Renato Benedetti

Director / Architect , Benedetti Architects

Renato Benedetti is founder / design director of Benedetti Architects, formed in 2016 to continue the 20 years award-winning success of McDowell+Benedetti Architects founded in 1996. The chartered practice continues to further its established international reputation for design excellence in an unusually diverse range of projects across different types and scales including: Public & Cultural, Historic buildings, Housing, Houses & Apartments, Offices, Bridges, Public Realm & Masterplanning, Retail and Education & Health. They have won many national / international awards and competitions and their work is published widely in the UK and abroad in articles, books, on radio and TV. Benedetti Architects have recently been selected winners of the competition for ¬£20m improvements to the RIBA's headquarters at 66 Portland Place. 

They also recently completed the award-winning expansion & redesign of BAFTA's headquarters at 195 Piccadilly (the listed 1883 former Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours) and are currently working on the listed Portsmouth Guildhall. The practice were also recently shortlisted with Adjaye Associates for the Barbican Renewal project, and for the London Highline. Renato Benedetti BES BArch ARB RIBA FRSA Born and educated in Canada, Renato worked with his father as a stonemason & bricklayer before studying architecture at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. His thesis was published by Shimizu Japan and he did his professional course in the UK at the University of Cambridge. While at university, he worked for practices in Canada, Italy and in London. After university he worked 7 years as an Associate for Sir David Chipperfield Architects, before founding the firm. His wide public profile includes current roles on Design Review Panels for the London Boroughs of Southwark, Wandsworth & Richmond, Lewisham and until recently for the Design Council as a Built Environment Expert. He is an RIBA competitions judge and a long-standing Architecture Club Committee member and was a London Festival of Architecture founding committee member. He is an RSA Fellow and was a trustee of the Hatton Garden BID. He lectures & teaches in the UK and abroad and is a visiting professor at Roma Tre University.