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Architect Chris Roche surrounded by armed guards in Nigeria. ‘I had 10 guys with machine guns when I went on-site,’ he said |
Architect’s year of the gong and gun
Hailed as one of the world’s top ten design gurus and protected on-site by armed guards
FROM protection by machine gun-toting guards in Nigeria to being named as an international design leader, last year was an incredible 12 months for Archway architect Chris Roche.
A former chairman of Junction Road Traders Association, Mr Roche came ninth in an Esquire magazine survey of 100 worldwide design firms. The survey included all aspects of design, from fashion to cars and buildings.
Mr Roche was placed ahead of the architects of the Olympic Stadium in Beijing and the designers of the Gucci fashion label.
During 2008, he was asked to design a £20million headquarters for the charity Empowerment Support Initiative, being set up by the Nigerian government. It will have seven-storey offices, four conference halls that can hold up to 1,000 people, a multi-faith fellowship centre, shops and leisure facilities.
He will also be designing a £2million factory and training centre for 300 women from poor rural communities, and a nursery school.
“Not bad for a small firm of architects from Shoreditch with just five designers,” said Mr Roche this week.
“Nigeria is an interesting area to work in. There’s a lot of rural poverty alongside growing oil riches.
“But it is unsafe for professional visitors. The kidnappers assume you work for the oil industry, which is what they are targeting. The problem is that a lot of the oil wealth isn’t going back to the poor communities. I couldn’t leave the hotel without an armed guard. At one point I had 10 guys with machine guns when I went on-site.”
The Esquire magazine survey was the icing on the cake for him. “We laughed about it in the office but were obviously very flattered,” he said.
Mr Roche believes his firm was chosen after winning a series of prestigious national design awards for a development overlooking Tate Modern on the South Bank. He beat 10 major rivals in a design competition for the new European headquarters of international advertising and software house DDS, whose plush new offices are close to Tate Modern in Southwark.
The finished project, opened by Tory leader David Cameron, won a gold award in the Interior Fitter of the Year competition, again against some of Britain’s biggest designers. More recently, Mr Roche was awarded an international green medal for the project.
He fitted out the office with sustainable and recycled materials and encouraged the client to use electric cars. |
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