· 1 of 19 ·
PUBLIC REALM VISION FOR THE EASTERN CITY
—
This year Publica defined a transformative social, cultural and spatial vision for the future of the Eastern City. With significant development planned for the next 15 years, and a renewed attention to welcoming visitors, the Eastern City is poised for significant change.
Informed by the local community’s aspirations for the Eastern City, our vision reimagines the area with welcoming accessible spaces; resilient planting; lively activity; intuitive navigation; historic character and lighting; and a safe and inclusive approach.
Postcards from Simon Loome's collection.
· 2 of 19 ·
TRANSFORMATION OF MARBLE ARCh
—
This has been an important year for the vision for radical change at Marble Arch. We have been working with Simon Loomes, Strategic Projects Director of The Portman Estate for many years on a significant project to reposition the Inner Ring Road, re-connecting Oxford Street back to Hyde Park, as it once was, creating a public space the size of Trafalgar Square, and restoring the Arch’s historic position as the entrance to the Park.
With many civic leaders engaged in a renewed focus on the future of Oxford Street, Marble Arch sits amongst a handful of strategic West End projects. Our vision is the latest piece of work in a long-standing relationship between Publica and NRP that has brought major change to many of Central London’s major spaces, and we look forward to design, collaboration and progress in 2025.
Listen to Lucy and Tess discuss the history of Marble Arch on the London Explained podcast.
· 3 of 19 ·
24 HOUR LONDON WITH THE GLA
—
Publica is really proud to continue working closely with the GLA on developing night time strategies across London for more than four years. Our work includes establishing guidance, supporting boroughs to learn from each other’s strategies and documenting and analysing the impacts of night time policies.
We convened night surgeries across the whole city in partnership with boroughs and cities – this year in Bristol, and in London, in North Finchley, Vauxhall, Lewisham, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; and led night safety audits in London Heritage Quarter, Stratford, and Wood Green.
Committed to the creation of a 24 hour city, our night time policies, designs and strategies are evidence-led, joyful and informed by local communities. Our aim is to help local economies thrive, make streets more welcoming after 6pm, diversify our high streets at night, promote safety and belonging at all hours, and celebrate London’s 24 hour culture.
· 4 of 19 ·
CITY OF LONDON CULTURAL PLANNING FRAMEWORK
—
Publica and TJ Culture were appointed by the City of London to develop a Cultural Planning Framework (CPF), to guide how private development can deliver meaningful, diverse cultural contributions across the Square Mile.
The City of London is a global financial district, a significant tourist destination, and one of London’s largest centres of employment. With changing work patterns following the pandemic, the City has an opportunity to adapt its commercial identity and grow into a cultural hub in its own right.
Key components of the framework include an area-wide mapping of the cultural ecosystem, guidance for planning officers and a framework for capturing cultural impact, aligned with the Destination City programme.
· 5 of 19 ·
CAIRO PLACE
—
Cairo Place was opened this year, marking the completion of the first phase of improvements across Walthamstow to support the creation of a new Cultural Quarter, and the opening of Soho Theatre.
By increasing the area’s biodiversity and creating opportunities for performance in the public realm, we’ve transformed Cairo Place to enhance accessibility, support pollinators, and provide year-round beauty.
Local artists contributed by creating bespoke marble terrazzo seating and playful stage elements, using recycled aggregates to celebrate the historic local character of Cairo Place. Collaborating closely with local residents to achieve a meaningful and welcoming public area, Cairo Place has become a green space for all ages.
We also completed an overarching design code for LB Waltham Forest – the Walthamstow Town Centre Public Realm Design Guidance. It supports the creation of a high-quality, biodiverse, more welcoming and inclusive public realm, reflective of local culture and heritage, and responsive to a changing climate.
· 6 of 19 ·
CUSTOM HOUSE
—
Publica and Orms Architects are reimagining Custom House to bring vibrancy and culture to the City’s riverfront.
