Thinking

It is 20 years since the opening of the Jubilee Line Extension - just in time for the Millenium - and city infrastructure schemes are still learning from it.

At Dubai Cityscape I gave a presentation promoting the advantages of Polycentric Cities citing London as an example. London was formed from small distinct communities such as Chelsea, Dalston, Hampstead and Brixton, which have grown together into a fantastic world city. The extensive underground rail system has helped enormously bind the city together but even now there are distinct communities.

I was recently on a trip to Toronto to liaise with clients and to present our thinking around ‘Transit Oriented Development’ - TOD

This month, Kuwait is hosting a symposium on the subject of “Happiness in the City”. The event will provide a unique platform for cultural, creative and technical minds from the UK and the Gulf to explore the issue of how our built environments can be designed to promote happiness and wellbeing. The symposium has been organised by the RIBA in conjunction with the DiT.

As we contemplate how our high streets must reinvent themselves in light of the rise of online and the shift toward the experiential, it is perhaps not a coincidence that we are seeing the shopping centre break free from its internalised focus and look much more urban.

The emphasis on reducing carbon emissions is forcing all of us to examine the way we travel. Greta Thunberg sailed to New York over 15 days rather than flying in six hours. This is commercially unsustainable for most businesses. But there could be other solutions.

Exploring the concept of remote airport check-in facilities and how they could be applied to a central London setting. Utilising the existing Royal Mail underground infrastructure to create a network of check-in facilities which are integrated with the transport network serving London's airports.

Suburban Pocket Paths could provide an antidote to Melbourne’s large parks; decentralised small or medium size open spaces dotted around the suburbs. 

Many architects view the completion of their projects as the day the building is handed over and they move on to other things. The shop has opened for trading, the occupants have moved in to the office, the builders have moved out of the house, the snagging done, the final completion certificate issued. Like an artist who finishes a painting, sells it and never sees it again, we get sucked in to the project and when it has “ended”, seldom give it another thought or learn other than immediate superficial lessons from it.

Here at WW+P we are constantly seeking ideas to improve the urban environment. We are passionate about creating civilised cities and only too aware of how inhumane city living can be. A good example of this is on our own doorstep.

The most popular bus stop typology in suburban Melbourne is a sign post. The demand for parking  often results in buses stopping in trafficed lanes, making vehicle and cyclist navigation dangerous, and leaving passengers disembarking into the road. 

In Melbourne there are two major tram stop typologies – the first with the stop on the kerb edge and the second with the stop in the centre of the street. In the first instance, traffic stops as a tram arrives to let people board and alight. 

British architects are held in high esteem throughout the world, due not only to a track record of excellent design, but the combination of business skills, commitment to ethical values and a pedigree of experience and knowledge.  

Just as the notion of a ‘Job for Life’ seems like a throwback to the last century, should the design ideals behind ‘Lifetime Homes’ now be jettisoned?

A recent report by the Resolution Foundation found that up to a third of young people will face living in private rented accommodation all their lives. 40% of ‘millennials’ were living in rented housing by the age of 30 and 1.8 million families with children are now renting privately. It has been predicted elsewhere that 7.2 million households will live in rented accommodation by 2025. The press reporting of these statistics universally couches them in negative terms. But why?

The Mayor's efforts to unlock land for affordable housing is a step in the right direction says Philip Breese, Senior Partner

Chris Williamson has been a regular contributor to Archinect’s Brexit Diaries series. You can read his blogs here and if you share his views or would like to air your own, please contact him or via twitter @cw_architect.

EOS is a two stage optioneering process conceived by WW+P to improve the outcomes in designing complex projects

Over the years, Weston Williamson + Partners has developed a number of solutions to technical BIM problems. New forms of information modelling have opened up a world of possibilities, enabling designers to visualise complex 3D schemes from many viewpoints.