Green Urbanist - Sustainable Placemaking, Planning and Urban Design #74: Property development as if people and planet mattered - Steve Sanham (Common Projects)
Steve Sanham established Common Projects in 2021: a development company led by a purpose to put people and planet at the heart of its decision-making. Steve has an extensive and proven track record in the built environment, specialising in urban regeneration and in using development’s power to deliver better outcomes. Common Projects finances and delivers complex and game-changing development projects in London and the South East with a strong focus on sustainability and social outcomes.
Common is currently delivering two large, complex London sites: the redevelopment of a 1960s ‘utopian’ complex into a community-facing housing scheme for Croydon, retaining and enhancing the original buildings alongside an upcycled community pavilion and garden; and the creative masterplannning of a large former gasworks in the centre of Wandsworth to deliver 650 mixed tenure homes, along with a new creative hub for the music community of south west London.
In this episode we discuss:
- An environmental and social approach to housing development
- The connection between the climate crisis and housing crisis
- Zodiac Court redevelopment in Croyden
- Wandsworth Gasworks masterplan
This is part 1 of my conversation with Steve. In part 2 he gives me a tour of the Zodiac Court construction site and we get more into the details of this project. Part 2 will only be available on this Substack blog, so make sure to subscribe to get access to that and the newsletter.
Click here to see the companion blog post on Substack.
Learn more about Steve and Common Projects: https://common-projects.co.uk/
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The Green Urbanist podcast is hosted by Ross O'Ceallaigh.