London has endorsed Sadiq Khan’s commitment to environmental principles, including his ULEZ plan for cleaner air, and the country is now preparing itself for a potential change in Downing Street.
While it will be fascinating to watch key built environment issues, such as housing, emerge from this political arena, a focus on tall buildings and public spaces as mainstays in how the city develops is a safe bet across the professions.
This issue of NLQ looks at both of these issues on the back of research. For tall buildings, we celebrate a decade looking at how the capital has changed its attitude to, and aptitude for, going high. Public space, moreover, has moved up the agenda as the city grows and people’s wellbeing at work and play becomes more important, not least as a draw back to the office. The London Festival of Architecture represents a celebration of this, while Public London looks at the issue as it evolves.
Both of these areas (and myriad others) fall under the watch of Ian Thomas CBE, CEO of the City of London Corporation, whose job is partly to create a more liveable Square Mile as it redefines itself while maintaining its thrust as the UK’s financial centre. Thomas is profiled this time.
We take a deep look at Hopkins Architects as it too grapples with forging a new identity, a year after the death of its famous founder Sir Michael, with both a pipeline of major blue-chip projects endorsing its pioneering nature and its business-as-usual approach.
And we celebrate Peter Murray, an extraordinary mentor to so many, and a real polymath whose impact on the capital — including on cycling, publishing, architecture, design, even toy making — is peerless as he glimpses his next chapter at the remarkable age of 80.
There’s plenty more besides — a look at the mega mixed-use Gaumont project in Chelsea and at the Cancer Hub in Sutton, a reappraisal of ‘profit’ by Seaforth Land’s Tyler Goodwin, and a Q&A with Jo McCafferty on housing and more.
Enjoy the issue!
David Taylor
Editor