Spencer Thomas de Grey, (born 1944) is a British architect.

Early and personal life

He was born in 1944 in

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, son of artists Capt. Sir Roger de Grey and Flavia Hatt Irwin. He married Hon. Amanda Lucy Annan, daughter of Noel Annan, Baron Annan, in 1977 and has two children.

Early career

He studied architecture at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

under Sir Leslie Martin. On leaving

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1969, he worked for the London Borough of Merton on one of the first middle schools in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He became a

registered architect Professional requirements for architects vary from place to place, but usually consist of three elements: a university degree or advanced education, a period of internship or training in an office, and examination for registration with a jurisdict ...

in 1969 and a

chartered architect A chartered architect in the United Kingdom is a corporate member of one or more of the following architects' professional bodies: *the Royal Institute of British Architects *the Royal Society of Ulster Architects *the Royal Incorporation of Archi ...

in 1993.

Career at Foster Associates (later Foster + Partners)

He joined Foster Associates in 1973, continuing his work in education on the Palmerston Special School in Liverpool. He then worked on the Hammersmith Centre before, in 1979, setting up Foster Associates' office in Hong Kong to build the

Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

. In 1981 he returned to London to become the director in charge of

Stansted Airport Stansted Airport is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, northeast of Central London. As London's third-busiest airport, Stan ...

, which he saw through to completion in 1991. During this period, he also worked on the unbuilt BBC Radio Centre and was responsible for the Sackler Galleries at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in London. He was made a partner in 1991 and since then he has overseen a wide range of projects, including Cambridge Law Faculty, the

Commerzbank The Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft (shortly known as Commerzbank AG or Commerzbank ) is a European Financial institution, banking institution headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It offers services to private and entrepreneurial c ...

Headquarters in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, the Great Court at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, the Great Glasshouse at the

National Botanic Garden of Wales The National Botanic Garden of Wales () is a botanical garden located in Llanarthney in the River Tywi valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The garden is both a visitor attraction and a centre for botanical research and conservation, and features t ...

, the World Squares for All Masterplan together with the implementation of its first phase at

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

, the redevelopment of

Dresden Hauptbahnhof Dresden Hauptbahnhof ("main station", abbreviated Dresden Hbf) is the largest passenger station in the Saxon capital of Dresden. In 1898, it replaced the ''Böhmischen Bahnhof'' ("Bohemian station") of the former Saxon-Bohemian State Railway ('' ...

The Sage Gateshead The Glasshouse is an international centre for musical education and concerts on the Gateshead bank of Quayside in northern England. Opened in 2004 as Sage Gateshead and occupied by North Music Trust, the venue's original name honours a patron ...

(Music Centre), HM Treasury in Whitehall and nine City Academy schools in the UK. He is responsible for a number of projects in the USA including the masterplan and first phase of the

Boston Museum of Fine Arts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, the Winspear Opera House in Dallas,

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...

at New York's

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

and the competition winning scheme for the National Portrait Gallery courtyard at the Smithsonian,

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. In May 2007, Foster + Partners restructured with external investor 3i and the new executive board included

Lord Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. His ...

as Chairman, Mouzhan Majidi as Chief Executive, and original shareholders Spencer de Grey and David Nelson as Heads of Design.

Extracurricular activities

He lectures widely, is an architectural advisor for the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew,

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the Building Centre Trust and was a visiting lecturer at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

's Curating Contemporary Art course. He is chairman of the Cambridge University School of Architecture Advisory Board, and was elected Visiting Professor of Architecture from January 2010 until September 2011. He was elected a

Royal Academician The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in December 2008.

Honours

He was made a

CBE 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

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

of 1997.Debretts
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Early and personal life

Early career

Career at Foster Associates (later Foster + Partners)

Extracurricular activities

Honours

References

Further reading