Michael Carden was born in Southampton, UK, and educated at Sherborne School, Dorset. Following National Service, as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy, Carden entered the Architectural Association in 1954 as a First Year student on the five-year AA Diploma course. As part of his final year’s studies, he elected to join the AA’s Department of Tropical Architecture for two terms, graduating with both an AA Diploma and a Certificate in Tropical Architecture. Upon graduation he was employed at the London practice of Richard Sheppard, Robson and Partners, before joining the firm of Kenneth Sargant Associates, in Reigate, Surrey. In 1967 he moved to Carpenter Turner, Burford and Marlow, in Winchester, being accepted as a partner in 1972. The practice was later renamed the Radley House Partnership and Carden remained a Senior Partner until his retirement in 1999. In the late 1970s he was responsible for opening and managing a branch office in Doha, Qatar (the Southgate Partnership) and going on to help build the reputation of the practice in the UK, particularly in the field of conservation architecture. He held long-term appointments and consultancies with English Heritage, Hampshire County Council Museums and Leisure Departments, the Beaulieu Estate, Highclere Castle and Wolvesey Palace, and was chairman of the Portsmouth Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee. In 1999 was awarded the RICS Award for People in Conservation, followed by an MBE in 2002, for services to the Built Heritage.

Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register 1945-1972, AA Archives
• Architectural Association Diploma Roll, 1924-1963, AA Archives
• Architectural Association Council Minutes Books, 23rd February, 1959, p317, AA Archives
• Architectural Association Membership List, 1961
• The Architects Journal, 1979, Vol. 170, p15
• Michael Terrance Carden, LinkedIn profile, accessed 9th April, 2025: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-carden-mbe-aadip-riba-1ab92275/