Architecture: Prodigal son of corporate building returns

IT HAS been 10 years since Terry Farrell was commissioned to build anything in London, but now he is back with a hotel next to the Tower of London and an office in Canary Wharf which could house the new London Mayor and Assembly.

In the Eighties, Farrell was everywhere - there was the TV-AM building in Camden with its famous twin eggs, a huge development over Charing Cross station, and Alban Gate in the City. Although as prolific as architects such as Sir Norman Foster and Lord Rogers, Farrell never achieved the same critical acclaim or recognition. His Post-modern architecture fitted the Thatcherite era of fast new money, and in some ways defines it, but never rested easily with the architectural establishment.

Farrell's decade culminated in the controversial MI6 building in Vauxhall, a Government commission and apparent sign of acceptance into the upper echelons of the profession. But then the commissions dried up. Farrell, it seemed, was yesterday's man, his work so closely identified with the excesses of the Eighties that it was no longer in demand.

"At the time, one critic said to me, `in London, Terry, you've had your turn'. I thought I might have to emigrate," he recalls. As events unfolded, he did not emigrate, but his work did.

Commissions started to roll in from the Far East, where his architectural style found more favour. In Hong Kong there is a visitor attraction on the Peak and a massive transport interchange in Kowloon, while in Seoul, Farrell is building a new airport in readiness for the 2002 World Cup. There was some UK work, notably in York, Edinburgh and Newcastle, but a London appointment continued to elude him until Scottish Widows asked him to design a pounds 30m hotel for the sensitive Three Quays site next to the Tower of London. After a year-long gestation, the 234-room hotel won planning permission last month and construction work could start early next year.

Farrell's return to the London skyline marks a significant shift in his design philosophy and could also coincide with a revival in his critical status, according to Kester Rattenbury, the academic and critic.

"He's always had a maverick public profile - he was the darling of popular oppositional schemes in the mid-Eighties and then he became the vilified symbol of Thatcherite Post-modernism. But now he looks set for something of a critical revival because there is a new young generation of architects who love the ironic possibilities of Post-modernism. He's in a strong position for a change of approach," she said.

Farrell himself is keen to highlight this change: "We've moved on since the Eighties and now have an evolved architectural approach," he says. "Working overseas has opened our eyes and we now see the world from an international, broader perspective and we look at Three Quays from that point of view."

The new hotel is part of a series of improvements to the area around the Tower and will include a restaurant and shop for it. In addition, there will be a new square, river walkway and pier. "The whole area will be radically transformed for the better," says Farrell.

As for his future, Farrell is very upbeat. His practice has just moved into new offices and a book of sketches showing the change in direction is due out in September. "It seems we might be getting another turn and this time with a fresh approach," says Farrell.

What remains to be seen is whether the architectural establishment will now take him to its heart.

The Architecture Editor Nonie Niesewand is on sabbatical