Architectural Partners

Charles and Margaret met at the Glasgow School of Art, where they worked in similar styles with an emphasis on flowing lines and motifs inspired by nature. They married in 1900.

They soon became 'The Four', collaborating with Margaret's sister Frances, and her husband Herbert MacNair.

The couple collaborated on a number of projects, including a Glasgow 'house for an art lover', which was designed in 1901, but built 90 years later by architect Andrew MacMillan. Margaret designed the decorative panels, such as the ones in this music room. 

Charles Eames was already married when he met Ray Kaiser in 1940 at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan, but by June the next year the pair were married. In 1943 the Eames office was born.

Charles Eames famously claimed "anything I can do, Ray can do better". He died in 1978, and the following year Ray accepted the Royal Gold Medal on behalf of them both, making her the first woman to receive it. Ray died in 1988, ten years to the day after Charles.

Towards the end of her life, Jane Drew explained how she married her first husband, James Thomas Alliston, in her fourth year at the Architectural Association "as a sort of means of going on working, really". It didn't last, but she later found a true partner in Edwin 'Maxwell' Fry.

It was Jane who first recommended Max to the Labour MP George Strauss, who was looking for architects to work in colonial West Africa. When Jane passed on the news, Max called back to say he would accept, "if you will accept jointly". 

Six months later, she joined him and began working on a waterfront development in Nigeria. Their practice, Fry, Drew & Partners was officially born in 1950, and later expanded to include Lindsay Drake and Denys Lasdun.

Alison and Peter Smithson's love story and architectural partnership began at King's College, Durham. They married in 1949 and joined the London County Council architects' department, where their Brutalist style would soon emerge.

Together they designed Portcullis House, a government office building near Parliament completed in 2001. It features a striking facade with bronze chimneys and a modern interpretation of traditional architecture, emphasizing sustainability with natural light and ventilation.  

Completed in 1992, their Solid State headquarters exemplifies the Hopkins practice, blending industrial functionality with refined aesthetics. Its light steel frame, extensive glazing, and open-plan interiors maximise natural light and views, creating a flexible work environment.

Their most famous creation, the London Eye, was conceived as a monumental celebration of the new millennium. The towering observation wheel, at 135m high, constructed in sections and transported by barge, was initially envisioned as a temporary structure.