Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, who has died aged 85, helped shape British high tech with buildings that embodied structural clarity, adaptability and a spirit of optimismSir Nicholas Grimshaw has died at 85. He leaves behind a string of buildings that helped to define British high tech, derived from a design philosophy centred on structural clarity and adaptability. Flexibility is often cited as a central tenet of high tech, though in many cases it has proved more rhetorical than real. Grimshaw became a central figure, with Rogers, Foster and Michael and Patty Hopkins, in high tech. Nicholas Grimshaw helped to put British high tech – and British architecture more broadly – on the world stage, building a practice that went on to export that expertise globally.