Glass
- 1981-85 World’s first high performance toughened glass structural fixing, La Villette, Paris. (Rice Francis Ritchie – RFR world patent)
- 1981-85 World’s first thermally insulated light transmitting permanent glass fabric roof construction, La Villette, Paris. (Rice Francis Ritchie)
- 1983 World’s first all glass bridge, including floor, Lintas Bridge, Paris. (Rice Francis Ritchie)
- 1987 World’s first structural fixing through one leaf only of a doubly curved laminated glass panel: Phantom Glass Fixing for the Pearl of Dubai (Ian Ritchie Architects design copyright). This fixing was subsequently incorporated in the Terrasson Cultural Greenhouse glass roof. (1993)
- 1989 World’s first application of Structural Glue Glass Fixing in a public building, Natural History Museum, Ecology Gallery, London. (Ian Ritchie Architects and TW Ide)
- 1989 World’s first application of double glazed structural glass fixing at Stockley Park, London. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Pilkington)
- 1991 World’s first glass installation which transfers wind load at the corner of the building through the glass edges: Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art, Madrid. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Pilkington)
- 1992 World’s first public glass bench seating, London Underground Bermondsey Station. (Ian Ritchie Architects)
- 1994 World’s first combination of extruded silicone/liquid silicone glass to glass jointing, applied externally only, Leipzig Glass Hall, Germany. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Seele)
- 1994 World’s first inclined glass fire escape doors, Leipzig Glass Hall, Germany. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Seele) The Leipzig Glass Hall is the world’s largest glass structure enclosing a single volume of 500,000 cubic metres.
- 1999 World’s first application of low-iron cast glass insulated cladding, Plymouth Theatre Royal Production Centre, (Ian Ritchie Architects and Reglit)
- 2003 Intended application of structurally fixed high performance triple glazing, Potters Fields residential development (Ian Ritchie Architects and Pilkington)
Light
- 1984 World’s first creation of visible 3D light forms at the EDF laboratories France. (Ian Ritchie, Jean-Louis Lhermitte and François Bastien)
- 1997 World’s first interactive light memory coating on glass, Light Tunnel Installation Ingolstadt, Frankfurt, Leipzig. (1993) (Ian Ritchie Architects and Pilkington)
- 1998 World’s first installation of woven fractured optic fibres and stainless steel wire: Milan’s Light Monument, Alba (Ian Ritchie Architects, Litech and Wilbey)
Stainless Steel
- 1986 Stainless steel mesh as cladding to Boves Pharmacy
- 1996 Stiffened catenary stainless steel sheet roof, London Regatta Centre. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Arup)
- 1998 World’s tallest stainless steel shell structure, The Spire Monument, Dublin, Ireland (Ian Ritchie Architects and Arup)
- 2003 Development of Ritchie 65 mesh cladding for Whitecity.
Steel
Other Metals
- 1987 Woven titanium wire structural cladding for France-Japan Monument (un-built). (Ian Ritchie Architects, Peter Rice and the Poiesis Generator Team)
- 1999 World’s first application of woven phosphor bronze wire as external cladding, Plymouth Theatre Royal Production Centre. (Ian Ritchie Architects + Locker Wire)
Stone
Acoustics
- 1997 World’s first outdoor application of an ‘active acoustic system’, Crystal Palace Concert Platform, London. (Ian Ritchie Architects and Paul Gillieron Acoustic Design)
Geometry
- 1986 New spherical sub-divisions based upon ‘Arabesque’ geometries. Later applied to the design for 20m diameter sphere of the Pearl of Dubai. (Ian Ritchie Architects, Ensor Holiday and Keith Laws)
- 1998 Rowing tank incorporating two-speed water flow, built as part of the London Regatta Centre. (Arup and Ian Ritchie Architects)
