He joined Foster Associates in 1973, continuing his work in education on the Palmerston Special School in Liverpool. He then worked on the Hammersmith Centre before, in 1979, setting up Foster Associates' office in Hong Kong to build the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. In 1981 he returned to London to become the director in charge of Stansted Airport, which he saw through to completion in 1991. During this period, he also worked on the unbuilt BBC Radio Centre and was responsible for the Sackler Galleries at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.