Ted Cullinan

Founder

Ted’s family holidays were spent on their narrow boat travelling every navigable canal in the country, where he experienced topography, landscape, weather and history. 

Meanwhile Uncle Mervyn (Horder) encouraged his interest in architecture on car journeys to his grandparents in Hampshire; looking back Ted concluded “I soon wanted to be an architect.” 

Educated at Cambridge, the AA and Berkley, California, in the ‘50s, he declared himself a libertarian socialist. He loved drawing and making, building five significant houses with his own hands, his celebrated home in Camden Mews (1964) being listed Grade II*. 

In 1965 he established Edward Cullinan Architects as a cooperative, which transformed later into Cullinan Studio. The work was always modern but firmly rooted in the Arts and Crafts, which he loved to teach and to draw the work in lectures all over the world. He drew right up to his death in November 2019. 

He led the design of a wide range of schemes, exploring an architecture of environmental and social sustainability long before such phrases had been coined. These included the Downland Gridshell, RMC International HQ, the Cambridge Centre for Mathematical Sciences and the Newcastle Maggies.

Ted was an active Royal Academician and received many awards, but in pride of place was the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2008.