The proposals convert the Grade I listed building from an administrative building into a hotel, with the historic quayside - currently a car park - transformed into a generous and activated public space on the north bank of the Thames.
Our landscape proposals will enhance the setting of this historic building, re-establish its relationship with the river and improve the area’s permeability and landscape quality. Our cultural strategy proposes a ‘golden thread’ of publicly accessible historic spaces, animated by narrated displays telling the stories of Custom House.
· 7 of 19 ·
CAMPAIGN FOR INCLUSIVE CITIES
—
Publica CIC celebrated the launch of one of our national demonstrator projects, Safety in Public Space: Women, Girls and Gender Diverse People, at City Hall. The handbook offers expanded guidance for London’s built environment practitioners to act towards gender inclusion in their public realm projects.
It is essential that those who design, produce and deliver our public spaces feel informed about gender inclusion and build it into the processes that shape our city.
This edition provides a set of practical actions, developed across 10 live public realm projects in London in 2023, and tested through 19 workshops with the support of Mayor’s Design Advocates. The projects serve as dynamic case studies, demonstrating how diverse engagement and thoughtful design processes can foster gender-inclusive public realms.
Publica CIC has big ambitions for our Campaign for Inclusive Cities in 2025, supported by our funders - The Crown Estate, Almacantar, Howard de Walden and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
· 8 of 19 ·
HER, THEIR EVERYWHERE, RECLAIMING THE CITY AS A FEMINIST LABORATORY
—
Publica CIC reimagined a better London for all, with their highly commended proposal ‘Her, Their, Everywhere: Reclaiming the City as a Feminist Laboratory’ for the NLA’s new ideas competition, Reimagine London.
Placing women’s safety at the core of urban design for the city, their participatory cross-sector campaign takes over the city by asking women, girls and gender diverse people to set a vision for an inclusive city.
It comprises of three interventions: urban observatories for data gathering, imagination laboratories crafting visions for an inclusive city, and demonstrator projects that call on the built environment sector to recognise gender safety as an emergency and create inclusive and accessible public spaces where everyone feels safe, welcomed and free from intimidation and harassment.
· 9 of 19 ·
WOOD GREEN
—
We are working with Montagu Evans, Adam Khan Architects and the Haringey regeneration team to revitalise Wood Green, looking at how the area works across 24 hours.
Our public realm strategy enhances the connections around Wood Green station and the local high street. It supports accessible, safe movement; green and resilient open spaces; diverse, active uses for all ages; and distinct character, celebrating the existing assets of Wood Green.
We are also undertaking a Night Time Economy Survey, to map and quantify the town centre’s diverse evening and night time economy. By engaging with council partners and businesses and focusing on young people’s experiences through a youth-led night audit, we will present ideas for creating a more welcoming and inclusive area after dark.
· 10 of 19 ·
TOWER HAMLETS COMMUNITY FACILITIES NEEDS ASSESSMENT
—
In May, Publica concluded a needs assessment and audit of community facilities for LB Tower Hamlets’ brilliant Infrastructure Planning team.
Community facilities play a vital role in creating healthy and liveable neighbourhoods. The focus for this project was spaces where people can meet. We mapped, visited and audited 249 facilities across the borough, from urban farms to tenants halls and youth hubs, creating a detailed database and spatial exploration.
Working with multiple departments from across the council, we undertook detailed analysis of existing and projected populations, to identify gaps in provision and future needs of every ward. This will inform spatial strategies, action plans and guidance for future development.
· 11 of 19 ·
SOHO HERITAGE AUDIT
—
In September, Publica launched a unique heritage study with the Soho Neighbourhood Forum, and urban design specialist Bahar Durmaz-Drinkwater to document the individual built assets that create the unique visual landscape of Soho.
