Urban Forecast

In an emergency, unscheduled episode, we sat down with Peter George on the Urban Forecast Podcast to discuss the state of the industry, and what he recommends that RIBA do to attempt to reverse the decline.Peter is Strategic Director of Economy and Sustainability at London Borough of Ealing and also shares his vision for the many departments in the borough that report to him. In this episode, Peter also reflects on his experience leading the Meridian Water project whilst the Director of Development at LB Enfield. This is one of the best and most exciting episodes we have recorded, you don’t want to miss this! 

In this episode we speak to Kunle Barker; Property & Construction Expert, Writer, & Broadcaster. Kunle is the star of Channel 4’s Project Home with Nick Grimshaw, ITV’s ‘Save Money: My Beautiful Green Home and has a regular column in Architects Journal.Kunle has 20 years of experience in the Construction and Design industry, having delivered thousands of residential refurbishments, 120 Schools and 3 sports centres refits with his company Illustrious Homes.In 2018, he won the Property Expert of the Year award. Apart from his work with his company, Kunle has consulted with the central government working with RT. Hon. Mathew Hancock.His knowledge of different construction and building topics and his experience writing a regular column for the Architects Journal and for the Homes & Property Section of the Evening Standard make him the perfect guest for this brand-new episode.

In this episode we speak to Ghislaine Halpenny; Director of ESG and Corporate Affairs at Regal London.Ghislaine has over a decade’s experience at the British Property Federation leading their external affairs work and managing reputational challenges for the wider commercial real estate industry.In her current role, she oversees Regal London’s broad ESG strategy and all corporate communications including a lively digital team. She’s also the internal ‘People’s Champion’ with responsibility for ED&I and culture.Ghislaine’s experience in sustainability and the wider real estate industry make her the perfect guest to talk about the role sustainability will play when building the cities of the future.

In this episode, we speak to Alice Holden, Farmitect at Sitopia Farm, an Urban Farm in Barking and Dagenham.Alice has over 20 years of experience working on organic farms of various types and scales. Since 2012, she has been Head Grower at Growing Communities’ Dagenham farm and led the transformation of a disused ex-council nursery site into a productive peri-urban, organic, urban farm.Her work shows that urban farming can successfully combine environmental and community benefits, making her the perfect guest for our new episode of Urban Forecast.

In this episode we speak to Nick Bowes; Chief Executive of the Centre for London.Nick has over 20 years of experience in public affairs, policy, campaigning and politics at senior level in trade associations, government, professional societies and political parties. He was Sadiq Khan's Director of Policy at City Hall for five years and has a long track record of delivery in large organisations.In his roles, Nick’s knowledge of how to translate research into effective policy, plus his incredible passion for London make him the perfect guest for our new episode of Urban Forecast.

In our 7th episode of Season 2, we sat down with Claire Bennie, Director at Municipal and part of Sadiq Khan’s Mayor’s Design Advocate team.Claire holds numerous high profile roles in the industry including Chair of the Design Advisory Group for LB Enfield’s Meridian Water scheme and Design Review Panels at Brighton & Hove and Kingston councils.Claire’s experience as an Architect, and then a Development Director for a Housing Association gave her a unique insight into what ingredients are required to deliver quality housing that works for the people that occupy it. This knowledge informs Claire’s current work at Municipal, and her incredible experience is shown in the recently published ‘Delivering Quality Homes Handbook’This episode is a must-listen for any professional that procures housing, and any designer employed by them!

In this episode we speak to Steve Gilchrist; Project Director at Grosvenor; Author of Steve’s Newsletter and organiser of the Circular Steel Event, which focuses on the current challenges and possible solutions to steel reuse.Steve specialises in sustainability and innovation and his experience in Contracting, Civil/Structural Design and Project Management make him another great guest to talk about how the cities of the future should be designed and which role the Circular Economy will play in the planning process.

In this episode we speak to Steve Smith; Founder and Director of Urban Narrative, which he set up following extensive experience working on large-scale master planning projects across the globe. Urban Narrative specialise in the very first part of a project, which Steve believes is the most important stage; setting the brief. Steve is an expert in urban research and interactive design and his experience working on projects across Europe, Asia and Australia makes him the perfect guest to talk about how the cities of the future should be designed and what matters when working with clients on setting the direction of a project, and how successful projects should be measured. 

In this episode we speak to Mark Hallett; Development Director at Igloo Regeneration, Board of Pobl Group and Non-Executive Director of the Design Commission of Wales.Mark has an incredible track record in housing, development and architecture.His extensive experience in delivering Large Scale Urban Regeneration projects that act as catalysts for wider redevelopment means that he is the perfect guest to discuss what is required to build more Sustainable Cities in the Future.

2022 is the year where Co-living has really established itself as the new kid on the Purpose-Built Rental Sector block.With the end of Covid, and the recognition of the Sector within the New London Plan, investors are looking to Co-living to give them returns that a flat residential market is failing to do.Much of the charge is being led by Halcyon, who spun out of The Collective and have delivered 2 of the projects that were in The Collective’s pipeline at the time when it entered administration.We recently sat down with Harry Manley and Russ Beresford of Halcyon to discuss how they’re pioneering the world of co-living and what it could mean for the cities of the future.Listen to the episode to learn what Russ and Harry think about:How big the opportunity for the sector isWhat the planning context is for delivering schemesHow to build a community that worksWhat the optimum room size isHow the sector can deliver solutions to both the cost of living crisis, and the climate emergency