Nigel Coates is the name behind such work as the futuristic Oyster House, the National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield and the giant "Body" in London's Millennium Dome. He is a design maverick: an architect who designs interiors, exhibitions, furniture and objects, a former enfant terrible who runs one of Britain's well-regarded architectural practices. This study looks in detail at a range of his projects, and is illustrated with the designer's unusual and evocative sketches and drawings.