Soho’s visual landscape has changed, and concern over the number of unlisted heritage assets disappearing has grown. The Soho Heritage Audit aims to capture the distinct features that define the area’s historic character, through extensive fieldwork and conversations with residents and local businesses. Our database, which was constructed based on field work undertaken by Bahar throughout the autumn, has more than 650 assets so far.
Tess McCann appeared on Soho Radio in October to discuss the audit and led an interactive workshop at a local primary school. Meaningful collaboration is at the heart of the project’s success, and we have enjoyed seeing so many people contribute to the audit via email and social media.
Our findings will inform a public digital map of Soho’s rich history, complete by January 2025.
· 12 of 19 ·
RESEARCH FOR THE TRUMAN BREWERY
—
Publica conducted detailed research, data analysis, and mapping to inform the development of a masterplan in Brick Lane for the Truman Brewery Estate.
Joining an East London based design team led by Grow Places, we worked alongside Buckley Grey Yeoman, Carmody Groarke, Henley Halebrown, Chris Dyson Architects, Morris+Company, Spacehub and Arup, looking in great detail at how the wider area works across 24 hours and the potential future needs of this very special neighbourhood.
Our Director, Anna Mansfield featured on the Grow Places podcast, hosted by Tom Larsson, as part of a series on the development of the masterplan.
· 13 of 19 ·
LANDSEC INCLUSIVE DESIGN PRINCIPLES
—
Publica have an ambition to create places that are truly inclusive. In the UK, 1 in 5 people live with a condition or impairment. Yet, many of the places where they live, shop and work are not designed to meet diverse needs.
In October, Publica CIC launched the Inclusive Design Principles, developed for Landsec. It addresses the places, processes, knowledge, and skills required to deliver inclusive spaces, providing a framework to create accessible, useable, and welcoming spaces for people with diverse needs and experiences.
The ambitious key actions and case studies featured give our teams, consultants and service partners the inspiration and tools to help deliver on this commitment to inclusive change.
· 14 of 19 ·
CHANGE, LOUISVILLE
—
Publica CIC has been driving global change on gender equity in partnership with CHANGE (City Hub and Network for Gender Equity).
Publica immersed themselves in the fantastic city of Louisville, Kentucky, for the first phase of our collaborative project, “Gender Based Violence in Public Space: Developing an Evidence-Base and Action Plan with Three Cities”. Working with the Louisville Metro Government Office for Women (OFW), we led a week of workshops, training, neighbourhood walks and site visits, with the local community.
The team also met with civic leaders, including Louisville’s Mayor Greenburg, to discuss gender equity in urban design. Publica is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to support positive change in Louisville’s community. We are looking forward to working with CHANGE in Bogota and Stockholm next year.
· 15 of 19 ·
MOSAIC TRUST: SAFETY AND BELONGING IN CAMDEN
—
Publica CIC led a series of workshops with young LGBT+ persons in collaboration with Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons’ Trust. Together, they explored feelings of safety and belonging at their weekly youth club in Camden.
Their powerful video manifesto ‘Safety and Belonging in our Camden’, sets out an inclusive, transformative vision for Camden where all young persons can be their true, unfiltered selves, capturing the voices and creativity of queer youth.
The project is part of our aim to amplify and empower the voices of young LGBT+ people in the built environment, centring queer youth experiences and insights at a systemic level.
We are pleased to announce Publica and Mosaic won Camden’s Rise’s Youth Safety Multi-Media Competition this year, with our impactful manifesto video.
· 16 of 19 ·
YOUNG CITY MAKERS AND OUR WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMME
—
This summer, Publica volunteered with Open City’s wonderful ‘Young City Makers’ programme, working with a brilliantly imaginative class of Year 4 students in Westminster to re-imagine Marble Arch as a child-friendly public space. Across three design workshops, we explored what it means to shape the city they inhabit. We are thrilled that ‘Re-Imagining Marble Arch’ was awarded first place for being the most child-friendly at the Westminster City Hall awards ceremony.
