Benedetti Architects-designed plans to create a more “enlivened and inviting” face for the institute
Benedetti Architects’ £60m proposals to overhaul RIBA’s central London headquarters have been submitted for planning.
Documents filed with Westminster council were made publicly available earlier this week, just weeks before parts of the Marylebone building at 66 Portland Place are due to close for the refurbishment.
The institute will close the library next month, with the entire grade II*-listed building to shut from 1 June for around two and a half years while construction work is carried out.
The scheme, which was originally due to be submitted late last year, aims to modernise the building as part of the wider £85m ‘House of Architecture’ programme first unveiled by former RIBA president Simon Allford.
It will include a new space to house the institute’s architectural collections, a new cafe with outdoor seating on Weymouth Street, a relocated shop, bigger lifts, enhanced event spaces, and a ‘treasures room’ housing important exhibits.
The proposals will also see improvements to the building’s accessibility, fire safety, services infrastructure, thermal performance, health and safety and facilities.
Benedetti Architects said the building’s “formal appearance requires subtle transformation to present a more enlivened and inviting face for the building and the institution”.
“Major investment is long overdue if we are to preserve the building for future generations and ensure that it continues to facilitate RIBA’s overarching mission - supporting architects to make the future a better place,” the practice said.
“Our vision for the building is both thoughtful and ambitious – a measured exemplar of how sensitive interventions can unlock the full potential of a treasured heritage building.
“Alongside essential works that will ensure that 66 Portland Place is sustainable, accessible and welcoming to all, we want to create a leading, enduring and vibrant cultural destination for discovering, exploring and debating the practice of architecture.
The practice is also proposing to return parts of the George Grey Wornum-designed building, which was opened in 1934 by King George V, closer to their original Art Deco designs.
Pictures included in planning documents show how internal spaces have changed over time, comparing photographs taken when the building was opened with how they look now.
The photographs show how many original features including doors and curtains have been removed, with formerly open spaces often “cluttered and disorganised” with “tired” fixtures and fittings.
The building’s notoriously small lifts, currently just 91cm wide and 110cm deep, will also be expanded to 110cm and 185cm respectively so they can accommodate full size wheelchairs.
If approved, construction on the scheme is now expected to start in autumn 2025, slightly earlier than the 2026 start date previously given, and complete in 2028
The project team includes Gardiner & Theobald as project manager, Eckersley O’Callaghan as structural and facade engineer, Jackson Coles on costs, Alan Baxter on heritage and transport and Gerald Eve on planning.
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