Another gap in the leadership of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has been filled following the announcement of Robbie Turner as the organization’s new director for diversity and inclusion.

Thompson comes to the position after working for more than 30 years in various roles in the country’s pharmaceutical industry and will begin his term next week, ending an 8-month void for the relatively new RIBA office that was first created in 2021.

His only predecessor Marsha Ramroop left the post in March after only a year that saw her office’s budget significantly impacted by cost-saving efforts the organization had to initiate after posting multimillion pound deficits for the second (and now third) consecutive year. 

“Robbie Turner is new to me and my circle in the EDI space, but we've been able to start to get to know each other since I was informed of his appointment,” Ramroop, who is reportedly working on a book about EDI initiatives and architecture for her former employer’s publishing arm, told the Architects’ Journal recently. “I hope to develop that relationship. I look forward to discovering his areas of expertise as he sets the competencies for the profession and delivers on the joint institutes’ EDI Action Plan. I hope he feels he has the support he needs to navigate the complex nature of the institute and the straitened times in which it finds itself, and I wish him well with the role.”

Thompson's past experience includes the stewardship of EDI initiatives at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and will serve under newly-appointed Chief Executive Valerie Vaughan-Dick once she steps into office in January. 

"I am really pleased to have been on the selection panel for this appointment, and I welcome Robbie to RIBA," Board Member Sumita Singha added. "We have invested a great deal of time and resource in building the foundations of a culturally intelligent organization and have a clear cross-industry action plan to realize a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive sector.‘ This is a unique and challenging role: requiring understanding, engagement, and allyship with a vast range of audiences, including our members and practices, which Robbie will bring to the role."