Our annual work experience programme focuses on extending opportunities to young people in the areas where we work. This year, we hosted six talented Year 12 students from Tower Hamlets and Westminster. Led by our urban designer Sarena, and working with our full team, the students explored urban design through a hands-on project around Smithfield Market, creating impressive models and visions for a more sustainable, welcoming and inclusive public realm.
Connected Places Catapult’s National Summit / NLA Public London: Activating the City / The Urbanist Monocle Podcast / Boomers to Zoomers: Designing for the Generations / United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) / Cities Change Annual Summit / New London Weekly / Vertical Urbanism / Keynote Conversations - 100 Interviews for Reinventing the City
· 17 of 19 ·
PANELS, TALKS AND EVENTS
—
In 2024, the team continued to champion high-quality design work, and address change in the built environment sector.
Lucy Musgrave delivered keynote speeches for Connected Places Catapult and the NLA’s Public London launch.
Victoria Jessen-Pike featured The Urbanist podcast hosted at the Natural History Museum.
Anna Mansfield joined the editorial panel for Building Design's Boomers to Zoomers: Designing for the Generations campaign, judged the AY Awards and spoke at The London Society.
Ellie Cosgrave spoke at LREF, joined the 68th annual UN Commission on the Status of Women, and led a session at the Cities Change Summit in Barcelona.
Our team also wrote articles for New London Weekly, Vertical Urbanism, and were featured as part of Keynote Conversations – interviews with 100 global urban experts.
· 18 of 19 ·
NEWS
—
We are very happy to welcome new members to our team: Emer Sukonik as Studio and Communications Assistant, Sarena Shah as Urban Designer and Greer Lockyear as Graphic Designer.
Lucy Musgrave has been appointed a Royal Designer for Industry. She has also been made a trustee of Grand Plan.
Our transformation of Hanover Square was Highly Commended in this years’ Civic Trust Awards.
Lucy Musgrave has continued her challenge of doing a cartwheel every day to raise money for the nurses at UCLH who helped save her life. Please help and sponsor this amazing cause if you can.
· 19 of 19 ·
IN 2025, WE aRE LOOKING FORWARD TO...
—
· 1 of 19 ·
PUBLIC REALM VISION FOR THE EASTERN CITY
—
This year Publica defined a transformative social, cultural and spatial vision for the future of the Eastern City. With significant development planned for the next 15 years, and a renewed attention to welcoming visitors, the Eastern City is poised for significant change.
Informed by the local community’s aspirations for the Eastern City, our vision reimagines the area with welcoming accessible spaces; resilient planting; lively activity; intuitive navigation; historic character and lighting; and a safe and inclusive approach.
· 2 of 19 ·
TRANSFORMATION OF MARBLE ARCh
—
This has been an important year for the vision for radical change at Marble Arch. We have been working with Simon Loomes, Strategic Projects Director of The Portman Estate for many years on a significant project to reposition the Inner Ring Road, re-connecting Oxford Street back to Hyde Park, as it once was, creating a public space the size of Trafalgar Square, and restoring the Arch’s historic position as the entrance to the Park.
With many civic leaders engaged in a renewed focus on the future of Oxford Street, Marble Arch sits amongst a handful of strategic West End projects. Our vision is the latest piece of work in a long-standing relationship between Publica and NRP that has brought major change to many of Central London’s major spaces, and we look forward to design, collaboration and progress in 2025.
Listen to Lucy and Tess discuss the history of Marble Arch on the London Explained podcast.
· 3 of 19 ·
24 HOUR LONDON WITH THE GLA
—
Publica is really proud to continue working closely with the GLA on developing night time strategies across London for more than four years. Our work includes establishing guidance, supporting boroughs to learn from each other’s strategies and documenting and analysing the impacts of night time policies.
We convened night surgeries across the whole city in partnership with boroughs and cities – this year in Bristol, and in London, in North Finchley, Vauxhall, Lewisham, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; and led night safety audits in London Heritage Quarter, Stratford, and Wood Green.
