Team 4 (1963–67) Richard and Su Rogers Architects (1967–70) Piano + Rogers Architects (1970–72) Colquhoun Miller and Partners (1986–90) John Miller + Partners (1990–2011)
Susan Jane Rogers[1] (néeBrumwell; born 22 February 1939[2]) is a British designer and educator. She was a co-founder and partner during the 1960s and 1970s in two architectural practices Team 4 and Richard + Su Rogers. From 1986 to 2011, she was a partner in Colquhoun, Miller and Partners (later John Miller + Partners).[3][4][2] Rogers was a member of the team that won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in the 1970s,[5] and she co-designed the concept Zip-Up House in the 1960s. She was also responsible for two notable commissions from her parents: Creek Vean (Team 4)[6] and Pillwood House (Colquhoun, Miller and Partners), which are both Grade II* listed buildings.[7][8]
She met Richard Rogers, an architect, at the LSE, and they married in 1960.[2] Su and Richard Rogers had three sons together:[2] Ab Rogers, the former head of interior design at the Royal College of Art,[10] Ben Rogers, Director of Centre for London,[11][12] and Zad Rogers, a founding director of Atomized Studios, a video production firm.[13][14] The couple divorced in the early 1970s.[15]
She married her second husband, John Miller, an architect, in 1985[2] and joined his firm the following year.[16] John was a partner in Colquhoun + Partners (1961–1989) and later John Miller + Partners (1989–2011).[16] He was also Professor of Environmental Design at the Royal College of Art (1975–1985).[17] Rogers has two step-daughters, Sarah Miller, a former editor of Conde Naste Traveller,[18] and Harriet Miller, a painter and tutor at the Royal Drawing School.[19]
In 1963, Rogers co-founded Team 4 along with her then-husband Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, and Wendy Cheesman, who later married Foster. Friction emerged within the firm, and in June 1967 they decided to dissolve the partnership.[20][21] One of the first projects for Team 4 was a commission from Brumwell's parents, Marcus and Irene, to build a new house in Feock, Cornwall, called Creek Vean.[21] They sold a Piet Mondrian painting bought from the artist in the 1930s to fund the new house.[21] Creek Vean is a listed building, having been listed Grade II in 1998, and subsequently upgraded to Grade II*.[7] The practice also designed a planning scheme of 120 houses for Wates Housing, at Coulsdon, Surrey. Richard Rogers claimed that it was "probably the most important project of our Team 4 period".[22] The practice also designed Skybreak House in Radlett, Hertfordshire, built between 1965 and 1966.[23] The interior of the house was used in the film A Clockwork Orange.[24] The final project for Team 4 was the Reliance Controls building in Swindon, which was completed in 1967.
After Team 4 had dissolved, she co-founded Richard + Su Rogers Architects, which was active until around 1970.[21] The partnership designed a house for Richard's parents William Nino and Dada Rogers at 22 Parkside, Wimbledon, London. Earlier Richard and Su Rogers had designed the concept house Zip-Up House, which was never built although the concept was used for 22 Parkside.[25]
In 1971 Su and Richard Rogers joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano in a new partnership, Piano + Rogers. The partnership designed the Pompidou Centre. The partnership ended in 1977, although Su Rogers had left the practice earlier in 1972 to become Unit Master at the Architectural Association (1972-1976) and as a tutor at the Royal College of Art (1975–1985).[9][18][3] From 1977 to 1986, she was Director of the Royal College of Art Project Office.[3]
In 1986, she became a partner in Colquhoun, Miller and Partners, which became John Miller + Partners in 1990.[3] The practice specialised in university buildings, art galleries, and affordable housing. Notable projects included:
In 1999, the practice won an international competition to design the refurbishment of the Royal Scottish Academy.[26]
In 2001, John Miller + Partners completed the redevelopment of Tate Britain.[27]
In 2004, the practice completed the renovation of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.[28]
^Ian Lambot (Ed.), "Norman Foster: Buildings and Projects Volume 1 1964–1973", Watermark Publications (1991), ISBN1-873200-01-3. Chapter 1 "Team 4" by Sir Richard Rogers, pp. 14–15