Our Practice About Us

STUDIO CULTURE

Our studios reflect the structure of the practice – open, accessible and instructive. Leadership works directly alongside their teams to promote this philosophy. Our inclusive approach ensures everyone, from any background, is supported and developed. We are sociable, friendly and welcoming and this culture reflects our practice beginnings in designing safe and affordable living environments. We never forget our commitment to improving the lives of the communities and people we design for as well as our responsibility towards tackling climate change.

Summer and Christmas Parties

Christmas Jumper Day

Storytelling Sessions

Charity Run

Tough Mudder

Design Approach  

Context and local knowledge form the bedrock of our approach to design. This knowledge, reinforced by analytical study, enables us to produce a form of architecture which is entirely appropriate to its setting. Designs which are welcoming and recognisable to the residents and users of the spaces we create. Local commercial and industrial heritage strongly contribute to source material for our designs for workplaces and film production studios. We design from the inside out, with the end-user in mind. This blend of utility and contextual affinity is always at the heart of our approach to design.

Regular Design Reviews

Annual Study Trip

Design Away Day

Climate Challenge

PRP is a signatory of RIBA’s 2030 Climate Challenge, Architect’s Declare and the Architects’ Journal RetroFirst Campaign and is also a supporter of LETI and a member of the UK Green Building Council. We are a B Corp Certified company. We are committed to becoming a carbon negative organisation by 2050 by both reducing and offsetting our carbon emissions. To deal with and mitigate residual emissions, we have signed a partnership agreement with Forest Carbon to support woodland creation in Cumbria and Northumberland. More than 2,800 tonnes of CO2 are expected to be recaptured over the next 30 years.  

We have also refined our service offering to provide a more integrated design and technical service to clients, to address the challenges in tackling climate change and reducing carbon emissions. Our approach commits us to making real and lasting changes to the way we operate and advise our clients.

Read PRP's latest carbon footprint and reduction plan here for more information. 

woodland creation partnership with Forest Carbon

PRP HISTORY

Phippen Randall & Parkes was founded by Peter Phippen, Peter Randall, David Parkes in 1963. Housing was high on the political agenda at the time as Britain accelerated its housebuilding programme. What set the practice apart was its philosophy of designing for, and with, the individuals and communities who would occupy the homes, a theme that continues to this day.

PRP’s first major commission was the Ryde in Hatfield. This unique project of courtyard houses for a group of enthusiastic co-owners received widespread recognition. Its historical significance was recognised with a Grade II listing in 2006 and it remains an iconic housing project of its day.

A string of commissions in the growing ‘New Towns’ such as Bracknell, Basildon and Crawley followed. New projects explored different approaches to low-rise high-density housing with particular emphasis on good day and sun lighting and privacy. 

During the 1990s, the practice diversified into urban regeneration, specialist housing, low-energy design, healthcare and education and rebranded as PRP Architects Ltd. In 1994, we opened our London studio to service a major estate regeneration project in east London. 

The Surrey studio continued to expand its expertise in the fields of new communities and housing for older people. We developed ideas which were precursors to Government policy including increasing densities, reducing the dominance of cars and designing houses for different lifestyles and needs. In the 2000s we opened our first studio in Manchester.

Low-energy design had been a central part of our service since the mid-1980s, and we subsequently expanded our services in environmental sustainability. We were founder members of the UK Green Building Council.

We have since diversified our skill base to include urban designers, landscape designers and environmentalists as part of our development consultancy team, and most recently into the workplace with commercial and industrial buildings, through our specialism in film production facilities.

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50 years of PRP, 2013

Phippen, Randall & Parkes, 1970

The Ryde, Hatfield, 1963