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CELEBRATING BOND STREET’S SUCCESS
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We are extremely proud that Publica’s redesign of Bond Street won the 2019 New London Architecture (NLA) Award for Built Public Spaces. Working for Westminster City Council (WCC) in partnership with the New West End Company (NWEC), Publica revitalised this internationally famous street by focusing on pedestrians, enhancing its character and celebrating its heritage to create a public realm for all users. The success of the project was underlined by research by Savills showing a footfall increase of 35.1% in Q1 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.

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MAKING THE CASE FOR A RIVER THAMES CULTURAL VISION
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The Case for a River Thames Cultural Vision was launched as part of the Totally Thames festival in September. Commissioned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Port of London Authority (PLA) the report, authored by Publica with BOP Consulting, makes the case for a joined up cultural vision that connects more people with the river, celebrates its cultural heritage and unlocks its potential as a year-round destination by day and by night. The report formed the basis of an article by Publica’s Founding Director Lucy Musgrave in the Centre for London publication London Ideas 3.

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MARBLE ARCH
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Publica has been working for the Portman Estate and its collaborators to develop ideas for the public realm at Marble Arch since 2017, based on a survey, stakeholder engagement, and a public perception study. In 2019, we have set out a bold vision for the public realm, developed through an iterative process with the Portman Estate, stakeholders and in collaboration with NRP.

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HEART OF LONDON PLACESHAPING STRATEGY
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Publica’s placeshaping strategy for the Heart of London Business Alliance was launched in November. The strategy suggests how the Heart of London area – a major part of London’s West End running from Green Park to the borders of Covent Garden – can accommodate significant change while maintaining and enhancing its special character and heritage. It also demonstrates the critical role of public realm during significant transformation.

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Construction work gets underway on the revitalisation of Hanover Square
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Publica’s design of Hanover Square for Westminster City Council began on site in 2019. The design for Hanover Square will revitalise one of the West End’s most significant Georgian squares and its gardens to deliver a word-class civic space. The eastern exterior of the square and Harewood Place have been completed, with wider footways, new kerb lines, new lighting columns and high-quality Yorkstone paving. Next year will see construction commence on the western side of the square and the start of landscaping and improvement works to the gardens. This project has been developed with WSP and FM Conway in partnership with Norman Rourke Pryme, Dr Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, Withernay Projects and KLH Sustainability.

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OXFORD STREET DISTRICT PLACE STRATEGY AND DELIVERY PLAN APPROVED BY WCC
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Westminster City Council adopted the Oxford Street District Place Strategy and Delivery Plan, produced by Publica, in February 2019. The strategy celebrates Oxford Street's unique identity and makes proposals to improve its streets and spaces while also extending benefits of urban change to the wider area.

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RESEARCHING NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING IN LONDON
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Summer saw the launch of our research commissioned by Neighbourhood Planners London into the spread of neighbourhood planning in areas of deprivation and issues affecting its potential growth. Funded by Trust for London, the reports were launched in June 2019 and Publica presented key findings to the London Assembly Planning Committee.

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DESIGNING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE CITY – INDEPENDENT MOBILITY
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Publica has undertaken a study into how to make London a child friendly city, focussing on young people’s independent mobility. The study, produced with Erect Architecture, forms part of Good Growth by Design, a GLA programme focused on ensuring that new development is high-quality, inclusive and sustainable for all Londoners. In November, Anna Mansfield, Publica’s Director of Strategy and Research, presented Publica’s research at the ‘Towards the Child Friendly City’ conference and the report is set to be launched by the GLA on 27 January 2020.

Photo shows The Play Street in the Kings Crescent Estate by muf art and architecture

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FLORAL COURT
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Publica's work in setting the urban design and public realm strategy for the Floral Court development in Covent Garden was featured in the Summer 2019 issue of New London Quarterly. The project, designed by KPF and completed in May, creates a new retail, restaurant and residential location. Publica was commissioned by Capital & Counties to develop a public realm and urban design strategy for the integration of a new courtyard and two new passageways, and to ensure their integration with the distinctive urban fabric of Covent Garden to create exemplary new public spaces.

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VISUAL IDENTITY FOR UCL INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION AND PUBLIC PURPOSE
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2019 saw the roll-out of our visual identity for the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). Developed through a process of collaborative workshops with the IIPP team, Publica’s graphic design team set out a new bold and ambitious visual identity to clearly communicate the vision and values of IIPP. Our brand guidelines form an overarching visual framework, within which we produced designs for the public lecture series Innovation and the Welfare State and the design of the report A Mission-Oriented UK Industrial Strategy launched at Senate House in May.

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AFTER DARK
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The first stage of Publica’s lighting-led public realm improvements for Greenleaf Road in Waltham Forest has now been installed. ‘Greenleaf Illuminations’ forms part of Making Places, a Waltham Forest Council initiative to deliver creative projects that will have a lasting impact on communities and neighbourhoods.  The project is part of a growing portfolio of work in research, strategy and design for the public realm after dark, which is led by Satu Streatfield, Associate Director Night-time and Lighting.

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LOOKING FORWARD TO 2020
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In the coming year, we will be continuing our work with the Northbank BID on updating and extending our previous public realm strategy to include the Strand through to Trafalgar Square. Publica is also working with The Crown Estate on a placemaking strategy for the London portfolio and developing a vision for Oxford Circus. We have also been developing major policy and project work in the London Boroughs of Camden, Lambeth, Southwark and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which we look forward to announcing in 2020.

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CELEBRATING OUR BRILLIANT TEAM
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We welcomed Francis Henderson who joined as our Director of Business and Operations and we are delighted to announce that Professor Robert Mull, currently Publica’s Director of Innovation, assumes the role of Managing Director from January 2020 reflecting the practice’s growing size, ambition and global reach. Anna Mansfield, Director of Strategy and Research, was appointed to design review panels for the London Boroughs of Havering and Redbridge. Lucy Musgrave was appointed as a member of the National Infrastructure Commission Design Group. We saw long-standing members of the team celebrate professional milestones. Projects Directors Lucy Pritchard and Matthew Hopkins were awarded a PhD and RIBA Part 3 respectively. Charlotte Lord, Director of Graphic Design, became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. And Lucy Musgrave was awarded an OBE for services to Architecture and the Built Environment.

Photo taken on our team away day to visit this year's Dulwich Pavilion, The Colour Palace.