Committed to the creation of a 24 hour city, our night time policies, designs and strategies are evidence-led, joyful and informed by local communities. Our aim is to help local economies thrive, make streets more welcoming after 6pm, diversify our high streets at night, promote safety and belonging at all hours, and celebrate London’s 24 hour culture.
· 4 of 19 ·
CITY OF LONDON CULTURAL PLANNING FRAMEWORK
—
Publica and TJ Culture were appointed by the City of London to develop a Cultural Planning Framework (CPF), to guide how private development can deliver meaningful, diverse cultural contributions across the Square Mile.
The City of London is a global financial district, a significant tourist destination, and one of London’s largest centres of employment. With changing work patterns following the pandemic, the City has an opportunity to adapt its commercial identity and grow into a cultural hub in its own right.
Key components of the framework include an area-wide mapping of the cultural ecosystem, guidance for planning officers and a framework for capturing cultural impact, aligned with the Destination City programme.
· 5 of 19 ·
CAIRO PLACE
—
Cairo Place was opened this year, marking the completion of the first phase of improvements across Walthamstow to support the creation of a new Cultural Quarter, and the opening of Soho Theatre.
By increasing the area’s biodiversity and creating opportunities for performance in the public realm, we’ve transformed Cairo Place to enhance accessibility, support pollinators, and provide year-round beauty.
Local artists contributed by creating bespoke marble terrazzo seating and playful stage elements, using recycled aggregates to celebrate the historic local character of Cairo Place. Collaborating closely with local residents to achieve a meaningful and welcoming public area, Cairo Place has become a green space for all ages.
We also completed an overarching design code for LB Waltham Forest – the Walthamstow Town Centre Public Realm Design Guidance. It supports the creation of a high-quality, biodiverse, more welcoming and inclusive public realm, reflective of local culture and heritage, and responsive to a changing climate.
· 6 of 19 ·
CUSTOM HOUSE
—
Publica and Orms Architects are reimagining Custom House to bring vibrancy and culture to the City’s riverfront.
The proposals convert the Grade I listed building from an administrative building into a hotel, with the historic quayside - currently a car park - transformed into a generous and activated public space on the north bank of the Thames.
Our landscape proposals will enhance the setting of this historic building, re-establish its relationship with the river and improve the area’s permeability and landscape quality. Our cultural strategy proposes a ‘golden thread’ of publicly accessible historic spaces, animated by narrated displays telling the stories of Custom House.
· 7 of 19 ·
CAMPAIGN FOR INCLUSIVE CITIES
—
Publica CIC celebrated the launch of one of our national demonstrator projects, Safety in Public Space: Women, Girls and Gender Diverse People, at City Hall. The handbook offers expanded guidance for London’s built environment practitioners to act towards gender inclusion in their public realm projects.
It is essential that those who design, produce and deliver our public spaces feel informed about gender inclusion and build it into the processes that shape our city.
This edition provides a set of practical actions, developed across 10 live public realm projects in London in 2023, and tested through 19 workshops with the support of Mayor’s Design Advocates. The projects serve as dynamic case studies, demonstrating how diverse engagement and thoughtful design processes can foster gender-inclusive public realms.
Publica CIC has big ambitions for our Campaign for Inclusive Cities in 2025, supported by our funders - The Crown Estate, Almacantar, Howard de Walden and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
· 8 of 19 ·
HER, THEIR EVERYWHERE, RECLAIMING THE CITY AS A FEMINIST LABORATORY
—
Publica CIC reimagined a better London for all, with their highly commended proposal ‘Her, Their, Everywhere: Reclaiming the City as a Feminist Laboratory’ for the NLA’s new ideas competition, Reimagine London.
Placing women’s safety at the core of urban design for the city, their participatory cross-sector campaign takes over the city by asking women, girls and gender diverse people to set a vision for an inclusive city.
