When I grow up: In conversation with Trevor Morriss

This article first appeared in Mix Interiors #229

Words:  Dominic Lutyens

Few people know from infancy that they want to be an architect. But Trevor Morriss, principal of London-based practice SPPARC, resolved to become one, aged four. And, very precociously, by his late teens he had broken into the profession. In a pleasantly airy meeting room with tall, elegant windows in the Georgian building in Central London that houses his office, we chat at length about a career that has spanned over 30 years.

While many boys of his generation might have wanted to be an astronaut, say, or pop star when they grew up, Morriss, now in his early 50s, harboured an entirely different, frankly esoteric ambition. “I’m not even sure I understood what an architect was,” he confesses. “Yet I had a passion for buildings, even those people considered awful.” Cue visions of a nursery-age Morriss surrounded by Lego. “Yes, there was a lot of Lego,” he muses. Not for him messy, free-form finger-painting either. “I always drew meticulously with a ruler, which just felt instinctive.” This surprises him when he looks back: “That’s unusual for me: most things I design now hardly have any straight lines.”