Mark Richard studied architecture at Canterbury School of Art (now the School of Architecture UCCA) from 1983-1986. That he was there at all was typical of his love for a challenge, as he left his comprehensive school in West Wales at 16 with five GCSEs and had tried a variety of jobs before deciding to study architecture whilst on an inspirational Magic Bus trip to Greece in 1982.

After qualifying, Mark first worked in London, then was employed in Paris with architects Santiago Calatrava and RFR. After a year in Antibes working on the structural realisation of large scale sculptures by Frank Stella he was back in London as a consultant on glazing systems at KPF Architects. With two Paris friends in 1995, Mark won an international competition to design a bioclimatic house, which was later constructed in Tenerife.

Despite heavy work commitments, Mark always found time for friends and travel. He joined Operation Raleigh on expedition to Chile as a student, and later led a construction project in Uganda for the charity. He was also an accomplished mountaineer, climbing in the Alps, Rwanda, the Caucasus and Tajikistan, where he made the first ascents of two 6000m peaks.

On 9 February 2000, whilst attempting an ascent of Mount Ushba in Southern Russia, Mark was tragically killed by a 30m ice fall, together with his friends Vincent Diamond, Mark Payne, Mikhail Zaporozhsky, Igor Terekhov, Sergey Berezhoy and Gennady Ashurov.

The Mark Richard Trust was established in 2002 by family, friends and
colleagues at KPF Architects to remember Mark’s love of life and travel, by annually awarding an architectural student travel scholarship in his name.