Foster and Partners
Riverside Three
Hester Road
London SW11 4AN
United Kingdom

Foster and Partners 1990

Foster and Partners' studio is in an unconventionally-mixed-use building on the south bank of the Thames. Above the dramatic, double-height studio are five floors of private apartments, topped by a single apartment covering the whole building, which is Norman Foster's private home.

The studio itself is a single open-plan and egalitarian space accommodating 250 people at rows of Foster-designed workbenches. The scale of the studio, the high ceiling and windows looking directly over the Thames, the mezzanine gallery of conference rooms and spaces, and the ubiquitous models of past and present projects, all combine to give the space its stimulating character.

Simon Glynn 2004

How to visit

Riverside Three is on the south bank of the Thames between Albert Bridge and Battersea Bridge. 

By tube it is not particularly accessible; best is to walk south towards Albert Bridge from South Kensington tube station or southwest from Sloane Square (a good 15 minutes). The best public transport approach is the No. 19 bus, heading southwest (out of town) from anywhere along Piccadilly, Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge, Sloane Square or King's Road. The best view of the building is from across the river from Cheyne Walk, the promenade along the north bank of the Thames.

The Foster office is not normally open to the public, but look out for opportunities in London's annual late-September 'open house' weekend (www.londonopenhouse.org).