Co-founder of Stirling Prize-winning practice AHMM, behind several residential schemes, wins election
The co-founder of AHMM, Simon Allford, has been elected the next president of the RIBA.
He will start his two-year stint in September 2021 after Alan Jones, a vocal critic of the government’s recent planning reforms, steps down. Allford will be known as president elect from September 1 this year.
While AHMM won the presitigious Stirling Prize for an educational project, the firm is also a high-profile housing architect, behind schemes such as Park Central at the Elephant & Castle (pictured, left) and Cobalt House in Battersea, both for Lendlease, as well as a residential masterplan for Stratford City and the Adelaide Wharf scheme in Hackney (pictured, below right).
As the election results were announced, Allford vowed to make the RIBA “an institute of ideas with architecture front and centre”.
Allford, who leads the 200-strong design studio in London, is also a writer, critic and advisor a visiting professor at Harvard, a former chair of the Architecture Foundation and currently a trustee of the London School of Architecture and the Chickenshed Theatres Trust.
He beat Sumita Singha, who would have been the first woman of colour to lead the RIBA, Glasgow-based Jude Barber, Nottingham architect Valeria Passetti and Manchester’s Nick Moss.
Speaking today, Allford called for the Riba to be an “institute of ideas with architecture front and centre”. He said: “It is a privilege to have been elected and I look forward to working with members, Council, Board and staff to create a leaner, more open, productive, engaged and reinvigorated RIBA.
He also said he wanted to work with “clients, consultants and contractors to influence government over procurement and education, while also helping us to address global climate change and architecture’s pivotal role in a post-pandemic world.”
He was congratulated by Alan Jones, the Northern Irish architect and academic whose presidency has been blighted by police and internal investigations stemming from an affair he tried to cover up.
Jones said: “The next few years will be crucial for our planet and profession as we navigate through health, environmental and economic crises – so Simon has a significant role to play in ensuring all architects receive the strong support and inspiring leadership they need to survive and thrive. I look forward to counting on Simon’s support over the next year before I hand over in 2021.”
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