{"id":16944,"date":"2026-09-13T23:56:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T23:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/?p=16944"},"modified":"2026-09-14T09:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:10:23","slug":"inside-ian-simpsons-manchester-penthouse-and-the-simpsonhaugh-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/home-to-office\/inside-ian-simpsons-manchester-penthouse-and-the-simpsonhaugh-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Ian Simpson&#8217;s Manchester Penthouse and the SimpsonHaugh Studio"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\n.h2o.h2o{--ink:#1a1a1a;--body:#2b2b2b;--mute:#767676;--lime:#97d422;--rule:#e4e4e4;--serif:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;--sans:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;--gut:clamp(14px,3vw,40px);position:relative;width:100vw;margin-left:calc(50% - 50vw);color:var(--ink);font-family:inherit;line-height:1.8;background:#fff}\nhtml{overflow-x:clip}\n.h2o.h2o *,.h2o.h2o *:before,.h2o.h2o 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.featured-image-wrap,.single-post .featured-image-wrap{display:none!important}\n.single-post .post-header,.post-details .post-header{position:absolute!important;width:1px!important;height:1px!important;overflow:hidden!important;clip:rect(0 0 0 0)!important;clip-path:inset(50%)!important;margin:-1px!important;padding:0!important;border:0!important;white-space:nowrap!important}\n.h2o.h2o img{border-radius:0!important;box-shadow:none!important;margin:0!important;padding:0!important;border:0!important}\n.h2o.h2o label{display:block!important;margin:0!important;padding:0!important;font:inherit!important;color:inherit!important;line-height:0!important;max-width:none!important}\n.h2o.h2o .bt-lb-close{line-height:0!important}\n.h2o.h2o p{max-width:none;text-transform:none;letter-spacing:normal}\n.h2o.h2o .ttl{max-width:1240px;margin:clamp(20px,3vw,44px) auto 0;padding:0 var(--gut);font-family:var(--serif);font-size:clamp(34px,4.6vw,64px);line-height:1.06;letter-spacing:-0.02em;color:#111;font-weight:400}\n.h2o.h2o .meta{max-width:1240px;margin:16px auto clamp(36px,5vw,64px);padding:0 var(--gut);font-family:var(--sans);font-size:12.5px;letter-spacing:.4px;color:var(--mute)}\n.h2o.h2o .meta a{color:var(--mute);font-weight:400}\n<\/style>\n<p><script>(function(){function f(){var w=document.documentElement.clientWidth;var n=document.querySelectorAll('.h2o');for(var i=0;i<n.length;i++){n[i].style.width=w+'px';n[i].style.marginLeft='calc(50% - '+(w\/2)+'px)';}}f();window.addEventListener('resize',f);window.addEventListener('load',f);})();<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"h2o\">\n<p class=\"ttl\">Inside Ian Simpson&rsquo;s Manchester Penthouse and the SimpsonHaugh Studio<\/p>\n<p class=\"meta\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/articles\/inside-an-architects-small-sydney-home-home-and-studio-tour\/\">Home to Office<\/a> &middot; September 2026<\/p>\n<div class=\"open\">\n<div class=\"ot\">\n<p class=\"lead\">Olive trees don't fit in lifts. So Ian Simpson had thirty of them hoisted up the outside of Beetham Tower on the crane and lowered in through the roof lights.<\/p>\n<p>Co-founding partner of SimpsonHaugh, Simpson has lived at the top of the tower he designed for about twenty years, since the building was completed. He had been living in No.1 Deansgate, the first tall building the practice designed in the city centre after the 1996 bomb. When Beetham Tower got planning permission he bought the penthouse as shell and core, brought in his own contractors, and spent two more years on the fit out. It cost much more than it should have done and took a lot longer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere hasn't been a single part of the apartment that I wished I'd done in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"oi\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb01\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-04-olive-crane.jpg\" alt=\"An olive tree on the tower crane above Manchester\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb01\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb01\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-04-olive-crane.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bleed\" style=\"margin-bottom:0\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb02\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-05-grove.jpg\" alt=\"The olive grove at level 47\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb02\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb02\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-05-grove.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The olive grove at level 47, about 4,000 square feet of Mediterranean garden. The floor steps up gently over the containers so you feel you are walking through a grove rather than past a row of pots. Photography: Retu Guttil.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wide video\">\n<div class=\"fr\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BkvelqDWE1Q\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" title=\"Home to Office: Ian Simpson\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pull\"><span>&ldquo;For me, architecture is very much about light and space, and that's what I've tried to capture within this apartment.&rdquo;<\/span><small>Ian Simpson<\/small><\/div>\n<div class=\"row c3\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb03\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-01-sketch.jpg\" alt=\"Concept sketch for Beetham Tower\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb04\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-02-model.jpg\" alt=\"The penthouse model\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb05\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-03-shell.jpg\" alt=\"The penthouse shell before the fit out\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb03\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb03\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-01-sketch.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb04\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb04\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-02-model.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb05\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb05\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-03-shell.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The concept sketch for Beetham Tower; the penthouse model; and the shell and core before the fit out began.<\/p>\n<div class=\"txt\">\n<p>A mad idea, he admits, at level 47. There are no bugs and no birds up here, so there's no ecosystem either. The trees can't set fruit without pollination. They have been very happy all the same.<\/p>\n<p>Simpson calls living at height a sanctuary. The busy life of the city is 45 seconds away, and the slight sound of it comes through the glass and keeps you engaged with it. In the mornings the light comes in from the north, in the afternoon it fills the garden, and in the evening it reaches the drawing room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bleed\" style=\"margin-bottom:0\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb06\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-06-pool.jpg\" alt=\"The water feature and sculpture in the grove\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb06\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb06\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-06-pool.