Keith Griffiths

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

FHKIA (born October 1954) is a British architect who founded and chairs

Aedas Aedas is an architectural firm with eleven International offices founded by the Welsh architect Keith Griffiths. Aedas provides services in architecture, interior design, urban design, masterplanning and graphic design. It was established in 2002 ...

. Since 1983 and for most of his career he has resided in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Early life and education

Griffiths was born to Emrys and Jane Griffiths in October 1954 in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Ty ...

, Wales. He was brought up in the small cathedral city of

St Davids St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, , "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, W ...

, in Wales. He attended Ysgol Dewi Sant, St Davids School and read architecture at St John's College, University of Cambridge where he received a Masters in Architecture in 1976 and a Diploma in Architecture in 1979. In 1979 he registered as an architect ( ARB) and became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Career

From 1978 to 1980 Griffiths worked for Arup Associates before joining

Foster and Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide ...

in London as a member of the design team for the new Hongkong and Shanghai Bank headquarters (HSBC) in Hong Kong. In 1985, Keith Griffiths and Anthony Hackett set up Hackett and Griffiths in Hong Kong. Hackett and Griffiths first commission was the new

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is a Hong Kong watersports club for sailing, rowing and paddling. History In 1849 the ''Victoria Regatta Club'' was formed and later absorbed into the ''Hong Kong Boating Clu''b which, in 1889, was in ...

sailing Centre at Middle Island. Further commissions included Gaysorn Shopping Centre, Bangkok in 1988 for Gaysorn Property Company Ltd. In 1992 Griffiths became a shareholder in Lang Peddle Thorpe (architects) in Hong Kong. The company established offices in Singapore in 1995 followed by China (2002), Macao (2004), Dubai (2004) and Seattle (2006) under his leadership. Griffiths invited the UK practice of Abbey Holford Rowe to jointly own a new design company and in 2002 Griffiths rebranded the company as Aedas. In 2012, the former Abbey Holford Rowe left Aedas and in 2015, Aedas acquired UK practice RHWL and Arts Team.

Honours

Griffiths was awarded a fellowship of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA) in 2001. In 2012, Griffiths was named Honorary Fellow of

University of Wales, Trinity Saint David , image = Crest of TSD.png , image_size = 200px , caption = Coat of armsUniversity of Wales Trinity Saint David , established = 2010 (Saint David's College, Lampeter founded 1822 and opened 1827; royal charter 1828) , ...

in recognition of his contribution in restoring historic buildings in Wales. In 2014,

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

named Griffiths an Honorary Fellow . Since 2007, Griffiths has been a Non-Executive Director of the Link Management Ltd in Hong Kong. He established the Griffiths-Roch Foundation in 2009 to acquire and restore the important historic buildings in Wales, Twr y Felin Art Hotel,

Roch Castle Roch Castle ( cy, Castell y Garn) is a 12th-century castle, located at Roch near Haverfordwest, Wales. Built by Norman knight Adam de Rupe in the second half of the 12th century, probably on the site of an earlier wooden structure. ''Roche'' i ...

and Penrhiw Priory under Retreats Group.

Early life and education

Career

Honours

References

Further reading