Matthias Sauerbruch studied at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He worked at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in London as project manager for six years and partner for four years.

In 1989 he founded Sauerbruch Hutton together with Louisa Hutton and has been directing the office since then. Matthias has taught from 1985-1990 at the AA as a unit master. He has held tenure professorships at the TU Berlin as well as the Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart between 1995 and 2005. He was a visiting professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (2006), the Harvard Graduate School of Design (2005-2009) as well as the University of the Arts in Berlin (2012-2014). Matthias is a founding member of the German Sustainable Building Council (Deutsche Gesellschaft für nachhaltiges Bauen), he was a member of the board of KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin. Furthermore he is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland). And he is a member of the Architecture Section of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.