New London Architecture

London Design Capital – ‘let youth lead the way’

Friday 23 July 2021

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David Taylor

Editor, NLQ and New London Weekly

London must embrace youth and new technology but address affordability issues for its creatives if it is to enhance its reputation as a global design hub.

Those were some of the thoughts to emerge from an invited trio of architects, commenting on the London Design Capital report launched by NLA last week.

The report looks into the effects that Covid and Brexit have had on the capital’s status and draw on the world stage, which are, said Asif Khan, enhanced by its institutions and multiculturalism. But after pointing to the international work his practice had enjoyed ever since Khan took a decision to market himself at the Milan Furniture Festival, it was time to concentrate on schemes like the Museum of London project is working on with Stanton Williams. ‘Like the football, we’re coming home’, he said. But also like the England football team of the recent Euros it was perhaps time to push youth to the fore. ‘I think youth has got to be something that we embrace in London, and that’s going to keep us on the cutting edge’, he said. ‘Relying on old ideas and tried and tested, purely commercial approaches are the only thing that diminishes our creativity and our ability to lead the world. Support young voices and young designers, and let them help us lead the way into the future of what London can be’.

Grimshaw’s Annalie Kvick Thompson said her global practice, which now employs some 600 people, had been affected by the lack of ability to travel, and consequently fewer site visits and presentation of ideas in person. But the firm had become more agile and adept at using technology. ‘Global collaboration is also seeing some changes – instead of being isolated actually we’ve become a lot more connected’

Weston Williamson and Partners’ Philip Breese said Brexit transition had brought great opportunity and excitement as well as challenges logistically and operationally. But its success abroad – the practice won the 2019 international Queen’s Award for Enterprise – had shown that you don’t have to be a huge company. ‘But if you do have a specific specialism, an expert in your field in a certain area, there really are great opportunities to go and find’, he said. Partnering with local architects abroad was a good method, helping it set up an office in Toronto, and the practice tends to grow offices abroad by sending senior partners to help instill ‘DNA’, reaping benefits when staff make the return journey to London. But affordability had become a problem, said Breese, leading to many of its young staff leaving their central London rentals to move out of the capital, some even enduring two hour each way commutes. This has led it to consider investing into residential development for staff and offering subsidized rents.

London, moreover, had to focus on its design culture heritage and education establishment, Philip Breese added, reaching out to broader, more diverse groups of people for talent.

Discussion points included thoughts on the value of face-to-face networking at events to win work – albeit perhaps not at the Venice Biennale; jumping on the ‘coattails’ of bigger firms on schemes but also the admirable way places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi look at ideas rather than size of practice, necessarily. Finally, London and the rest of the UK perhaps had much to learn from other nations like Dubai  in communications technology such as teleconferencing and Virtual Reality, said Asif Khan. ‘I think we need to up our game here to match what’s going on internationally’.

Listen to the full webinar here
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter
DOWNLOAD THE London Design Capital REPORT

David Taylor

Editor, NLQ and New London Weekly


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