Frank Duffy

Who is Frank Duffy?

Francis Cuthbert "Frank" Duffy CBE 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 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 1960s, Duffy was responsible for introducing Bürolandschaft 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 1970s, he was one of the pioneers who introduced North American practice in Space Planning and Facility management into Europe.