The Architects Co-Partnership were formed in 1939 by a group of 11 recent AA graduates. In addition to their UK work, they opened an office in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1954, and also built in other African states. During the 1970s, they also developed projects in the Middle East. Several of their founding staff continued to teach at the AA and at the Department of Tropical Architecture, through the 1950s and 1960s.