Firm 10 Design has won four major projects in China, which it says will give it the stability to expand into Europe and Africa.

The 18-month-old practice, founded by ex-RMJM staffers in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Edinburgh, is actively bidding for work in Angola, Ghana, Turkey and

Switzerland and is also following up leads in Malaysia and the US where it has a small Denver office.

The four Chinese wins are for a new town in Shandong province, a large campus for a photonics college in Fujian province, a 300m tower in Zhuzai and an officedevelopment in Beijing.

The announcement follows news last month that the practice had secured planning for its largest project to date, a 65ha mixed-use scheme in Shenzhen, including 18 high-rise towers.

Design partner Adrian Boot said they had also picked up work in India including science and IT parks in Delhi and Chandigarh. “It’s been a phenomenal few months,”

he said. “But we are mindful of where we have come from and we are not just going to grow, grow, grow. We would never want to get so big we didn’t know what was going on.”

He said there were no plans to open new offices, partly because of the risk of being perceived as a local architect and the consequences that would have for fees.

But the existing offices were gradually growing, with staff numbers rising from 85 to 125 in the last four months.

The Hong Kong HQ was now twice the size of RMJM’s beleaguered office there, he added.