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The water feature at the end of the grove. Photography: Retu Guttil.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pull\"><span>&ldquo;You've got the busy life of the city 45 seconds away, and then you can come up and you have the quiet and the peace and the sanctuary.&rdquo;<\/span><small>Ian Simpson<\/small><\/div>\n<div class=\"row c2 tall\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb07\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-07-lobby.jpg\" alt=\"The entrance lobby with its carved veneer panel\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb08\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-08-lounge.jpg\" alt=\"The sitting room beneath the olive grove\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb07\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb07\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-07-lobby.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb08\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb08\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-08-lounge.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The entrance lobby, where a panel is carved to reveal overlaid veneers, and the sitting room under the canopy. Photography: Retu Guttil.<\/p>\n<div class=\"txt\">\n<p>He wanted as few walls and doors as possible, so only the bedrooms and bathrooms are enclosed. Everything else is one flowing sequence of spaces. The kitchen lives behind screens and doors that retract, so the ovens, the microwave and the storage can be popped away and it sits comfortably among the paintings and the sculpture.<\/p>\n<p>The snug is the room that can be made small. Curtains drawn across in winter, opened up to the view and the light in summer. Teak furniture, reds and oranges in the paintings, the TV, the family. Upstairs is the studio he designed for working from home before working from home was popular, a bridge across the garden at canopy level where the day starts with writing or sketching.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row c3\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb09\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-10-snug.jpg\" alt=\"The snug\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb10\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-09-stair.jpg\" alt=\"The stair up to the bedrooms and studio\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb11\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-11-studio-sketch.jpg\" alt=\"A sketch on the studio desk\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb09\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb09\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-10-snug.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb10\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb10\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-09-stair.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb11\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb11\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-11-studio-sketch.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The snug, the one room in the apartment built to close down; the stair up to the bedrooms and the studio; and the studio desk, sketch and pencil where he left them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gap\"><i><\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"txt\">\n<p>Simpson is not a minimalist and has been collecting most of his life. Mid-century glass from Italy and Scandinavia, the Italians exuberant, the Scandinavians restrained and clear. A 1952 lancet piece by Timo Sarpaneva was an inspiration for the asymmetrical form of One Blackfriars in London. A one-off Scandinavian cabinet, its veneers laid over one another, became the wall of the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp, a run of timber panels with scooped forms cut into them.<\/p>\n<p>The oval carpet under the dining table was woven from his first sketch for Urbis, completed in 2002 and now the National Football Museum. At the top of the stairs is a layered timber sculpture he bought 45 years ago, said to have come from a casino in Milan. He kept it under the bed in a small London flat until this apartment gave it somewhere to go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row c2\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb12\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-12-glass.jpg\" alt=\"Mid-century glass in the cabinet\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb13\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-16-one-blackfriars.jpg\" alt=\"One Blackfriars, London\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb12\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb12\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-12-glass.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb13\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb13\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-16-one-blackfriars.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The 1952 Sarpaneva lancet in the cabinet, and One Blackfriars on the Thames. Photography: Hufton+Crow.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row c2\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb14\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-38-cabinet.jpg\" alt=\"The carved veneer cabinet\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb15\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-39-queen-elisabeth-hall.jpg\" alt=\"The timber wall of the Queen Elisabeth Hall, Antwerp\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb14\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb14\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-38-cabinet.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb15\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb15\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-39-queen-elisabeth-hall.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The one-off Scandinavian cabinet, veneers laid over one another, and the scooped timber wall of the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp. Photography: Jesse Willems.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row c2\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb16\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-14-urbis-carpet.jpg\" alt=\"The dining table on the oval Urbis carpet\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb17\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-34-urbis-sketch-original.jpg\" alt=\"Ian Simpson&#x27;s first sketch for Urbis\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb16\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb16\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-14-urbis-carpet.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb17\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb17\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-34-urbis-sketch-original.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The dining table on the oval carpet, and the first sketch for Urbis it was woven from.