APM Fellow Gareth Stapleton awarded the honour of OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours

APM Fellow Gareth Stapleton has been awarded the honour of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours, for his services to architecture, project and construction management – an honour that reflects his national and international impact.

Gareth is a British architect, project leader and author with an internationally recognised career spanning over 25 years and four continents. He trained at Cardiff University, where he earned his B.Sc. (Hons) and B.Arch. with Distinction and passed the ARB Examination (a requirement for registering as an architect in the UK with the Architects Registration Board) in Professional Practice. He went on to complete an MBA with a focus on Project Management at Henley Business School, University of Reading. The experience not only honed his architectural skill set but also instilled a lifelong commitment to creative leadership, ethical practice, and global collaboration—values that continue to underpin his influence across the built environment.

Gareth began his career at the Stirling Prize-winning practices WilkinsonEyre and Hawkins\Brown before founding Host (formerly Rise International), a strategic design and project management consultancy. Here Gareth delivered complex, high-profile developments for clients including Apple in the UK and North America, Amazon across Europe, and Oxford University, among others. The projects span the civic, cultural, and commercial sectors—including the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal Opera House, the Serpentine Gallery, and the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative.

Gareth has also collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists and architects, including Ai Weiwei, Thomas Heatherwick, Herzog & de Meuron, Sou Fujimoto, Carmody Groarke, Níall McLaughlin and Rafael Viñoly.

In 2025, working alongside Henley faculty Prof Keiichi Nakata and Dr Fabio Goncalves de Oliveira, Gareth’s research formed the foundation for a successful Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) grant from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). The 26-month project will employ large language models and generative AI to explore the ideation stage of the architectural design process.

As well as being a Fellow of the Association for Project Management (FAPM), Gareth is also a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), reflecting his commitment to cross-sectoral leadership, innovation, and professional advancement.  

On receiving his OBE, Gareth said: “This honour reflects the power of collaboration — from the Queen’s Green Canopy and the Royal Opera House to Oxford and the Serpentine. I’ve always believed in building with care and purpose, guided by trust, humility, and the courage to do things differently. It’s a tribute to the mentors who shaped me and to the next generation we now support.”

*Photos © Claire Kramer