Architecture studio Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has announced it is setting up a European office in Paris to win work in the EU following Brexit.
Stephen Barrett, the partner responsible for France at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP), describes establishing a Paris office as "essential" for continuing to work in France and the European Union following the "absolute catastrophe" of Brexit.
Although the studio has been working in France for 50 years with high-profile projects including the Centre Pompidou, European Courts of Human Rights in Strasbourg, a terminal at Lyon Airport and an archive for the Louvre, it has never had a permanent office in the country.
The studio, which was founded by Pritzker Prize-winning architect and high-tech architecture pioneer Richard Rogers, is now establishing one as "a direct result of the impact of Brexit and to form a gateway to working in Europe." Working in EU from London "no longer possible"
"For years we've been working happily in France from London," Barrett told Dezeen. "Basically that's no longer possible."
"Suddenly there is a sense that clients are going to be very much more cautious about employing UK-based architects, that meant we needed to formalise a number of things that we didn't need to formalise before," he continued.
Top: RSHP is opening an office in Paris. Above: Stephen Barrett
Barrett doesn't expect Brexit to have an impact on it...