In 1996 Mike Rundell worked with Damien Hirst to create Pharmacy – a restaurant in West London that won numerous design awards although it is now best known for the sale of its interiors in 2002 at Sotheby’s. In 1997 he founded Rundell Associates and started to concentrate on arts based projects that have included both residential work as well as art galleries and artist’s studios. In 2000 he worked with leading art dealer Jay Jopling to create White Cube, Hoxton, and in 2006 they opened a second White Cube in St James’s.
This latter building was the first free standing new-build structure in the area for 50 years and has won several awards including the ECOLA (European Convention of Leading Architects) first prize in 2008. More recently Rundell Associates have completed a new studio for Tracey Emin in East London, an Art and Design department for West Buckland School in Devon and two shops for Other Criteria. The office is currently working on the master planning of a major new urban extension in the South West England and an Art Foundation near St. Petersburg in Russia.
Work for private clients remains the backbone of the company and the office is working on a number of highly bespoke residences. These include the extensive redevelopment of a town house in Maida Vale, the renovation of a Cotswold farmhouse and the construction of a new 200m2 villa in St Jean Cap Ferrat on the Cote d’Azur.