David Nelson shares design responsibility for all Foster + Partners’ projects as joint Head of Design. He joined Foster Associates in 1976, working on a number of important early projects including the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and the Hammersmith Centre. In 1979 he joined the team working on the design of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, eventually sharing design responsibility for the project. He was made a Director of Foster Associates in 1984. He returned to London in 1986 and became the director responsible for a wide range of projects, including the American Air Museum at Duxford, Century Tower in Tokyo and projects in Asia, Europe, Australia and the USA.

Since becoming a Partner in 1991, he has worked on many projects including the Reichstag, New German Parliament in Berlin. Recent projects include the Petronas University of Technology in Malaysia, Stanford University Laboratories in California, the McLaren Technology Centre and Production Centre in Woking, the new Supreme Court in Singapore, the Florence High-speed Railway Station, an office tower and mixed-use development in Sydney, Australia, Central Market and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi and the Apple Campus in California. David Nelson was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the RIBA in 2002.