How do we unlock the economic, social and cultural value locked inside Britain's historic buildings? A roundtable of experts from architecture, law, engineering, finance and local government gathered to explore this question and debate the definition of value itself.
Finlay Ward, Capital Investment Executive at West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC), tells AT how architects can better align with regional economic growth priorities, why a belief in the West Midlands in crucial, and the geopolitics keeping him awake at night.
Sovereign Network Group’s Homes and Place Standard was co-created by its customers and is used to measure a portfolio of more than 86,000 homes across London and the South and West of England. This is against 140 metrics which are underpinned by three pillars: Home, Place and Sustainable Futures. The panel discuss why the new standard presents a crucial shift in the industry’s approach to placemaking and the creation of sustainable communities, and how it seeks to tighten the gap between quantity and quality.
The Architectural Heritage Fund celebrates its 50th birthday with the launch of its biggest ever fund through the expanded Heritage Revival Fund.
As SNG’s unveil their Homes and Place Standard, their Design Director Antje Saunders share news of SNG’s new framework tender for housing and masterplanning – with space for up to 30 practices – and discusses the housing association’s ambition to raise the quality of affordable housing through collaborative, context-led design.
Jessica Hird, Associate Planner, tells AT what she thinks architects could being doing to better support planners, her biggest red flag when working with architects, and why she’s advocating for the next generation of Town Planners.
Affordable housing demands architects who can balance vision with reality. Sam Galloway explains how Incommunities selects and collaborates with designers, embedding practical, sustainable, and socially minded approaches, while ensuring schemes remain viable, well-managed, and places residents will value for decades.
Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook used his UKREiiF address to defend the government’s record on housing and planning, set out the next stages of reform, and call for greater collaboration between government and the construction sector.
At UKREiiF, a panel chaired by Euan Mills explored whether dwellings per hectare remains a useful measure of density, or whether the industry needs more sophisticated ways of understanding how places function, evolve and support everyday life.
Jon McDiarmid and Seb Loyn from YTL Developments talk to Isabel Allen about transforming the 142-hectare former Filton Airfield, just outside Bristol, into the 'least new' of the latest batch of New Towns – and identifying the right architect for the job.
AT chats to Jon Di Stefano, CEO of Greencore Homes, about climate-positive housing, natural-material construction, and how better-than-net-zero homes can move from niche proposition to mainstream development model.
Abigail Scott Paul, Global Head of the Humanise Campaign, talks to AT Editor Isabel Allen about waging war on mediocrity and giving Mayors the tools they need to set an awesome long-term vision for the communities they serve.
