1993 Ian Ritchie Architects worked successfully with Colt International on virtual reality modelling of crowd behaviour for the fire escapes of Leipzig Glass Hall.
This behavioural method of analysis was subsequently adopted by London Underground to aid escalator run-off design for the Jubilee Line.
Glass
2011 Translucent pre-fabricated modular insulated structural cast glass assembly, Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, London (Ian Ritchie Architects) UK and international patent applications pending 2017 & 2018
2003 Intended application of structurally fixed high performance triple glazing, Potters Fields residential development (Ian Ritchie Architects and Pilkington)
1994 World’s first inclined glass fire escape doors, Leipzig Glass Hall, Germany. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Seele) The Leipzig Glass Hall is the world’s largest glass structure enclosing a single volume of 500,000 cubic metres.
1994 World’s first combination of extruded silicone/liquid silicone glass to glass jointing, applied externally only, Leipzig Glass Hall, Germany. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Seele)
1992 World’s first public glass bench seating, London Underground Bermondsey Station. (Ian Ritchie Architects)
1991 World’s first glass installation which transfers wind load at the corner of the building through the glass edges: Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art, Madrid. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Pilkington)
1989 World’s first application of double glazed structural glass fixing at Stockley Park, London. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Pilkington)
1989 World’s first application of Structural Glue Glass Fixing in a public building, Natural History Museum, Ecology Gallery, London. (Ian Ritchie Architects and TW Ide)
1987 World’s first structural fixing through one leaf only of a doubly curved laminated glass panel: Phantom Glass Fixing for the Pearl of Dubai (Ian Ritchie Architects design copyright). This fixing was subsequently incorporated in the Terrasson Cultural Greenhouse glass roof. (1993)
1983 World’s first all glass bridge, including floor, Lintas Bridge, Paris. (Rice Francis Ritchie)
1981-85 World’s first thermally insulated light transmitting permanent glass fabric roof construction, La Villette, Paris. (Rice Francis Ritchie)
1981-85 World’s first high performance toughened glass structural fixing, La Villette, Paris. (Rice Francis Ritchie – RFR world patent)
Light
1998 World’s first installation of woven fractured optic fibres and stainless steel wire: Milan’s Light Monument, Alba (Ian Ritchie Architects, Litech and Wilbey)
1997 World’s first interactive light memory coating on glass, Light Tunnel Installation Ingolstadt, Frankfurt, Leipzig. (1993) (Ian Ritchie Architects and Pilkington)
1984 World’s first creation of visible 3D light forms at the EDF laboratories France. (Ian Ritchie, Jean-Louis Lhermitte and François Bastien)
Stainless Steel
2003 Development of Ritchie 65 mesh cladding for Whitecity.
1998 World’s tallest stainless steel shell structure, The Spire Monument, Dublin, Ireland (Ian Ritchie Architects and Arup)
1996 Stiffened catenary stainless steel sheet roof, London Regatta Centre. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Arup)
1996-99 New generation of high voltage (400kV) electricity pylons for Electricité de France using rolled steel shell structures. (Ian Ritchie Architects and RFR)
1999 World’s first application of woven phosphor bronze wire as external cladding, Plymouth Theatre Royal Production Centre. (Ian Ritchie Architects + Locker Wire)
1987 Woven titanium wire structural cladding for France-Japan Monument (un-built). (Ian Ritchie Architects, Peter Rice and the Poiesis Generator Team)
1993 World’s first cantilevered steel mesh caged stone walls (7m high ‘gabion’) Terrasson-La-Villedieu, France. (Ian Ritchie Architects, Arup and France-Gabion)
Acoustics
1997 World’s first outdoor application of an ‘active acoustic system’, Crystal Palace Concert Platform, London. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Paul Gillieron Acoustic Design)
Geometry
1998 Rowing tank incorporating two-speed water flow, built as part of the London Regatta Centre. (Arup and Ian Ritchie Architects)
1986 New spherical sub-divisions based upon ‘Arabesque’ geometries. Later applied to the design for 20m diameter sphere of the Pearl of Dubai. (Ian Ritchie Architects, Ensor Holiday and Keith Laws)
