Re-imagining 66 Portland Place, RIBA HQ
Sarah Williams has been appointed to conduct the Royal Institute of British Architects strategic review of the options for the future of its headquarters at 66 Portland Place in London. Sarah will help the institute develop a vision for the next 80 years of the building, which continues to be used by the public with its cafe and restaurant as well as exhibition space.
66 Portland Place opened in 1934 as the headquaters of the RIBA. It is a beautiful Grade 2 * building with a magnificant heritage and a landmark building in central London. There is now an opportunity to develop a coherent, substantive and exciting vision for the next 80 years and this will be done in consultation with RIBA members, the staff, members of the public, various institutes and many other stakeholders, over the course of the next few months. The intention is to develop a brief that enables the RIBA to develop a long term masterplan for the building.
''I had the great pleasure of working alongside Sarah for many months at the RIBA, whilst in my role of President.
Sarah however, was more than up to this challenge. Her calm and reassuring demeanour and cohesive and considerate leadership was truly a masterclass in advising clients. She managed to keep not only the committee members and staff aligned, but also in her frequent reports to Council (the 60 architect strong policy head of the RIBA) gained a significant reputation for the logic of her approach and subsequent work.''
Jane Duncan President RIBA 2016-2017