Londoners should take the opportunity of keeping some of the work/life balance changes they have made as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and remember the clean air and quiet skies – even communing with nature – once lockdown restrictions are eased.

Those were some of the main thoughts to emerge from a special Pecha Kucha session run by NLA this week which looked at issues ranging from housing to hospitality, high tech modelling and collaboration to public art. 

James Mitchell, Partner, Axiom Architects said that whilst we are ‘social animals’ and are likely to be ‘inching’ back to a sense of normality, we are also yearning to visit the kinds of hospitality spaces that make for a vibrant city. However, the reduction in the need to travel has led to Mitchell glimpsing positives such as spending more time with his family, connecting with nature and even hearing more birdsong than ever before. ‘Maybe there’s an opportunity to work maybe one or two days a week (in the office) when we do go back to normal and that will free up London and free up the public space a bit more’, he said. ‘London might become a slightly more dynamic place than it is at the moment’.

Ballymore managing director John Mulryan agreed, saying that although he believed that the office is far from dead, the recent lockdown has proved the benefit for people in achieving more time with their families, along with recognising the importance of outside space, even if bigger schemes in the centre of London were unlikely. ‘There’s definitely a sense that people may a slightly better sense balance in their lives’, he said. ‘Could all of us have a better balance in our lives because of this? It would be lovely to think that’.

Jan-Maarten Heuff, Director, Squint/Opera said he thought that a big opportunity lay behind clients now slowly recognising that there is little need in quite so much international business travel for the sake of a two-hour meeting, say, with the benefits from that of more fresh air and skies free of planes - plus roads freer of cars. ‘I hope that’s a permanent change’ he said. He added that in terms of remote working there was also an appreciation of valuing output more than just ‘attendance’.

Louise Coussieu-Baylac, Director, MTArt Agency said it was important to recognise a number of changes since the pandemic emerged especially those made in sectors like travel, the home, education – and the pace that we have proved we can build hospitals in. ‘I think it is an opportunity for us to rethink how we live’, she said.

The group’s views on these opportunities from COVID-19 emerged following presentations from Mulryan on housing in London, where the company has kept sites open by using thermal cameras, PPE, hand washing stations, spatial distancing, but had only sold around 10-15% of its usual sales figures despite using VR walkthroughs with potential buyers. ‘It has been incredible to see how the industry has reacted with innovation to the way that we need to work within the construction industry’, he said. 

Mitchell showed a world in hotels and hospitality where he projected that life here will be much more managed by time slots and helped by technology such as automatic check-in and thermal imaging. Hotel rooms may even have health and wellbeing checks integrated into them in future.  Jan-Maarten Heuff, Director, Squint/Opera showed his company’s work in pushing forward high tech collaboration software based on gaming technology in Fortnite. Spaceform is a data driven design tool that allows architects and planners to collaborate in augmented reality. Finally, Louise Coussieu-Baylac, Director, MTArt Agency showed a future where London and Londoners could be welcomed back – and delighted – using a stream of public art works including a campaign expressing ‘thank yous’ to NHS heroes, on decorated bollards.

View the event here.

Chair: Benjamin O'Connor, Director, New London Architecture

Presentations

John Mulryan, Managing Director, Ballymore

Jan-Maarten Heuff, Director, Squint/Opera

James Mitchel, Partner, Axiom Architects

Louise Coussieu-Baylac, Director, MTArt Agency