2019 RIBA Fellow Members
The RIBA is proud to announce our newest RIBA Fellow Members recognising our inspirational Chartered Members who have made a significant contribution to the profession.
By highlighting these professionals - and the broad spectrum of backgrounds and specialisms in which they work - we can continue to set a benchmark to which future generations of architects can aspire, as well as celebrate the sometimes unsung heroes of our profession. We can also help to broadcast the voices of those of our members who are addressing some of the huge challenges that affect modern society, and help them to continue to drive progress. The RIBA is looking forward to working with all of our Fellows to help continue to serve society through the delivery of better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment.
John Assael FRIBA DiplArch Dip(Consv)AA MSc HonDDes FRSA
- John is a co-founder of Assael Architecture
- Previously Chair of the RIBA Journal and Vice President for Professional Services, and is currently their Honorary Treasurer
- Previously an elected member of the Architects Registration Board and has been a Trustee of the Architects Benevolent Society since 2004
- Has tirelessly campaigned for the next generation of architects, teaching at universities across the UK and has employed and mentored hundreds of students
- In 2017, Oxford Brookes University, where John is a Visiting Fellow, awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Design
- Master of Students at the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects, through which he initiated the Assael Architecture Award for Tenacity
Richard Coutts FRIBA, M.Eng, DipArch
- Richard is a founding Director of Baca Architects, which won The Urban Design Group’s Practice of the Year in 2016/17
- Project Architect for the UK’s first award-winning Amphibious House, which can withstand up to 2.5m of floodwater
- Author of “Aquatecture: Buildings and Cities Designed to Live and Work with Water”
- Played integral roles in the Core Cities Advisory Group for Her Majesty’s Government, and the Defra-funded LiFE (Long-term Initiatives for Flood-risk Environments) project
- Richard is currently working on a floating city which can enable the delivery of smart sustainable growth with integral energy provision and infrastructure on water
Gordon Gibb FRIBA, BArch, DipArch(Mackintosh), LLM
- Gordon is the Principal of Gibb Architects
- Has delivered publications, including "The Contract Game", and has contributed to "The Architect's Legal Handbook", and "Demystifying Architectural Research: Adding Value to your Practice"
- Previously ARB Board member and Vice-chair
- Teaches and examines Professional Studies throughout the UK
- ARB Architect Investigations Panel member, a member of the Finance and Audit Committee of the RIAS and Chair of APSA
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is an expert witness
Gary Haney FRIBA, FAIA
- Gary is a Design Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
- Fellow of the American Institute of Architects
- Designer of Al Hamra Firdous Tower, the tallest building in Kuwait and BBVA Operations Center in Mexico City
- Pioneered the use of the Active Modular Phytoremediation System, a green wall system that cleans the air within an office workplace
- Gary has served as a GSA Peer since 2000 and Chairman of the Board of the National Building Museum (2015 to 2018) in Washington, D.C.
Barrie Ho FRIBA, BA(AS)(First Hon), MArch(Dist)
- Barrie is the Founder & Director of BARRIE HO Architecture Interiors Ltd
- Worked extensively in exploring new architectural phenomenon “Incubation Architecture” in China regions, as well as regenerating and transforming disused industrial buildings and utilizing leftover spaces, such as the space under fly-overs, into community architecture
- Member of the Hong Kong Housing Authority(HKHA) since 2012, serving the Commercial Property Committee, Tender Committee and Building Committee
- Has been awarded over 150 international design awards
Ingval Maxwell FRIBA, DA(Dundee), FRIAS, FSA(Scot)
- Ingval is a conservation architect, who has contributed extensively over a long and illustrious career to architectural conservation
- Initiated a number of conservation-led groups within Historic Scotland including: the Scottish Conservation Forum in Training and Education; the Scottish Stone Liaison Group; the Scottish Historic Buildings Fire Liaison Group; and the Rural Buildings Conservation Initiative
- Director of Historic Scotland’s Technical Conservation, Research and Education group
- Initiated what would become the pan-professional “Edinburgh Group
- Chair of the Council on Training in Architectural Conservation
- In 2003 he was awarded an OBE for services to technical conservation in Historic Scotland
Hitesh Mehta FRIBA, FAAK, FASLA, Associate AIA, BArch(Nairobi) (First Hon), MLA (Berkeley)
- Hitesh is the President of HM Design, and is a leading authority on ecotourism physical planning, and architectural aspects of ecolodges
- Consultant Team Planning and Design Leader for Nankunshan Experience, the first Ecotourism destination in China and Crosswaters Ecolodge and Spa, a sustainably built hospitality project
- Instrumental in the introduction of modern structural Bamboo building technology to China
- In addition to lecturing and examining roles, he also conducts his own five day Ecodesign and Ecoplanning capacity-building workshops
- Author of Authentic Ecolodges, the first coffee-table book exploring sustainable tourism
- Board Member of both the International School of Sustainable Tourism and the Global Ecotourism Network
Dr Geoffrey Purves FRIBA, BA,BArch, FRIAS, FRSA
- Geoffrey is Principal of Purves Ltd, with involvement in the design of healthcare buildings for much of his career
- Practice has designed over 50 GP surgeries; his work being used in the NHS guidance notes and The Metric Handbook for GP surgery design
- Author of ‘Healthy Living Centres: A Guide to Primary Health Care Design’, and ‘Primary Care Centres: A Guide to Health Care Design’
- Branch and Regional Chairman, RIBA Council and Honorary Treasurer of the RIBA, Director of RIBA Enterprises, Director of both the Newcastle Architecture Workshop and Newcastle Architectural Centre, Director of the British Architectural Library Trust and Council Member of ARCUK (now ARB)
- Appointed a Lay Canon of Newcastle Cathedral in 2010 and editor of ‘Churches of Newcastle and Northumberland, A Sense of Place’
- Chairman of the Architects Benevolent Society
RIBA Fellow Membership
RIBA Fellow Membership recognises the achievements of our Chartered Members that have made a significant contribution to architecture, the profession and the community. The standard of applications was very high, and our Fellow Assessment Panel was impressed and humbled by the wide range of contributions that are being made by our own Chartered Members every day. The eight Fellows who have been elected represent a broad range of backgrounds and specialisms, who continue to affect and influence change from all four corners of the globe.
Download in-depth information about our 2019 Fellow Members.
