Frank Duffy (architect)
Encyclopedia
Francis Cuthbert "Frank" Duffy CBE
(born 1940) is a British
architect
, a founder
of DEGW, the international
architectural
and design
practice best known for office
design and workplace strategy
and, more recently for advanced thinking on the programming of educational and arts facilities. Duffy is particularly noted for his work on the future of the office and the flexible use of space.
He was president of the RIBA
from 1993-95. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
in the New Year Honours 1997
. In 2004, he received the BCO (British Council of Offices) President’ s Award for Lifetime Achievement and in 2008 was named by Facilities Magazine as one of 25 Pioneers of Facilities Management in the UK. He is currently on the Board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation
.
In the Sixties, Duffy was responsible for introducing Bürolandschaft (office landscaping
) into the English-speaking world. His doctoral research at Princeton
was focused on the mapping the relationship between organisational structure and office layouts. In the Seventies, he was one of the pioneers who introduced North American practice in Space Planning and Facility management
into Europe
. He coined the concept of "Shell, Services, Scenery and Sets"(or Shearing layers
), the analysis of buildings and building components in terms of layers of longevity in order to facilitate the accommodation of technological and organisational change. This concept was later elaborated by Stewart Brand
in his book How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’ re Built
(Brand, 1994). In the Eighties Duffy and his DEGW colleagues initiated the ORBIT (Office Research: Buildings and Information Technology) into the impact on office design of advances in Information Technology
. This research had a substantial impact initially on key British office projects such as Broadgate
and Stockley Park
and then on office design worldwide. More recently Duffy’ s interests have focused on the challenges that increasing reliance on virtual communications is bringing into urban design
– asking the question, "In an increasingly virtual world what arguments can architects and urbanists use to justify spaces and places?"
Frank Duffy was editor of the Architectural Association Journal (1965 – 67) and of Facilities (1982 – 90).
As a consultant
specialising in Workplace Strategy for almost 40 years, Duffy has worked internationally for a wide variety of corporate and government clients. DEGW now has offices in the UK, the US, France
, Germany
, the Netherlands
, Spain
, Italy
, Singapore
and Australia
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1940) is a British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, a founder
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
of DEGW, the international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
practice best known for office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
design and workplace strategy
Workplace strategy
Workplace Strategy is the dynamic alignment of an organization’s work patterns with the work environment to enable peak performance and reduce costs.-Components and aims of a workplace strategy:...
and, more recently for advanced thinking on the programming of educational and arts facilities. Duffy is particularly noted for his work on the future of the office and the flexible use of space.
He was president of the RIBA
Riba
Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...
from 1993-95. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the New Year Honours 1997
New Year Honours 1997
The New Year Honours 1997 for the United Kingdom and Hong Kong were announced on 31 December 1996, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1997....
. In 2004, he received the BCO (British Council of Offices) President
The Architecture Foundation
The Architecture Foundation was Britain's first independent architecture centre. Established in 1991, it aims to promote contemporary architecture.The Architecture Foundation has organised public exhibitions, design initiatives, competitions and debates....
.
In the Sixties, Duffy was responsible for introducing Bürolandschaft (office landscaping
Office landscape
Office landscape was an early movement in open plan office space planning.- History :Large open office environments have existed for a long time. However, these frequently consisted of many identical rows of desks or long tables where clerks, typists, or engineers performed repetitive functions...
) into the English-speaking world. His doctoral research at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
was focused on the mapping the relationship between organisational structure and office layouts. In the Seventies, he was one of the pioneers who introduced North American practice in Space Planning and Facility management
Facility management
Facility management is an interdisciplinary field primarily devoted to the maintenance and care of commercial or institutional buildings, such as hospitals, hotels, office complexes, arenas, schools or convention centers...
into Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He coined the concept of "Shell, Services, Scenery and Sets"(or Shearing layers
Shearing layers
Shearing layers is a concept coined by architect Frank Duffy which was later elaborated by Stewart Brand in his book How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built , and refers to buildings as composed of several layers of change....
), the analysis of buildings and building components in terms of layers of longevity in order to facilitate the accommodation of technological and organisational change. This concept was later elaborated by Stewart Brand
Stewart Brand
Stewart Brand is an American writer, best known as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog. He founded a number of organizations including The WELL, the Global Business Network, and the Long Now Foundation...
in his book How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They
How Buildings Learn
How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built is an illustrated book on the evolution of buildings and how buildings adapt to changing requirements over long periods. It was written by Stewart Brand and published by Viking Press in 1994...
(Brand, 1994). In the Eighties Duffy and his DEGW colleagues initiated the ORBIT (Office Research: Buildings and Information Technology) into the impact on office design of advances in Information Technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
. This research had a substantial impact initially on key British office projects such as Broadgate
Broadgate
Broadgate is a large, office and retail estate in the City of London, owned by British Land and the Blackstone Group and managed by Broadgate Estates...
and Stockley Park
Stockley Park
Stockley Park is a business estate located between Hayes and West Drayton in the London Borough of Hillingdon.It is home to over 33 companies such as Apple Inc...
and then on office design worldwide. More recently Duffy
Urban design
Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
– asking the question, "In an increasingly virtual world what arguments can architects and urbanists use to justify spaces and places?"
Works
- "Burolandschaft", Architectural ReviewArchitectural ReviewThe Architectural Review is a monthly international architectural magazine published in London since 1896. Articles cover the built environment which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism as well as theory of these subjects....
(February 1964) -
’ Some notes on Archigram’ , House & GardenHouse & Garden (magazine)House & Garden was an American shelter magazine published by Condé Nast Publications that focused on interior design, entertaining, and gardening....
129 (February 1966) p. 171-172 - Office Landscaping, Anbar Publications (1966), also published in Sweden as Kontolandsskap (1967)
- "Organization, Behavior, and Office Buildings: Some Proposals for Analysis and Design." ThesisThesisA dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
(Master of ArchitectureMaster of ArchitectureThe Master of Architecture is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation that result in receiving a license.-Overview:...
), University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
(September 1969) - "Office Interiors and Organizations" Dissertation (PhD), Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1974) - Planning Office Space, Architectural PressPrinceton Architectural PressPrinceton Architectural Press is a leading publisher of architecture and design books, with over 500 titles on its backlist. It was founded in 1981 by Kevin Lippert in Princeton, NJ and moved to New York City in 1985. Since 1996, Princeton Architectural Press has been distributed in the...
, (1976), also published in Spain as Officinas (1976) - "Office Buildings and Organisational Change", Anthony King, Buildings and Society (1980)
- The ORBIT Study, Information Technology and Office Design (1983)
- The Changing City, Bulstrode Press (1989) with Alex Henney
- The Changing Workplace, Phaidon (1992) with Patrick Hannay
- The Responsible Workplace, Butterworth Architecture (1993) with Andrew Laing and Vic Crisp
- The New Office, Conran Octopus (1997) with Kenneth Powell
- "The New Office." Facilities Design and Management (October 12, 1998)
- New Environments for Working , Construction Research Publications (1998) with Andrew Laing, Denice Jaunzens and Steve Willis
- Architectural Knowledge: The Idea of a Profession, E & FN Spon (1998) with Les Hutton
- Design for Change: The Architecture of DEGW, Birkhauser (1998) also published in German as Flexible Gebaude
- Work and the City, Black Dog Publishing (2008)
Frank Duffy was editor of the Architectural Association Journal (1965 – 67) and of Facilities (1982 – 90).
As a consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
specialising in Workplace Strategy for almost 40 years, Duffy has worked internationally for a wide variety of corporate and government clients. DEGW now has offices in the UK, the US, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.