12.00 – 13.00 BST, Zoom Webinar
Sutton House and the old Royal London Hospital: Two studies in sustainability
Richard Griffiths will talk about the conservation and design issues raised by two projects that he has undertaken; Sutton House, a Tudor house owned by the National Trust, which he rescued from a derelict condition as a historic house and community and arts venue; and the old Royal London Hospital, where he acted as conservation consultant to AHMM for its conversion to the new Tower Hamlets Town Hall. In each case a forensic analysis of the many historic layers of alteration, the issues faced by the buildings in giving them a viable future, and the resolution of the conflicting requirements of listed building and building control legislation, led to a strong conservation and design response to the challenge of giving them a sustainable future socially, economically and environmentally, for the benefit of the community.
Richard Griffiths
Richard Griffiths is Director of Richard Griffiths Architects, founded in 1993 and specialising in the creative repair and conversion of old buildings to give them a sustainable future. The practice has established a particular reputation for adapting historic buildings for the benefit of the community and for award-winning new design in historic contexts.
His major projects include the Lambeth Palace courtyard, the Burghley Brewhouse and the Tudor garden recreation at Kenilworth Castle. He was Cathedral Architect at St Albans Abbey for 18 years and at Southwark Cathedral for 16 years where he oversaw the multi-award winning Millennium Building. He has extensive experience in giving buildings new life with Lottery funding, including St Alfege Greenwich, Toynbee Hall and Eastbury Manor. He has worked on major projects in association with other architects, most notably at the St Pancras Hotel, at Oxford Castle and at the Kings Cross Regent Quarter. He was a member of the RIBA Awards Group from 2006-2012.
In 2018 he published a book, Old Buildings, New Architecture, describing the challenges in creating architecture by adding a new layer to old buildings, as compared with creating architecture for new buildings. The book is available via the website www.rgarchitects.com at the reduced price of £20 by entering the code RGA20.