It comprises of three interventions: urban observatories for data gathering, imagination laboratories crafting visions for an inclusive city, and demonstrator projects that call on the built environment sector to recognise gender safety as an emergency and create inclusive and accessible public spaces where everyone feels safe, welcomed and free from intimidation and harassment.
· 9 of 19 ·
WOOD GREEN
—
We are working with Montagu Evans, Adam Khan Architects and the Haringey regeneration team to revitalise Wood Green, looking at how the area works across 24 hours.
Our public realm strategy enhances the connections around Wood Green station and the local high street. It supports accessible, safe movement; green and resilient open spaces; diverse, active uses for all ages; and distinct character, celebrating the existing assets of Wood Green.
We are also undertaking a Night Time Economy Survey, to map and quantify the town centre’s diverse evening and night time economy. By engaging with council partners and businesses and focusing on young people’s experiences through a youth-led night audit, we will present ideas for creating a more welcoming and inclusive area after dark.
· 10 of 19 ·
TOWER HAMLETS COMMUNITY FACILITIES NEEDS ASSESSMENT
—
In May, Publica concluded a needs assessment and audit of community facilities for LB Tower Hamlets’ brilliant Infrastructure Planning team.
Community facilities play a vital role in creating healthy and liveable neighbourhoods. The focus for this project was spaces where people can meet. We mapped, visited and audited 249 facilities across the borough, from urban farms to tenants halls and youth hubs, creating a detailed database and spatial exploration.
Working with multiple departments from across the council, we undertook detailed analysis of existing and projected populations, to identify gaps in provision and future needs of every ward. This will inform spatial strategies, action plans and guidance for future development.
· 11 of 19 ·
SOHO HERITAGE AUDIT
—
In September, Publica launched a unique heritage study with the Soho Neighbourhood Forum, and urban design specialist Bahar Durmaz-Drinkwater to document the individual built assets that create the unique visual landscape of Soho.
Soho’s visual landscape has changed, and concern over the number of unlisted heritage assets disappearing has grown. The Soho Heritage Audit aims to capture the distinct features that define the area’s historic character, through extensive fieldwork and conversations with residents and local businesses. Our database, which was constructed based on field work undertaken by Bahar throughout the autumn, has more than 650 assets so far.
Tess McCann appeared on Soho Radio in October to discuss the audit and led an interactive workshop at a local primary school. Meaningful collaboration is at the heart of the project’s success, and we have enjoyed seeing so many people contribute to the audit via email and social media.
Our findings will inform a public digital map of Soho’s rich history, complete by January 2025.
· 12 of 19 ·
RESEARCH FOR THE TRUMAN BREWERY
—
Publica conducted detailed research, data analysis, and mapping to inform the development of a masterplan in Brick Lane for the Truman Brewery Estate.
Joining an East London based design team led by Grow Places, we worked alongside Buckley Grey Yeoman, Carmody Groarke, Henley Halebrown, Chris Dyson Architects, Morris+Company, Spacehub and Arup, looking in great detail at how the wider area works across 24 hours and the potential future needs of this very special neighbourhood.
Our Director, Anna Mansfield featured on the Grow Places podcast, hosted by Tom Larsson, as part of a series on the development of the masterplan.
· 13 of 19 ·
LANDSEC INCLUSIVE DESIGN PRINCIPLES
—
Publica have an ambition to create places that are truly inclusive. In the UK, 1 in 5 people live with a condition or impairment. Yet, many of the places where they live, shop and work are not designed to meet diverse needs.
In October, Publica CIC launched the Inclusive Design Principles, developed for Landsec. It addresses the places, processes, knowledge, and skills required to deliver inclusive spaces, providing a framework to create accessible, useable, and welcoming spaces for people with diverse needs and experiences.
The ambitious key actions and case studies featured give our teams, consultants and service partners the inspiration and tools to help deliver on this commitment to inclusive change.
