Peter Ahrends obituary
Architect with Ahrends, Burton and Koralek whose scheme for a National Gallery extension was criticised as a ‘carbuncle’
Peter Ahrends, who has died aged 93, was a founding partner in 1961 in the architectural firm of Ahrends, Burton and Koralek (ABK), alongside Richard Burton and Paul Koralek. The trio first met as students in 1951, while studying at the Architectural Association in London, and went on to practise together for more than 50 years, remaining lifelong friends.
ABK’s workload extended from Oxford colleges to public libraries, housing, shops and industrial structures. Unusually, all three partners were involved in design. “Architecture should not be a question of whether or not we put Corinthian capitals on our facades,” they asserted. “It is about people and their lives; about making spaces that will have a living, dynamic and significant relationship with the life and activity they will contain.”
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