Born in Istanbul in 1949, Sevil Peach (FSCD) came to London in the 1960s to study interior architecture at the University of Brighton. In 1994, after working for several major architectural firms, she set up her own design studio with architect Gary Turnbull, a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Together they have gained considerable experience in sectors as varied as retail, health, exhibitions and residential projects; but it is in the field of office and workspace design that they have truly made their mark. Designing more human and flexible working environments is their antidote to the repetitive, constraining approach that was once the predominant model in the business world.

Their first client, Barclays Bank, gave them the room they needed to experiment and break away from the traditional rows of offices and ‘hospital pens’ that typified the Taylorist model. But it was her next client, Vitra, that established Sevil Peach’s international reputation, radically rethinking their workspace and giving their headquarters in Weil am Rhein a dynamic conducive to both human relations and business.

The innovations in Vitra’s Weil am Rhein and Basel sites have had a tremendous international impact and have led to a long-term partnership with Vitra, with the creation of new office products and concepts as well as the design of numerous fairs, exhibitions and offices throughout Europe and the USA.

Sevil Peach’s firm continues to advance thinking on the workplace, and is now particularly focused on eco-responsibility issues and rational use of space and resources.

The firm’s approach to the working environment has given rise to a large number of internationally renowned projects for such clients as Sony, Deloitte, Barclays Bank, Mexx, Novartis Eczacibasi Holdings and Microsoft’s European headquarters, which has been proclaimed ‘The Best Workplace’ every year since 2008 and receives 1000 visitors a week.

The firm is now working on a new laboratory concept for a new Novartis site in Shanghai, the Swiss Re headquarters in Zurich and, in partnership with Herzog & de Meuron, the new extension of London’s Tate Modern Museum.

Sevil Peach has taken part in numerous meetings and lectures for many international institutions and events including Bauhaus in Dessau, Roskilde University in Denmark, the Oslo City Conference, Designmai in Berlin, the Mind the Map Conference in Istanbul, the SIA Symposium in Basel, LAI and Worktech in Amsterdam and the Marista University in Mexico. In the summer she organizes numerous workshops for the Vitra Design Museum in Boisbuchet in France.