· 14 of 19 ·
CHANGE, LOUISVILLE
—
Publica CIC has been driving global change on gender equity in partnership with CHANGE (City Hub and Network for Gender Equity).
Publica immersed themselves in the fantastic city of Louisville, Kentucky, for the first phase of our collaborative project, “Gender Based Violence in Public Space: Developing an Evidence-Base and Action Plan with Three Cities”. Working with the Louisville Metro Government Office for Women (OFW), we led a week of workshops, training, neighbourhood walks and site visits, with the local community.
The team also met with civic leaders, including Louisville’s Mayor Greenburg, to discuss gender equity in urban design. Publica is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to support positive change in Louisville’s community. We are looking forward to working with CHANGE in Bogota and Stockholm next year.
· 15 of 19 ·
MOSAIC TRUST: SAFETY AND BELONGING IN CAMDEN
—
Publica CIC led a series of workshops with young LGBT+ persons in collaboration with Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons’ Trust. Together, they explored feelings of safety and belonging at their weekly youth club in Camden.
Their powerful video manifesto ‘Safety and Belonging in our Camden’, sets out an inclusive, transformative vision for Camden where all young persons can be their true, unfiltered selves, capturing the voices and creativity of queer youth.
The project is part of our aim to amplify and empower the voices of young LGBT+ people in the built environment, centring queer youth experiences and insights at a systemic level.
We are pleased to announce Publica and Mosaic won Camden’s Rise’s Youth Safety Multi-Media Competition this year, with our impactful manifesto video.
· 16 of 19 ·
YOUNG CITY MAKERS AND OUR WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMME
—
This summer, Publica volunteered with Open City’s wonderful ‘Young City Makers’ programme, working with a brilliantly imaginative class of Year 4 students in Westminster to re-imagine Marble Arch as a child-friendly public space. Across three design workshops, we explored what it means to shape the city they inhabit. We are thrilled that ‘Re-Imagining Marble Arch’ was awarded first place for being the most child-friendly at the Westminster City Hall awards ceremony.
Our annual work experience programme focuses on extending opportunities to young people in the areas where we work. This year, we hosted six talented Year 12 students from Tower Hamlets and Westminster. Led by our urban designer Sarena, and working with our full team, the students explored urban design through a hands-on project around Smithfield Market, creating impressive models and visions for a more sustainable, welcoming and inclusive public realm.
· 17 of 19 ·
PANELS, TALKS AND EVENTS
—
In 2024, the team continued to champion high-quality design work, and address change in the built environment sector.
Lucy Musgrave delivered keynote speeches for Connected Places Catapult and the NLA’s Public London launch.
Victoria Jessen-Pike featured The Urbanist podcast hosted at the Natural History Museum.
Anna Mansfield joined the editorial panel for Building Design's Boomers to Zoomers: Designing for the Generations campaign, judged the AY Awards and spoke at The London Society.
Ellie Cosgrave spoke at LREF, joined the 68th annual UN Commission on the Status of Women, and led a session at the Cities Change Summit in Barcelona.
Our team also wrote articles for New London Weekly, Vertical Urbanism, and were featured as part of Keynote Conversations – interviews with 100 global urban experts.
· 18 of 19 ·
NEWS
—
We are very happy to welcome new members to our team: Emer Sukonik as Studio and Communications Assistant, Sarena Shah as Urban Designer and Greer Lockyear as Graphic Designer.
Lucy Musgrave has been appointed a Royal Designer for Industry. She has also been made a trustee of Grand Plan.
Our transformation of Hanover Square was Highly Commended in this years’ Civic Trust Awards.
Lucy Musgrave has continued her challenge of doing a cartwheel every day to raise money for the nurses at UCLH who helped save her life. Please help and sponsor this amazing cause if you can.
· 19 of 19 ·
IN 2025, WE aRE LOOKING FORWARD TO...
—