 20th-century British architects Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Princeton University School of Architecture alumni Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects