Profit trebles to 拢1.1m at the husband-and-wife practice that is working on the London Olympic stadium

Olympic Park designer Foreign Office Architects has recorded a profit rise of almost 200% in the past year.

The business run by husband-and-wife team Alejandro Zaera-Polo and Farshid Moussavi also doubled its turnover in the financial year to 31 March 2005, according to accounts lodged at Companies House.

Turnover has grown from 拢990,000 to 拢2.2m, and pre-tax profit has risen from 拢380,000 to 拢1.1m.

FOA is part of the Olympic Park design team with EDAW, Allies and Morrison and HOK Sport. It was responsible for the innovative concept design for the Olympic stadium in the London bid.

The practice, which was established in 1992, made its name in 2000 with the Yokohama ferry terminal in Japan.

It is currently working on a flagship store for John Lewis in Leicester, due to be completed in 2008.

Last year, Zaera-Polo and Moussavi were jointly placed 32nd in The Times' list of the 100 individuals who wield the greatest influence in the arts.

In a statement, Foreign Office said the growth was mainly in overseas business.

It said: "We are delighted to be part of the Olympics project. However, so far it has not been a profitable project for the practice. The profits of last year come primarily from our foreign operations despite our attempts to grow our local business. Hopefully, growth overseas will eventually give us the scale to reach local markets."

Piers Gough, a partner at architect CZWG, paid tribute to the firm. He said: "FOA is the most exciting practice in British architecture. It learned from Rem Koolhaas not to wait for things to happen but to be go-getters. Its Olympic masterplan was thrilling: it is buildable, approachable and has genius on its side."