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pull\"><span>&ldquo;I've been collecting most of my life and it's become a bit of an obsession, because you never know when it's going to inspire you next.&rdquo;<\/span><small>Ian Simpson<\/small><\/div>\n<div class=\"gap\"><i><\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"txt\">\n<p>The walk to the office takes ten or fifteen minutes and it was raining. It goes past Deansgate Square, the first of the New Jackson developments, 1,500 apartments on land that was slum housing and disused warehousing six years ago. Then Contour, two towers whose corners open up and close down along their height, an undulating edge that also improves the apartment plans inside, with a new public green space going in between them. Then Albert Square and the town hall, one of his favourite buildings in Manchester, under a very expensive restoration and soon to be a town hall again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bleed\" style=\"margin-bottom:0\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb18\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-43-deansgate-square-aerial.jpg\" alt=\"Deansgate Square from the air\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb18\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb18\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-43-deansgate-square-aerial.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">Deansgate Square, the first of the New Jackson developments, 1,500 apartments. Photography: Daniel Hopkinson.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row c2 tall\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb19\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-41-deansgate-square-castlefield.jpg\" alt=\"Deansgate Square seen through the Castlefield viaduct\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb20\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-42-deansgate-square-tram.jpg\" alt=\"Deansgate Square with a Metrolink tram passing\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb19\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb19\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-41-deansgate-square-castlefield.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb20\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb20\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-42-deansgate-square-tram.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">Deansgate Square through the arches of the Castlefield viaduct, and from the tram stop below. Photography: Daniel Hopkinson.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row c3\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb21\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-18-walk.jpg\" alt=\"Ian Simpson walking to the office in the rain\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb22\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-20-contour.jpg\" alt=\"Contour with Deansgate Square, aerial render\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb23\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-21-town-hall.jpg\" alt=\"Manchester Town Hall under restoration\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb21\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb21\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-18-walk.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb22\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb22\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-20-contour.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb23\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb23\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-21-town-hall.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">Typical Manchester weather; Contour and its sister tower with Deansgate Square behind, render by Renaker; and the town hall in scaffold on Albert Square.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gap\"><i><\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"bleed\" style=\"margin-bottom:0\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb24\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-22-studio-foyer.jpg\" alt=\"The SimpsonHaugh reception at 55 King Street\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb24\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb24\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-22-studio-foyer.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The reception at 55 King Street. The paintings are a storyboard of One Spinningfields, a building that has no finished images, only the story of how it was built.<\/p>\n<div class=\"txt\">\n<p>Simpson and Rachel Haugh set up the practice almost 40 years ago. She had only just left college. He was older, had worked at Foster and Partners in London, and taught the undergraduate years at Manchester University School of Architecture. They had no work whatsoever. The first jobs were house extensions passed on by lecturers, and every hour went on competitions, all of it hand drawn on drawing boards.<\/p>\n<p>Then they won an Architecture Foundation competition for the Foyer, the only shortlisted practice outside London or the Continent, and spent the prize money on Macintosh computers. That was 1992 and their first introduction to CAD. In late 1996 they won the competition to masterplan the city centre after the bomb, and out of it came Urbis, No.1 Deansgate and the tower he now lives in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pull\"><span>&ldquo;So you get the bug. You always think you can win.&rdquo;<\/span><small>Ian Simpson<\/small><\/div>\n<div class=\"pair\">\n<div class=\"pl\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb27\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-27-ian-early.jpg\" alt=\"Ian Simpson in the early years of the practice\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"pr\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb25\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-35-rachel-haugh-1988.jpg\" alt=\"Rachel Haugh at the drawing board in the first studio\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb26\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-36-ian-simpson-1988.jpg\" alt=\"Ian Simpson at the drawing board in the first studio\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb25\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb25\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-35-rachel-haugh-1988.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb26\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb26\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-36-ian-simpson-1988.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb27\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb27\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-27-ian-early.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">Simpson in the early years of the practice; Rachel Haugh and Ian Simpson at the drawing boards in the first studio.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bleed short\" style=\"margin-bottom:0\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb28\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-37-first-studio-1988.jpg\" alt=\"The first SimpsonHaugh studio, 1988\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb28\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb28\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-37-first-studio-1988.