Paul Finch is Programme Director of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) and Editorial Director of The Architectural Review/Architects’ Journal. He started professional life as a journalist in the early 1970s. He became Deputy Editor of Estates Times (now Property Week), and subsequently edited Building Design, Architects’ Journal and Architectural Review, where he launched WAF in 2008.   

He has been co-editor of Planning in London since 1994. He was a founder commissioner at CABE (Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment) in 1999, chaired its design review and regional panels, subsequently chairing its London Olympics design panel from 2005 to 2012. He became chair in 2010, overseeing its merger in 2011 with the Design Council, where he was deputy chair for three years.   

He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Westminster and honorary fellowships from University College London and the Royal Institute of British Architects .He is an honorary member of the British Council for Offices and the Architectural Association. He was awarded an OBE for services to architecture in 2002.