Culture

25 March 2025

The importance of culture in the built environment

HOLBA's Deputy Chief Executive Mark Williams reflects on the NLA Expert Panel on Culture’s focus on cultural infrastructure, creative support, and policy gaps.

Culture, Education & Health, Housing, Industrial & Logistics, Net Zero, Planning, Technical, Transport & Infrastructure, Work

14 January 2025

Expert Panels 2024 Summaries

As we kick off 2025 Expert Panels, panel chairs share summaries, recommendations, reflections and key findings from across the 2024 meetings, visits and debates.

Culture

24 September 2024

Art That Transforms Cities and Communities

Dr. Lee Bofkin, CEO of Global Street Art, highlights the importance of murals and street art in fostering community engagement and driving urban regeneration.

Culture

11 April 2024

Transforming London’s Cultural Landscape

Ros Morgan of Heart of London Business Alliance recaps the latest NLA Culture Expert Panel which marked a significant step in our endeavour to redefine London's cultural landscape.

Culture

10 October 2023

Designing a sustainable future for cultural buildings

Mike Cook, Director of Arts and Culture at Avison Young reports from our latest event exploring green performance: making cultural buildings sustainable.

Culture

01 November 2022

Nurturing the nocturnal city

Paul Broadhurst reports from our recent talk exploring the status of the nighttime economy and its potential to flourish once more.

Culture, Planning

17 October 2022

East Bank: a new cultural identity

Marking one of NLA’s last events as part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Programme and residency at Westfield Stratford City over the summer, we take a look back on our recent event: East Bank: a...

Culture

30 August 2022

50 of the best: Debbie Jackson

Debbie Jackson, Executive Director of Growth, Planning and Housing, City of Westminster, shares her best thing about London - diversity, acceptance, tolerance and inclusion.

Culture

23 August 2022

50 of the best: Pedro Gil

Pedro Gil, director, Studio Gil and member of mayor’s commission for diversity in the public realm, shares his best thing about London - the Latin American community.

Culture

26 April 2022

The art of zero waste: can temporary exhibitions be sustainable?

NLA Programme Manager Florence Maschietto reports from the first in-person breakfast talk of 2022.

Culture

20 September 2021

Celebrate diversity, commission new names, and focus on content

Think Tank hears how cultural projects should concentrate less on large-scale physical projects and more on long-legacy content, and fewer ‘usual suspects’ in cultural commissions.

Culture

13 September 2021

Celebrating LGBT+ spaces

London’s Pride webinar hears battle for queer spaces in the face of a stark loss of venues and ‘gentrification’ over the last 15 years.

Culture

19 July 2021

Five minutes with...Annabelle Selldorf

David Taylor interviews Annabelle Selldorf, founding principal of Selldorf Architects, about winning the National Gallery’s NG200 project last week, celebrating with screams and champagne, bringing mo...

Culture

25 June 2021

Five minutes with...Stella Ioannou

David Taylor catches up with Stella Ioannou to talk through this year’s Sculpture in the City project – its 10th year of adding artistic riches to London’s urban realm. How has it changed? Is there a...

Culture

18 June 2021

Five minutes with... Deborah Saunt

David Taylor catches up with Deborah Saunt of DSDHA from her Orangery to talk about the National Youth Theatre project, creating a piece of accessible city for the community, the London School of Arch...

Culture

28 May 2021

E-sports will have ‘enormous’ impact on real estate

Sector experts predict boom for virtual world affecting real built projects, with community benefits and more flexible buildings

Culture

27 April 2021

Saving the Night

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands Founder Alex Lifschutz on the practice's initiative with Speirs + Major to rethink and rebalance the lighting of our cities at night for the benefit of those who use them...

Culture

26 April 2021

Five minutes with... Jonathan Gittins

David Taylor meets Jonathan Gittins of Atelier Ten to talk bridges, girders, and rivets; lighting, fish and seahorses as the Illuminated River scheme he worked on switches on its second phase

Culture

12 April 2021

National Gallery picks six-team shortlist for bicentenary plans

Big names do battle in next stage of Sainsbury Wing and public realm job to help ‘nation’s recovery story’

Culture

25 March 2021

Five minutes with…David Weir-McCall

David Taylor talks to David Weir-McCall of Epic Games about better collaboration on built environment projects through software, augmented reality, and the prospect of the ‘gamer generation’ to come c...

Culture

18 March 2021

Five minutes with… Nick Hartwright

David Taylor spoke to Projekt’s Nick Hartwright about culture’s importance to London and turning old sugar sheds into affordable workspace, film studios and live music facilities at The Factory in the...

Culture

18 February 2021

Five minutes with… Gabriele Finaldi

David Taylor talks to Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, about the international architectural competition the institution is running to reimagine the ‘modern classic’ Sainsbury Wi...

Culture

21 January 2021

Development sector should play more active role in support of arts and culture in cities

Olaide Obah, Director of Partnerships, First Base shines a spotlight on how support can be provided for the art and culture sector.

Culture

05 January 2021

Predictions of cultural ruin are becoming a reality with third lockdown

At the height of World War II, the National Galley made a brave decision: it would stay open, even if it were reduced to exhibiting just one picture. People flocked to visit. As one contemporary lette...

Culture

25 September 2020

Culture sector seeks ‘London-specific’ support

London’s world-famous culture sector needs cash, ‘London-specific’ help and better messaging from government – not sympathy – if it is to get through this period of survival before even thinking about...

Culture

24 August 2020

Support Open House for an opening London

In just over a month this year’s Open House festival curated by Open City, will showcase a weekend of our great city’s buildings and open spaces to the public. Charles Begley writes that this year's O...

Culture

13 August 2020

Five minutes with… Naila Yousuf, partner at Wright and Wright Architects

David Taylor catches up with Wright and Wright newly promoted partner Naila Yousuf to explore her project The Museum of the Home (formerly the Geffrye Museum), the changing nature of museums generally...

Culture

06 August 2020

Soapbox: Keep the arts at the heart of regeneration

Arts, culture and creativity have the power to shape places, so it is important for the property industry to support the sector through its time of crisis. Linda Mulryan-Condron, Operations and Commun...

Culture

30 April 2020

Pilbrow hits right note with Tileyard permission

Pilbrow and Partners have scored a notable virtual planning permission hit from Islington borough council for a new music hub for Tileyard Studios

Culture

23 July 2019

Encore! Protect our grass roots music venues, APPG told

How can London stop the slide and better protect its music venues? That was the question grappled with by the APPG for London’s Planning and Built Environment earlier this week...

Culture

28 January 2019

You can’t move history – Southbank Undercroft Skate Space Tour

As long-term supporters of the Long Live Southbank campaign to save the Southbank Undercroft, NLA invited Members to a Study Tour of the forthcoming extended skate space and you...