The office is closed from 23rd December 2010 until 4th December 2011.

Ian Ritchie attended the final student design crit for the first 3rd year project at Liverpool University - urban design and a photographer's gallery located between Liverpool 1 and the business district - and gave a summary to the faculty and students.

José Garrido and Ian Ritchie presented the feasibility study for the transformation of the Sir Jack Lyons Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music to the statutory authorities, land and building owners.

Oliver Scheffler is returning to Berlin after 8 years away. Oliver worked on Wood Lane Station and North House, developing a good insight into site construction, and with Ian Ritchie on new light fittings. He was a regular writer for German magazines and we wish him well.

The RSC transformed main theatre - the RST - had its Builders' Night, which Ian Ritchie attended in his role as a Governor of the RSC. The architects of the new transformation are Bennetts Associates, the engineers Buro Happold and MACE, the main contractor.

At the invitation of Architecture Today, Ian Ritchie wrote a critical review of Jean Nouvel's One New Change, designed and executed with Siddell Gibson Architects. The article can be found here.

Sir Christopher Frayling and Ian Ritchie, together with the Secretary of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, interviewed the final five candidates for the £60,000 Fellowship in Design. The theme of this year's competition being: Connecting the New Economy with the Old.

Ian Ritchie combined his Columbia University Manhattanville advisory role with a review of the exhibition at the Architecture Centre which features 'Liquid Wall' by RFR - which won a recent competition for new cladding ideas. He also attended the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust (AARAT) Gala.

Ian Ritchie attended the intermediate crit of 3rd year architectural student design work at Liverpool University.

A joint visit by Ian Ritchie, Jocelyne Van den Bossche, Henning Rambow from Leipzig, Inger Johanna Tollaas from Berlin, and Ulrike Brandi from Hamburg to see the Freedom and Unity Memorial exhibition of entries, including our own, at the Martin Gropiusbau Gallery in Berlin.

Ian Ritchie gave a lecture at the Love Light symposium at the Village Underground in London.

Ian Ritchie and members of the client team and scientific advisers Sarah Caddick and Richard Morris visited the Charles Correa Associates designed 'Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown' in Lisbon on a fact-finding tour in connection with the Sainsbury-Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour at University College London.

Ian Ritchie and Teresa McQueen presented 'Zebede', TGV and Chevron light fittings to the AJ Lighting Awards jury.

Kieran has joined us as a 'year-out' Part 1 graduate from Liverpool University.

The revised design for this office development adjacent to AIB HQ in Dublin has been resubmitted for planning permission on behalf of Mountbrook. The project was led by Rossa Prendergast.

We have been appointed by the London Borough of Newham to undertake a feasibility study to integrate the Victoria Dock Sailing Centre with the London Regatta Centre at the Royal Albert Dock.

Ian Ritchie will give a keynote lecture at 09.30 21st July on ´Architectural Values, Altruism and Innovation in a changing world´ at the 1st International conference on Structures and Architecture, July 21-23, 2010 in Guimarães, Portugal.

Ian Ritchie will be giving a lecture at the IABSE conference in Venice, September 23/24 2010. It is entitled “Ethics and Aesthetic Values in Design”.

The transformation of the two listed houses in Westminster into private offices has been completed this month. The project was led by Teresa McQueen and we collaborated with WSP (structures, acoustics and cost reporting), King Shaw Associates (M&E) and Eckersley O´Callaghan (special structures).

We have been shortlisted for three competitions:

• a bridge in the UK
• a memorial in Germany
• space planning project in London

A new and larger site has been selected by UCL Estates for The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour at UCL.

Following a public inquiry which finished in March 2010, the Inspector's report to the Secretary of State in April 2010 glowingly recommended granting full planning permission for this 24,000m2 mixed use development designed for Relta Ltd.

The prototype stage was successfully completed with the production of 70 Zebede task lamps delivered for the North House project. The design is being registered in Europe.

Ani successfully completed her RIBA Part III.

Wood Lane Station has been given the HSBC Rail Business - Station Excellence Award 2009. The judges said:

“A fabulous station and well designed. This hits all the buttons for this category and the provision of a totally new station shows logical thinking. Although it's easy to be swayed by new stations, there's clear evidence that this has been well thought out from start to finish. It's also one of the only entries to submit an entry that fully addresses the entry criteria. Although there's no evidence of integration with other transport modes the station designed more than makes up for this.”

Ian Ritchie Architects have won the competition for the Royal Victoria Dock Pedestrian Link.

Ian Ritchie and Rossa Prendergast presented with Neil Thomas of Atelier 1, and with Ulrike Brandi Licht of Hamburg will be working with Jacobs Engineering to deliver a new crossing and walkway for the London Olympics between Excel, London's Exhibition Centre and the Thames.

As well as receiving an Honorary Fellowship, Ian Ritchie was invited to give the Annual Fellows talk at the RIAS Fellows Dinner in Glasgow, attended by the Lord Provost of Glasgow.

Ian Ritchie has been elected an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

King Solomon Academy is officially opened on the 11th February with a celebratory party.

Gordon Talbot has accepted an offer to be a member of the Greenwich University Architecture School Advisory Board.

We have been selected for a Masterplanning role in Edinburgh.

Ben Ward is leaving after five years to undertake the renovation and transformation into a hotel of a timber palace in Istanbul. He has recently been leading the feasibility studies for the Chichester Festival Theatre.

We have been shortlisted for two cultural projects and are currently working on our submissions which are due in at the end of February.