We revisit ‘40 Ideas for London’, a call out for ideas to shape a better London sketched on napkins. Ben Derbyshire, HTA Design, challenges the primary function of the Green Belt and proposes a pleasurable green lung surrounding London’s GLA boundary.
Continue reading “40 Ideas Revisited – The Green Belt”
2050 is not soon enough. Gary Clark, Chair of RIBA’s Sustainable Futures Group, looks ahead at the long-term structural changes that need to be made to achieve a net zero future by 2030.
Continue reading “Roadmap to a sustainable future”
Avison Young director for planning, development and regeneration Martyn Saunders takes a look at our town centres, and argues that they should adopt a locally relevant and authentic approach if they are to prosper after COVID-19.
Continue reading “Market Essay. The evolution of our town centres”
Realtime simulation of projects can help optimise their designs and foster better collaboration across the industry, allowing stakeholders to test and optimise virtually before a single brick is laid.
Continue reading “Real-time virtual collaboration – how digital technology is changing the way we design and collaborate in the built environment”
A quick compendium of the more important stories affecting London development over the last few months.
Continue reading “The Quarter”Greg Mansell, head of UK research and insight, Cushman & Wakefield takes a look at an unprecedented time for London and its markets
At the end of March, the London property market bore no resemblance to a few months earlier, with its empty streets and closed businesses symbolic of London under lockdown.
‘The market was struggling to function even before the lockdown began’
Continue reading “Market Essay. London – Getting back to business”
Once upon a time in Marbella 2007 a Belgian Beach Club owner called Tops coined a phrase which has stuck with me for many years.
In conversation I naively asked Tops if he’d owned a beach club before.
Picture the Belgian accent if you please
“Ha” he replied. ‘Zees ain’t my first BBQ”
New London Quarterly Editor David Taylor writes up the LREF 2019 Roundtable on the alternatives sector.
Historically, different corners of the alternatives sector have operated in ‘silos’ – with student housing, co-living and retirement living all attracting considerable investment over recent years. With continuing pressures to diversify to manage risk, find returns in a tough investment landscape and a social responsibility to deliver more housing of all tenures and types, are we now about to see a blurring of the lines? Will we increasingly see combined concepts, both as part of a wider development masterplan or perhaps under the same roof? What needs to change to bring this flexibility to the market? This roundtable brought together key stakeholders to understand the future for these investments.
The key points and selected quotes under Chatham House Rules from this roundtable held at LREF included the following:
New London Quarterly Editor David Taylor writes up the latest LREF Roundtable discussion on Space as a service
The commercial property landscape for both tenants and landlords is evolving. There is a growing call for more flexibility of the leasing model, including flexibility of space, locations and contracts. The way in which tenants interact with their space is also changing, with a shifting emphasis on workplace culture improving wellbeing, work-life balance and collaborative working, all of which are gaining greater importance in decision-making. In response to this shift we have seen a rise in serviced/flexible office provision, yet this is not the only answer. What more needs to be done to ensure that the spaces on offer are fit for purpose now and into the future?
A roundtable held at this year’s LREF sought to find some answers.
The key points and selected quotes under Chatham House Rules from this roundtable held at LREF included the following: