London Studio Chair and Principal, James Taylor, joined a distinguished panel to discuss The Evolution of London’s Skyline: Successfully Incorporating New Skyscrapers into the Capital. Alongside his fellow panellists, Gwyn Richards from City of London Corporation, Brian Smith from AECOM, Antje Saunders from Allies and Morrison, Robert Kennett from Eric Parry Architects, and Chairperson, Oliver Baylis from Buckley Gray Yeoman, the discussion explored heritage preservation, urban greening, adaptive reuse, and the “Destination City” strategy.

Heritage & Tall Buildings.

The panel began by examining the relationship between heritage preservation and the development of tall buildings. “How we look after heritage and look after the buildings of relevance is important for a sustainable future” said James. While some view heritage and modern development as opposing forces, Gwyn Richards, Planning and Development Director at City of London, countered that “it’s not a polarising debate between heritage and tall buildings.”

Change of Use.

The conversation turned to the growing topic of adaptive reuse. James referenced the AMANO, a recent office-to-hotel conversion, as a case study. “The site meant the building’s form was conducive to that of a hotel and could be converted from an office. However, not all sites will be appropriate to open up for change of use,” he explained.

Gwyn offered another perspective, suggesting that in some cases, demolition and reconstruction might be a better long-term solution. “Sometimes it’s better to demolish than try to cobble together and retrofit an existing building. We need to make changes for the long term, rather than the now.”

Destination City.

The panel concluded with reference to the Destination City programme, a growth strategy aimed at transforming the City of London into a seven-day-a-week destination for workers, residents, and visitors alike. Seen in Woods Bagot project 85 Gracechurch Street, where this growth strategy was applied by creating the unique opportunity to rejuvenate the neighbouring Leadenhall Market with a large civic public hall at ground level, consequentially helping drive footfall to the market which post pandemic saw a significant decrease in footfall.

Suzanne Priestly, Senior Associate at the London Studio, took to the Architectural Stage at the Expo discussing A Paradigm Shift in Housing Design: What to Look out for in 2025. Accompanied by Ayo Allu from AAA Project Services, Adam Towle from Ealing Council, Dr Riette Oosthuizen from HTA Design, William Poole from Howells, and chaired by Dr Ana McMillin from Broadway Malyan, the panel swiftly opened the conversation with some hard hitting facts.

What needs to change in the industry and how?

1.5 million homes need to be built over the next 5 years, meaning 1000 homes need to be built a day in order to meet this target. Suzanne shared her thoughts on the topic: “housing typologies have rapidly changed over the past few decades, with the residential sector moving away from the notion of a single house for life and becoming much more diversified in its offering. We have seen a rapid rise of relatively new typologies such as BTR, PBSA, co-living and later living, adding complexity and nuance to design whilst also creating a housing life cycle that better caters to the needs of the individual”.

Suzanne summarised by saying “that whilst 1.5m homes is a daunting challenge, it requires people to think about how we deliver quality homes and build in suitable areas, calling for a collaborative approach to drive the change we want to see from all involved in the process.”

Key takeaways from the event were that something needs to give in terms of design in order to meet this 1.5 million target, we need to build faster and cheaper whilst maintaining quality buildings, and that we must start viewing affordable housing as a national investment.