5th Studio are excited to be appointed as lead consultant to develop proposals for restoring the riverine landscapes of Dagenham Brook.

The Dagenham Brook is a 1.5km watercourse which runs from north of Low Hall Sports Ground in Walthamstow to the culvert beneath the railway south of Orient Way, on the edge of Hackney Marshes. It links a series of public landscapes, allotments gardens and wilder spaces.

We will be supporting the London Borough of Waltham Forest in the development of proposals in line with the Lea Bridge Area Framework’s ambitions for improved access to blue and green spaces. The client team will be supported by Project Board members Thames 21 and the Environment Agency.

5th Studio are leading a team including Jonathan Cook Landscape Architecture, Civic Engineering and Accertum. Our team will support the design and integration of a suite of projects and interventions to foreground public access and awareness of Dagenham Brook and establish measures to improve the water quality and biodiversity of this hidden historic watercourse.

5th Studio is delighted to have been selected for the London Legacy Development Corporation’s new £2 million landscape and public realm design services framework.

Designed to complement the GLA-wide Architecture and Urbanism framework, the framework is also open to the wider GLA group, including Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) and GLA Land and Property (GLAP) – as well as London boroughs working in partnership with them.

5th Studio is one of five design practices on Lot 1 of the framework, covering strategy, research and studies focusing on existing public spaces, parkland and streets within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park estate.

The framework role complements 20 years of work by the practice in many varied roles on and around the Olympic Park, including ongoing work to re-invent Stratford station area, and masterplans covering an urban railfreight interchange & cement works, a total of 6,000 homes, c.100,000m2 industrial & commercial space, street improvements, public realm and bridge connections, schools, health & community spaces, meanwhile uses, parklands and strategic walking and cycling connections.

Read more on the LLDC’s website here.

As part of a programme that has assigned ten architects from the Mayor’s Design Advocate panel to locations experiencing rapid change across London, the Mayor of London has appointed 5th Studio Director Tom Holbrook to the role of Town Architect for the London Borough of Hounslow.

Funded by the Greater London Authority, The Mayor of London's two-year pilot scheme is part of the £1.25m Local Growth Capacity Support Programme, to embed expert design support in ten locations to deliver Good Growth for Londoners.

The new role of the Town Architect is intended to provide a ‘constructive and critical view across multiple projects’ within their identified area, offering ‘oversight and coherence across schemes’. The 10 Town Architects will build capacity in local boroughs, promote knowledge-sharing and bolster skills in existing teams, and help authorities to utilise the skills of planners and architects to help shape better places in their local areas.

Tom will be working with the borough to join up the significant transformation anticipated and underway in Brentford, and to optimise the benefit of the West London Orbital – a planned expansion of the Overground network, running from Hounslow to Hendon, Brent Cross & West Hampstead, delivering a missing orbital link between North and West London.

Tom said “it is really exciting to be appointed as a Town Architect, and I look forward to working with Hounslow’s excellent planning and regeneration teams. The work builds on 5th Studio’s significant work on optimising the spatial integration of rail infrastructure, including at Stratford Station, on the Cowley Branch Line in Oxford, and on East West Rail.”

London deputy mayor Jules Pipe, said: ‘By drawing on the expertise of the Mayor’s design advocates, local boroughs will have the expertise and support they need to boost design quality to improve their high streets and public spaces and promote positive neighbourhood placemaking, helping to build a better and more sustainable London for everyone.’

The GLA pilot includes nine other Town Architects in strategic locations across the capital: Holly Lewis, Jas Bhalla, Adam Khan, Ken Okonkwo, Hilary Satchwell, Farshid Moussavi Architecture, Paul Monaghan, Julian lewis and Alice Fung.

Read more in the Architects’ Journal.

Tom Holbrook will be speaking at this year's RTPI's Young Planners’ Conference, which will be in Cambridge this year, with the title 'Connecting Town and Country'.

Tom will be part of a panel on 11 October, discussing Growth and the natural environment: examining the tensions between aspirations for growth and the natural infrastructure we need to address biodiversity collapse and the climate crisis.

Tom will be joined by John Cornell, Natural Environment Team Leader at Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Services, Mark Hodgson, Director at Savills and Alex Shattock, a Barrister at Landmark Chambers.

More on the conference here.

#YPConf2024

A multidisciplinary design team comprising 5th Studio, Arup and Grimshaw has been appointed to lead the next stage of design work for the planned redevelopment of London’s Stratford station – building on the outcomes of the Stratford Station Urban Design Framework led by 5th Studio and Strategic Outline Business Case supported by Arup.

