The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has for only the second time in its 174 year history elected an architect as President.

Keith Pickavance, who is a Senior Vice President for Hill International, has become the CIOB's 105th President.

Commenting on his appointment, Keith said: "The built environment is a fantastic and challenging industry to be involved in, and to be honoured by its leading professional body in this way is very humbling.

"The CIOB is a community of professionals working across the built environment not bound by geography or discipline, and that gives us a uniqueness that I am proud of and truly reflects the diversity this industry supports.

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"My term will include the familiar themes of sustainability, health and safety, ethics and education which will no doubt continue to be familiar issues for future President's of the CIOB. There are other topics that we as an industry are facing. Some grab more headlines in the media than others for obvious reasons. But two that I think need more awareness are population ageing and time management.

"We know that population ageing is pervasive, in fact it's a global phenomenon affecting everyone - but countries are at various stages of the process, and the pace of change differs greatly. Those that have started the process later will have less time to adjust. For the built environment that has an impact on the use, lifecycle and design of our buildings."

(CD/JM)