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HTA Design: The Latest Architecture and News

RIBA Elects Ben Derbyshire as Next President

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has elected Ben Derbyshire, chair of HTA Design, to become their next president. Beating out other candidates Alan Jones and Andrew Salter, Derbyshire will take over from current president Jane Duncan for a two-year term beginning on September 1, 2017.

Derbyshire has been a partner at HTA since 1987, where he has penned several essays including a recommendation on solutions to London’s Tall Building Boom, and has played an active role in RIBA activities for a number of years, including calling for an overhaul of the RIBA election process in 2014. He has held a number of Board positions throughout his career, including at RIBA Enterprises, and Design for Homes, and is a trustee of The London Society.

NLA and Mayor of London Select 10 Winners in "London's Housing Crisis" Competition

Following their selection of 100 ideas to help solve London's housing crisis last month, New London Architecture (NLA) and the Mayor of London have narrowed down the entrants to ten winners which they believe offer exemplary models for the UK capital. The selected designs range from radical architectural solutions, such as Floating Homes and Baca Architects' proposal to create 7,500 new homes in a matter of mere months by floating small abodes in London's canals, to radical economic solutions such as David Kroll's recommendation to separate the value of properties from the value of the land they occupy.

In addition to being displayed alongside the 90 other proposals in an exhibition put on by NLA, these ten projects will be presented to the Greater London Authority to be assessed for their feasibility as real-world solutions to the crisis. Together, these ten designs provide insights into potential solutions - but also the many different causes - of London's housing crisis. Read on for images and descriptions of all ten designs.

RIBA Council Member Calls for Overhaul of Presidential Elections

Ben Derbyshire, managing partner at HTA Design and a newly-elected member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Council, has called for a significant overhaul of the RIBA election process if the organization is to reverse "a long term decline in the fortunes of the profession, the role of architects in commerce and society, the influence of design in the quality of environment and on long term sustainability." Derbyshire, writing in his column for Building, argued that future RIBA presidents should only be drawn from the elected councillors if the RIBA is to avoid "the likelihood of successive Presidents failing to share agendas" - alongside five other proposals that he believes will strengthen the architectural profession. Read on after the break for more of his comments.

HTA Design to Lead Regeneration of Aylesbury Estate in London

Developer Notting Hill Housing Trust have selected HTA Design to lead the regeneration of London's infamous Aylesbury Estate. HTA will work on the masterplan for the entire site, and have also been selected as the lead architects for the first stage of the , working alongside Hawkins Brown and Mae Architects.

The £1.5 billion redevelopment will see the iconic post-war estate torn down and reconstructed in stages over the next 20 years, with different architects working on the detail design for each stage. In total the masterplan provides for 4,200 homes, a significant increase over the 2,704 in the existing estate.

Read on for more on the Aylesbury Estate and its regeneration