Max remembers Ted Cullinan

I first met Ted in 1963, when he and Roz were building their house in Camden Mews.

A few years later, when I was moving my recently-formed practice out of the front room of my house into its first proper office space, Ted was having to move out of his current office so I suggested that we share a space. Together we moved into a building in Jamestown Road – Ted and his practice had the 1^st floor and we had the 2^nd.

Ted and I had similar ideas about design and about running a business. We often used to have a drink after work to talk about buildings and about forming our practices as cooperatives, which we both did in different ways.

I hope our practices have many similarities, most notably their democratic structures, their strong focuses on low energy buildings, and their attention to thinking through the problem. We have worked together on numerous projects in our shared histories, including the Grade II*-listed RMC headquarters in Surrey; a naturally ventilated single-storey building with a beautiful garden on the roof, which was Ted’s idea.

I have many fond memories of Ted. Taddy and I enjoyed going to stay at the farm in the countryside that he and Roz bought. We went for long walks and had long talks. I also remember helping Ted dismantle a steel barn that was in his garden.

Ted was great fun to work with. He was warm and friendly, very clever about design, and a great collaborator. He retained control of his designs but encouraged discussion about the design process in an open and friendly way. He welcomed everyone’s ideas and liked to find ways to make them work.

Ted was extremely rewarding to work with and will be very sadly missed by me and many others.

Max Fordham, 14^th November 2019