Paul Finch has been appointed the new chair of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, culture secretary Ben Bradshaw announced today.
Finch, who has chaired the government design watchdog’s 2012 Games design review panel since 2006, will take over the £42,000-a-year post from outgoing Chair Sir John Sorrell on 14 December.
The appointment is for four years.
A former commissioner and deputy chair of CABE, Finch spent five years as chair of CABE’s design review panel.
He is also programme director of the World Architecture Festival, editor emeritus of Architectural Review and Architects’ Journal.
He said: “I am delighted to be rejoining CABE, especially given its increasingly important role in promoting quality of architecture and place-making.
“I look forward to working with commissioners and the wider built environment community in the common cause of creating decent places to live, work and play.”
Bradshaw said Finch would bring “a wealth of experience and a formidable understanding of the world of architecture and the built environment to the role”.
Ian Austin, housing minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government, which co-sponsors CABE with DCMS, said: “Improving the quality of new homes and making communities better and more attractive places to live is a real priority for government.
“We share this aim with CABE who play a vital role in helping deliver this on the ground.
“There have been real achievements in recent years under Sir John Sorrell’s leadership and I look forward to working with Paul Finch on taking this important agenda even further.”
