Following two rigorous consultation phases and a months-long delay, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced last week that a planning application has been formally submitted to Westminster City Council for a proposed top-to-bottom overhaul of its longtime London headquarters at 66 Portland Place. The roughly $110 million “House of Architecture” scheme, first revealed by former RIBA president Simon Allford, is led by Benedetti Architects.

In May 2022, RIBA announced the selection of London-based Benedetti as lead architect for the refurbishment project over six other shortlisted practices, including RECORD Design Vanguards David Kohn Architects (2017) and Freehaus (2022). “As a wide-eyed Canadian student who first visited in 1983, the RIBA felt like the architectural epicenter of the world to me,” said firm director Renato Benedetti at the time. “It would be great to rekindle that sense of excitement and relevance for future generations of architects and lovers of architecture.”

The organization’s library and collections will close on April 10 ahead of a building-wide closure to the public on June 1. Pending approval, the building will be fully vacated and the renovation project will commence this fall. Work to complete the “long overdue and urgently needed” upgrades is expected to take roughly two-and-half years. 

“This is the next step in our House of Architecture transformative program that will focus on RIBA’s architectural collections, upgrades to digital technology, and sensitive, essential refurbishment and restoration of 66 Portland Place in London to make it more accessible, functional, sustainable, and welcoming,” said RIBA CEO Valerie Vaughan-Dick in a March 18 statement. 

While the overhaul is underway, RIBA will temporarily relocate to the Jerwood Medical Education Centre, a 2002 Neo-Georgian building owned and operated by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) near Regent Park and a short, seven-minute walk from 66 Portland Place. The organization has been also been granted permission to use some facilities at the the RCP’s 1960s-era headquarters, a rare Grade I-listed post-war building designed by 1977 RIBA Gold Medalist Sir Denys Lasdun. Major gatherings, such as the inauguration of incoming RIBA president Chris Williamson, will be held there. The Architects’ Journal has reported that RIBA will eliminate 14 positions ahead of the relocation effort. 

Beginning this summer, the London Archives will host “key items” from RIBA’s vast collections. A temporary off-site storage location for the organization’s full holdings has not yet been announced.

Designed by George Grey-Wornum and completed in 1934, 66 Portland Place is home to RIBA’s administrative offices, galleries, auditoriums, and bookshop, among other uses. When the historic Art Deco building, which was granted with Grade II status in 1970,  emerges from its closure, it will have larger exhibition venues, including a so-called Treasures Room showcasing collection highlights; a relocated shop and new café with sheltered outdoor seating; a reinstated members’ room and reimagined library; and other enhanced features inside and out. There will be a special focus on updating aging mechanical systems to help reduce energy use and on improved accessibility, including the installation of larger elevators to accommodate full-sized wheelchairs.

Meanwhile, RIBA’s stateside counterpart, the American Institute of Architects, has also modernized its similarly outmoded home in Washington, D.C. The midcentury New York Avenue building, fresh from its zero-carbon redo, is set to reopen to the public later this year as the AIA Global Campus for Architecture & Design.