Rab Bennetts (Co-founder, Bennetts Associates)
The empathy between environmental teaching at Cambridge and the work of Bennetts Associates stretches back to the early years of the practice in the late 1980s and Rab Bennetts' previous work at Arup Associates. What may be less obvious is the way in which Rab has used the green agenda as a proxy for good design when a purely architectural proposition may not have succeeded. His talk will examine key projects that demonstrate how environmental concerns underpin Bennetts Associates' architectural achievements.
Rab Bennetts graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1977 and spent 10 years at Arup Associates before founding Bennetts Associates with his wife Denise in 1987. The practice has since carried out a wide range of award-winning projects, from major commercial developments, corporate headquarters, university buildings and hotels to theatres. The firm's Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon is one of three projects shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize. Rab is also on the Board of several organisations, including the UK Green Building Council, the Design Council (incorporating CABE) and Sadler's Wells Theatre.