Theis & Khan has won the competition to overhaul the RIBA’s new offices
The 2010 Stirling Prize finalists saw off competition from Ben Adams, Moxon Architects, Shedkm, Piercy & Company and Spacelab for the £2.7 million job to revamp RIBA’s new administrative centre at 76 Portland Place, close to the institute’s existing headquarters.
Theis & Khan’s team which included Max Fordham and Price & Myers, was selected after interviews earlier this week.
Soraya Khan and Patrick Theis said: ‘We are thrilled to be appointed to lead the team designing the RIBA’s new offices; it is an enormous privilege and we would like to thank the selection panel. We look forward to delivering a high-quality sustainable design that both meets the RIBA’s aspirations for its new building and reflects the integrity of 66 Portland Place. We were intrigued by the potential synergies between the two buildings and look forward to developing these further with the RIBA.’
The winner was selected by a panel made up of Denise Bennetts of Bennetts Associates, Sasha Bhavan from Knox Bhavan Architects, RIBA president Stephen Hodder, RIBA chief financial officer Andy Munro and Oliver Richards of ORMS Architecture Design, with Glenn Howells acting as the RIBA architect adviser.
RIBA President Stephen Hodder, commented: ‘The selection panel was greatly impressed by all the shortlisted teams’ initial thoughts, approach to the project and their experience and ability to deliver within a constrained timeframe.
‘Theis and Khan gave an exceptionally considered approach and clearly demonstrated how they aim to meet our aspirations. We were particularly inspired by the team’s consideration of the relationship between our new premises and our main RIBA headquarters building, and how they had successfully delivered projects with such synergies in the past.’
The competition sparked controversy as its entry requirements stated entrants had to have a minimum turnover of £334,000 – a condition it was feared would exclude most smaller practices.
The new offices will replace the institutes existing offices at 77 Portland Place, housing all RIBA’s London-based staff under one roof, freeing up number 66 to become a building where RIBA said ‘staff and the public will experience, learn and debate architecture.’
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