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The first studio, October 1988. Drawing boards, a wall of sketches, no computers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row c2 tall\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb29\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-28-foyer.jpg\" alt=\"The Foyer, the competition win of 1992\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb30\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-30-ian-rachel.jpg\" alt=\"Ian Simpson and Rachel Haugh\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb29\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb29\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-28-foyer.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb30\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb30\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-30-ian-rachel.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The Foyer, the 1992 competition win that paid for the first Macs, and Simpson and Haugh today.<\/p>\n<div class=\"txt\">\n<p>The senior team has stayed. Some have been with the practice 30 years, and most of them were his students at Manchester University. Below them, more than half the office is under 35, with new Part 1s and Part 2s arriving every year. Finding people who share the vision and the ambition and are culturally on the same wavelength is, he says, critical.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBespoke are very good at managing that process and bringing together the right sort of team, and that's something that we really value at the practice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row c2\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb31\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-23-model-shop.jpg\" alt=\"A model in the SimpsonHaugh model shop\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb32\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-24-studio-kitchen.jpg\" alt=\"The studio kitchen\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb31\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb31\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-23-model-shop.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb32\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb32\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-24-studio-kitchen.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The model shop, where every model is made in house, and the kitchen, where people gather, chat and eat lunch together.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row c2\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb33\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-25-library.jpg\" alt=\"The studio library\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb34\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-26-studio-floor.jpg\" alt=\"The studio floor\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb33\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb33\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-25-library.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb34\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb34\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-26-studio-floor.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The library, books collected over the years, and the engine room, where the teams sit together.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gap\"><i><\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"txt\">\n<p>Simpson was born eight miles from the tower, in Bury, one of the eldest of six. His father was a demolition contractor who took down mill chimneys with gelignite, and Simpson spent his youth 200 feet up them with a sledgehammer. When the bomb went off in 1996 there were 400 people living in the city centre. There are now about 100,000, and he wants twice that to match the density of London, Paris and Barcelona. People are where ideas spark.<\/p>\n<p>The next 30 years, as he sees them: twice the population in the core, investment spreading to the ten boroughs, an underground station, the rail links north.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row c2\"><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb35\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-31-masterplan.jpg\" alt=\"The 1996 Manchester city centre masterplan\" \/><\/label><label class=\"zm\" for=\"cb36\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-44-new-jackson-aerial-hopkinson.jpg\" alt=\"The New Jackson towers from the air\" \/><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb35\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb35\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-31-masterplan.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-lb\"><input class=\"bt-cb\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"cb36\" \/><label class=\"bt-lb-close\" for=\"cb36\"><\/label><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-simpson-44-new-jackson-aerial-hopkinson.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"bt-lb-x\">&times;<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"cap\">The competition-winning 1996 masterplan for the city centre (drawing: EDAW), and the New Jackson towers from the air today. Photography: Daniel Hopkinson.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pull\"><span>&ldquo;We mustn't think that Manchester is done. It's on a journey. It's halfway there. And even when we get there in 30 years, there'll be a lot more still to do.&rdquo;<\/span><small>Ian Simpson<\/small><\/div>\n<div class=\"credits\">\n<div><b>Home<\/b>Penthouse, Beetham Tower, Manchester<\/div>\n<div><b>Architect<\/b>Ian Simpson, SimpsonHaugh<\/div>\n<div><b>Studio<\/b>55 King Street, Manchester<\/div>\n<div><b>Photography<\/b>Retu Guttil, Daniel Hopkinson, Hufton+Crow, Jesse Willems, Renaker, EDAW<\/div>\n<div><b>Film<\/b>Bespoke Careers, Home to Office<\/div>\n<div><b>Watch<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/BkvelqDWE1Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Full home to office tour on YouTube<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside Ian Simpson&rsquo;s Manchester Penthouse and the SimpsonHaugh Studio Home to Office &middot; September 2026 Olive trees don&#8217;t fit in lifts. So Ian Simpson had thirty of them hoisted up the outside of Beetham Tower on the crane and lowered in through the roof lights. Co-founding partner of SimpsonHaugh, Simpson has lived at the top&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":16926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-16944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-to-office"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16944"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16982,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16944\/revisions\/16982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/16926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16944"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/location?post=16944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}