Walter Max Clendenning [commonly known as Max Clendenning] was born in Richhill, Northern Ireland, on 26 September 1924. After studying at Belfast College of Art from 1942 to 1944, he worked in the office of Belfast architect Henry Lynch-Robinson from 1944 to 1950. He then continued his studies at Belfast College of Art in 1950-51, and, on a scholarship, at the Architectural Association in London from 1951 to 1953. In 1953 he received his diploma and was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA). He was also awarded a scholarship by the British Council enabling him to study town planning in Italy in 1953-54.
Following his return to England he worked in the offices of Morris de Metz in 1954-55, and Maxwell Fry, Jane Drew and Denys Lasdun in London in 1955-56. He then worked for the architecture department of British Railways where he was involved in a programme of modernisation, which involved the redesign of the Oxford Road station in Manchester.
From 1960 he was a partner in the firm Sir John Brown, A.E. Henson & Partners in London. Between 1965 and 1985 Clendenning worked as an independent interior and furniture designer. Projects by him included the interior of the Civic Centre in Crawley, Sussex, shops in Covent Garden, London (including that of Goods & Chattels Ltd.), the front of Terence Conran's restaurant in Neal Street, London, office in Sheffield. Notable among his furniture designs were a range for Liberty & Co. (1965), and the Maxima modular series for Race (1965). He also designed an inflatable furniture range. His own house featured an all-white living room with 30-foot-long sack seating and a giant papier-maché tulip.