Making heritage work

The past is wonderful. To understand it, to build on it and to include it has always been at the core of our work. There is enormous pressure to change what exists. The inclination may be to discard historic buildings and places which may appear to have lost their purpose. Yet our heritage is a gift to us. It is our responsibility to cherish it and to make it work. Read more

Project / Clandon ParkLearning from Clandon
Book / Citymakers: What we leave behind

The climate emergency demands we retain much more of our urban fabric rather than build anew. Here we explore ways of approaching the often awkward urban inheritance of the 20th century.

Talk / Wilson Lecture 2023

On urban fabric: how did we lose it, and do we still need it?

ProjectAl Balad, Jeddah
ProjectOrange Tree Theatre
View: Barbican Renewal
Research / Making Heritage WorkThe National Gallery's front door

The curious case of The National Gallery's front door: Considering the urban role of the cultural institution in the city.

Project / King's CrossA work of urban repair
Research / SustainabilitySustainability Strategy

The climate emergency demands a paradigm shift in our everyday lives. This is why we have developed our Sustainability Strategy to underpin what we do and inform how we design.

View: Temple Works
ProjectWhitechapel Road Development
Book / Complex City

Complex City is a detailed mapping of London’s historic layers, emerging from our work in characterisation studies. The book puts forward a new argument for character-based development.

ProjectAlUla Framework Plan
View: Making of Whitechapel Road
View: Working with a historic structure
ProjectNorthampton Street
ProjectProject Prospero, Shakespeare's Globe
View: Farnborough Business Park
Project / Royal Festival HallFestival refreshed
ProjectChelsea College of Arts
ProjectRoyal Albert Memorial Museum
Book / Citymakers: Pragmatics of the Picturesque

The Picturesque has come to influence how we look at and respond to the city. We investigate what the picturesque is, as both a theory of historic origins and as a practical design tool for urbanists.

Project / London's Local Character and DensityLondon's multiple characters
View: Greenwich Peninsula