Stephen Hodder was educated at the School of Architecture, University of Manchester, where he gained a Distinction in the Bachelor of Architecture degree. Following University, he joined Building Design Partnership in 1981 and became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1982.
He has been in practice since 1983 and in 1992 formed Hodder Associates which won the Royal Fine Art Commission/ Sunday Times Building of the Year Award for Colne Swimming Pool in Lancashire later that year.
In 1996 Hodder Associates, now Hodder+Partners, received the most important award in British Architecture for a single building, the inaugural RIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture for the Centenary Building, University of Salford. The Practice has now won over sixty major awards, including seventeen awards for the Welcome Building at RHS Garden Bridgewater.
He regularly acts as an assessor for architectural competitions and awards, most recently for the RAIC International Prize and sits on the Design Review Panel for Places Matter!
Stephen was awarded an MBE for services to architecture in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, 1998.
He received an honorary doctorate in 2006 from the Manchester Metropolitan University for his regional, national and international contribution to architecture and a honorary fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire in 2013 and won the Roses Design Award of ‘Architect of the Year’ in the same year.
Stephen has written and lectured widely, has been a visiting examiner at a number of schools of architecture and visiting Professor at the Birmingham School of Architecture, the Belfast School of Architecture and the University of Salford, School of the Built Environment. He is Professor of Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture.
He was RIBA President 2013-15, having previously been Vice President Membership, Nations and Regions and Chair of the Construction Industry Council 2019-2021.
In 2023, Stephen received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Manchester Society of Architects.
Stephen’s responsibility within the practice is primarily design leadership, client interface and development but brings forty years of experience to project delivery.