Keith Williams MRIAI FRSA (born 21 April 1958) is a British architect and founder of London-based Keith Williams Architects. Keith Williams was born in Kent. His father was an electrical design engineer chiefly working on the upgrade of the National Grid and latterly in the North Sea oil industry, whilst his mother was a librarian. His younger brother Martin Williams is also an architect.

Education and Career

When he was 5 years old, the family moved to Surrey. Keith was then educated at Kingston Grammar School before going on to study architecture at Kingston and then Greenwich Schools of Architecture. In 1984, he became a chartered architect and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He worked for Sheppard Robson and then Sir Terry Farrell at Farrells, before co-founding Pawson Williams Architects in 1987 with fellow architect Terry Pawson, whom he had known since student days at Kingston. In 2001 he split from Pawson and established his own independent architectural firm, Keith Williams Architects operating as its founder and director of design. He became a member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland in 2005 and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2007. From 2008, he served as a National Design Review Panel for the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) until 2010 when it became Design Council CABE. He remained an active participant until 2020 when he stood down. In 2011, he joined the National Panel of the Civic Trust Awards operating as its chair from 2015 to 2023. From 2013, he has chaired the Lewisham Design Review Panel, and since 2014, has operated as a Panel Chair for Design South East. In 2016 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He joined Docomomo UK in March 2024 as a trustee, becoming Chair of the Board of Trustees in July the same year. National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C467/136) with Keith Williams in 2017-2019 for its Architects' Lives collection.

Buildings

Awards