Congratulations to London Society trustee Ben Derbyshire who has been elected the next President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), taking over the two-year presidential term from Jane Duncan on 1 September 2017. Ben is Managing Partner at HTA Design LLP, a design-based consultancy to the home building industry, specialising in placemaking, providing project management, masterplanning, urban design, architecture, landscape design, planning, technical design, graphics, web and app design and other disciplines. He has built up broad-ranging expertise through involvement in much of HTA’s work in regeneration, masterplanning, housing and mixed use design. Ben Derbyshire said: “Once again we find ourselves in turbulent times. In winning this election I am conscious of a great sense of responsibility owed to architects everywhere, in all corners of the UK and overseas. Jane Duncan has laid the foundations for change at the RIBA that I look forward to driving forward, when I take up the role of President. My primary goal is to champion architects so that they, our sister professions and clients, can advance architecture as the cornerstone of the well-designed and more sustainable built environment society desperately needs." (Full text here)