Recently my friend Ash Kapriélov had the opportunity to interview Andy Sandham, who was part of the Tomb Raider dev team from TR2 through Chronicles. Check out their Q&A on Ash's Tumblr blog.
Croft House, located next door to the old Core Design building, may or may not have been influential.
UPDATE - 7/29: In a follow-up post, also on Ash's Blog, Andy provided several previously unseen pieces of TR 3-5 concept art, including this gem. Did you know Lara could swim 72 blocks before drowning? ;)
Ash has also interviewed other former Core Design team members. Check out his blog for classic Tomb Raider info.