The practice was founded in 1952 by Geoffry Powell (1920-1999), Peter Chamberlin (1919-1978) and Christoph Bon (1921-1999), following Powell’s win in the 1951 architectural competition for the Golden Lane Estate in central London. The three founding partners were teaching at Kingston Polytechnic when they each entered the design competition with the agreement that, should any of them win, they would form a partnership with the other two to deliver the project. After completion of the Golden Lane Estate, the practice was commissioned again by the Corporation of the City of London to design another housing development on an adjacent site: the Barbican Estate. The work of Chamberlin, Powell & Bon was strongly influenced by Le Corbusier, and their two seminal estates are listed in recognition of their architectural importance.