Stephen founded Proctor and Matthews Architects alongside Andrew Matthews in 1988. An architect, urban designer and academic, Stephen has lectured and taught extensively throughout his career in schools of architecture across the UK and Europe.
Together with Andrew he has created an extensive portfolio across a wide range of sectors; from urban, suburban and rural mixed use neighbourhoods to international visitor attractions and educational, cultural and community initiatives. Proctor and Matthews collaborated with Ralph Erskine on the design of the early phases of the Greenwich Millennium Village: a new London neighbourhood of innovative homes built on the principle of the traditional London square. Other notable work includes Abode at Great Kneighton - a major new housing and mixed-use community in the Cambridge Southern Fringe growth area. This received an RIBA National Award and a Civic Trust Special Award in 2015 and is now regarded as an exemplar in good neighbourhood design. The project is cited in central and local Government design guidance and the recently published ‘Building for a Healthy Life’ report (Homes England, NHS England and Design for Homes). In 2019 the practice completed a flagship regional office and exhibition space in Northstowe, Cambridge, a new south eastern base for Homes England the UK Government’s Housing agency. The design references local heritage, textures and crafts, whilst utilising innovative off-site construction techniques.
Stephen is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield and an Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee. He was previously a design tutor at the Universities of Sheffield and Brighton and has been an External Examiner to the Universities of Sheffield, Kent and Cardiff. He is a member of Design South East and Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) and is also a contributor to Design Review Panels in Essex, Surrey and Kent. Stephen is also an Academician at the Academy of Urbanism, an elected member of the Art Workers Guild and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
The practice’s work has been widely published in the UK and internationally and Stephen is a frequent contributor to architectural books and guides. In 2009 the practice published ‘Pattern Place Purpose’ a retrospective of the studios work exploring a concern for cultural identity and historical context. The studio continues to publish annual journals exploring diverse themes such as ‘memory’, ‘identity’, and ‘community’.
Stephen studied architecture under David Gosling and Michael Wilford at the University of Sheffield and subsequently worked alongside Gosling and Gordon Cullen at the London Docklands Development Corporation. He then worked for the architectural practices Nicholas Lacey Jobst and Hyett and James Stirling Michael Wilford and Partners before forming his own design studio with Andrew Matthews.
