Keith Griffiths (architect)

Early life and education

Griffiths was born to Emrys and Jane Griffiths in 1954 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. He was brought up in the small cathedral city of St Davids, 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). He was awarded a fellow ship of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA) in 2001.

Career

From 1978 to 1980 Griffiths worked for Arup Associates before joining Foster and Partners 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 sailing Centre at Middle Island. Further commissions included LandMark 2, Bangkok in 1987 for First Pacific Land; Pacific Plaza, Singapore in 1988 for LET Pacific (formerly London and Edinburgh Trust); Gaysorn Shopping Centre, Bangkok in 1988 for Gaysorn Property Company Ltd.

In 1992 Griffiths joined LPT Architects, which has offices in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and designed the John Hancock Tower in Singapore.

In 1999 Griffiths acquired LPT Architects, which grew to 250 staff by 2000 with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

To create a global design practice, 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. Its operations grew from 550 employees in 2002 to 1,800 staff in 2008. In 2012, the former Abbey Holford Rowe left Aedas and in 2015, Aedas acquired UK practice RHWL and Arts Team, one of the leading designers of arts and cultural facilities in Europe.

In late 2015, Griffiths was appointed Honorary Advisor for the inaugural Belt and Road Summit co-organised by the Hong Kong SAR Government and Hong Kong Trade Development Council. He proposed to build ultra high-density connected and vibrant hubs within our cities that accommodate our ever changing needs by providing public space at many levels and by fusing outdated concepts of high-rise towns into a vertical city and delivered a talk for TEDx in Shanghai. The full paper 'City Hub' was published by the CTBUH in November 2016.

In 2016, Griffiths led Aedas to the seventh world’s largest architectural practices, with 1250 staff and 12 offices.

Community

In 2009, Griffiths established the Griffiths-Roch Foundation to purchase and restore historic buildings in the St. Davids peninsula of Pembrokeshire, Wales as luxury hotels. In 2012 the Foundation completed restoration upon the 12th century Grade 1 listed Roch Castle and Grade 2* listed former Tudorbethan vicarage of Penrhiw. These two historic buildings are operated by the Retreats Group as Roch Castle Hotel and Penrhiw Hotel. A further property in St Davids, the 18th century Grade 2 listed Twr y Felin windmill and hotel has completed restoration and opened in 2016. The three properties were named including ‘The Big Six: British castle stay’ by The Independent, ’10 of the best cool new hotels in Wales’ by The Guardian, ‘Ultimate 100 British Hotels’ by The Sunday Times, Gold and Silver Awards by the AA, Best 5-star Hotel in Wales by Trivago, Best Serviced Accommodation 12+ Rooms by Pembrokeshire Tourism. It was also featured in the Cool Hotel Guide by the Times, BBC News, WalesOnline, Conde Nast Traveller and more.

In 2015, Griffiths established the Oriel Gallery at Twr y Felin Hotel. The gallery's permanent collection complements the Graham Sutherland collection held at the adjacent Oriel y Parc Gallery and Visitor Centre. The collection includes work of contemporary urban artists including Harry Adams, Phil Ashcroft, Mr Jago, Remi Rough and Xens, who were commissioned to create work inspired by the Pembrokeshire landscape. Charles Edwards, aka Pure Evil, also created nine pieces of work portraying famous Welsh people for the gallery which also houses the work of his father John Edwards.

The gallery also owns a large collection of the work of Brendan Stuart Burns, Welsh Artist of the Year 2003, who created during his two-year residency in 2008/09 at the Oriel y Parc Gallery in St Davids, focusing upon Caerfai Bay. These works are exhibited at the nearby Penrhiw Hotel.

Other permanent collection housed by the gallery includes the largest assemblage of Geoff Yeomans neo realistic work of the local landscape and artefacts including the nine-panel "Tugboats".

On the grounds of the Twr y Felin Hotel and Oriel Gallery are a series of monoliths created by ceramist Adam Buick.

Personal life

Griffiths has 3 children. Tanya Lucia (born 1989) by his marriage to Ida Zee. Sion Michael (born 1995) and Bryn Aidan (born 1999) both by his marriage to Belinda Koh.

Honour

In 2012, Griffiths was named Honorary Fellow of University of Wales, Trinity Saint David in recognition of his contribution in restoring important historic buildings in Wales as exclusive five star hotels and retreats. In 2014, Griffiths was named Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University, Wales.