Having graduated from the Architectural Association in 1963, Jeremy Dixon was a principal in private practice since 1975, firstly with Fenella Dixon until 1989 and from then on in partnership with Edward Jones. Early experience – working with Alison and Peter Smithson, MacManus and Milton Keynes, mostly involving social housing.
The 1970s and 80s saw the reconstruction of the Tatlin Tower for the Art in Revolution exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, the Netherfield Housing at Milton Keynes and the winning, unbuilt entry to the international competition for Northamptonshire County Hall in 1973 – assisted by Edward Jones. Also unbuilt was the Weiss House. 1975 saw the start of the project for housing at St Marks Road Kensington, followed by housing at Lanark Road and Compass Point. In the early 80s there were the competition winning commissions for the Tate Gallery Coffee Shop and Restaurant, followed by the winning entry to the international competition for the Royal Opera House, a joint entry with William Jack of BDP. The partnership was one of the selected practices for the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery. Next are the new shop for Clifton Nurseries, the Henry Moore Sculpture Institute in Leeds and the Darwin College Study Centre Cambridge.
The partnership with Edward Jones was formed in 1989, initially to complete the Royal Opera House. The new partnership won the unbuilt winning entry to the international competition for the Venice Bus Station, ‘A Gateway to Venice’. The 1990s include the Sainsbury Superstore in Plymouth, the Tower Houses in Aberdeen and the Science Building in Portsmouth. The extension to the National Portrait Gallery was won in competition in 1994. Towards the end of the decade there is the commission for the Saïd Business School and a masterplan for the National Gallery.
In 2000, following the completion of the Royal Opera House, there is the work at Somerset House, masterplan and fountains. Two unbuilt winning competitions from the period are for Queens University Student Centre and the Panopticon Building for the Petrie Collection at UCL. At Oxford Castle, a new building completed the project to transform the old prison into a hotel. Also won in competition, Kings Place is a project that breaks the mould for offices, showing how an arts centre can be supported by commercial development, the concert hall has become an established part of the London music scene. In 2005 the work at the National Gallery was finished, followed by the commission to rework the Regent Palace Hotel as a mixed development known as Quadrant 3, the largest development undertaken by The Crown Estate. In 2008 was the competition winning design for Exhibition Road – an important example of urban transformation. In Liverpool, St Peter’s arcade completed the retail circuit for Liverpool One.
2010 saw the competition winning proposals for the masterplan for Chelsea Barracks. Clearings is the name of a major unbuilt competition winning housing project in South Kensington. The adjacent Marlborough School was completed in 2017. Moxon Square is an unbuilt project for the Howard de Walden Estate. An unsuccessful entry to the competition organised by the Royal College of Music is one of a number of competition entries that fell by the wayside, mostly for Oxbridge Colleges. The client for Kings Place commissioned a masterplan for Edinburgh Park. The rebuilding of the Westgate Centre in the heart of Oxford was finished in 2017.
Jeremy Dixon exhibited at two Venice Biennales, taught at the Architectural Association, the Bartlett and the Royal College of Art. He has had extensive experience as an RIBA External Examiner, Chair of RIBA award committees, member of the selection committee for the RIBA Gold Medal. He has been on the jury of a number of competitions – Walsall Art Gallery, Tate St Ives, Tate Britain, Halle, Poppy Factory, etc. He lectures widely and the work is regularly published and exhibited. A monograph of the practice entitled Jeremy Dixon and Edward Jones, Buildings and Projects 1959-2002 was published by Right Angle publishing in 2002.
Jeremy Dixon was knighted in the New Year’s Honours List in 2000.