One afternoon in 1968 engineer Loren Butt arrived in Hampstead, North London to meet Norman Foster. Warned by his colleagues that Foster was ‘talking about a different kind of architecture’, Butt immediately grasped Foster´s ‘different way of designing buildings’ and, in February this same year, Butt and Foster had already started what would be a collaborative relationship that will last several decades.

After joining Foster Associates as building services engineer in 1970, Butt collaborated in buildings such as Fred Olsen Amenity Centre, Willis Faber and Dumas Building (1971-75) and Stanstead Airport (1981-91). Looking back over the projects Butt worked on, one astute observation was that his services created artificial environments which seldom appear on drawings and models. The control of temperature, acoustics, ventilation and light all contribute to the effective functioning of Foster´s buildings; architecture and engineering being totally integrated.