Working as a partner to the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), Network Rail, Transport for London, Places for London and Newham Council, the team lead by ARUP also includes BAM, Corderoy, make:good, and Kanda Consulting. The outcome of this latest stage of the project will be the delivery of an enhanced strategic outline business case and design for the station and its surrounding areas.

Stratford is one of the most important public transport interchanges in the UK. However, the station is nearing its capacity limits. It has seen the largest absolute passenger growth of any station in the country since 2021 and was the sixth busiest station in the UK last year. Local communities are fast-growing, with the four London boroughs surrounding the station expanding by over 300,000 residents since the turn of the millennium.

The station serves Stratford town centre and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which continue to evolve 12 years on from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The LLDC has made cementing the legacy of the Games a key priority, investing in the East Bank cultural quarter, encouraging inward investment, planning and bringing forward over 5000 homes within new mixed-use neighbourhoods around the park and improving connectivity, such as transforming Westfield Avenue.

For this next stage, the design team will focus on developing creative, affordable and deliverable solutions to the station’s capacity challenges, as well as improving the experience for the thousands of passengers using the station every day. The holistic redevelopment plans will also consider how station upgrades can be integrated with the delivery of thousands of new homes and significant new employment space. These proposals will sit alongside improvements to the public realm, including new connections that will improve the town centre and better stitch together the wider Stratford community.

Arup will act as lead consultant, providing a range of economic and engineering disciplines and supporting the project sponsors with the business case used to secure investment in the project. Grimshaw will focus on design options for the station, while architectural firm 5th Studio will lead on masterplanning, exploring connectivity, the public realm and the potential for further development to support Stratford’s transformation. The work is expected to be completed by late summer 2025.

The project team will also ensure that the station’s redevelopment supports the aims of Newham Council’s Community Wealth Building Strategy, an inclusive economic approach that aims to address poverty in the borough and ensure that investment benefits all residents. The area served from Stratford station suffers from a poor living environment, with some of the highest levels of air pollution – one in seven of Newham’s population are exposed to levels of nitrogen dioxide above the UK limit value for human health – childhood obesity and crime in the UK.

Andrew Nothstine, Director of Urban Development and Mobility at Arup, said:

“Arup has a long relationship with Stratford station, having worked on its redesign 25 years ago which supported a wave of growth across the community. Today, there is an urgent need to plan for the next major reimagining of the station and its local surroundings. We’ve formed an expert team to realise this project’s vision, combining our station design, engineering, urban development, sustainability, transport planning and urban design expertise with the skills of Grimshaw, 5th Studio, BAM, make:good, Kanda Consulting and Corderoy.”

Dr Tom Holbrook, Director of 5th Studio, commented:

"The planned transformation of Stratford station has been one of our most complex and rewarding projects to date and we’re delighted to continue our work on the next stage of this critical project. Our collective design work articulates a common vision for the creation of a sustainable, successful and well-connected place at the heart of Stratford. We believe that this approach presents a model for creating better integrated and sustainable public infrastructure that creates value through a strong place-based vision.”

Annelie Kvick Thompson, Partner at Grimshaw, added:

"Transport hubs today are integral not only to creating sustainable cities and promoting active travel, but also as civic hubs – places that local communities and businesses feel supported by and proud of. As well as being one of the most important interchanges in the UK, Stratford station is a vital centre for the community and a critical piece of infrastructure for this part of London, and we are delighted to be part of the team unlocking, through high quality design, the vision and potential of the station and its surrounding area.”

Image credit: Paul Carstairs, Arup

5th Studio is pleased to support the release of North Sea Rising: A Case for Water-Based Commons, co-edited by Nabi Agzamov – a doctoral researcher based at 5th Studio, as part of his ongoing research.

North Sea Rising features a series of essays by experts and practitioners examining the evolution, climate change challenges, and the future potential of the North Sea watershed. Essays include Tom Holbrook's A New Hansa? Emerging Spatial Challenges in the North Sea Region, which explores the historical and present-day significance of the region's trade and urban networks. It underscores the importance of the North Sea's history of innovation and unique geography, suggesting that these elements can once again inspire new ideas in urban planning, governance, and environmental stewardship. Di Fang's Mapping the Human-Ocean Nexus: Reflections and Reimaginings in the Cartography of Land Reclamation and Nashin Mahtani's To Dream Like a River: Wet Politics for Turbulent Worlds. The book concludes with North Sea Manifesting by Nabi Agzamov and Francesca Vanelli, which proposes a fluid, inclusive governance model that balances ecological and social dimensions, envisioning a resilient and equitable future for the North Sea.

This book is published as an output of VI PER Gallery's writing grant within the LINA (Learning, Interacting, and Networking in Architecture) platform.

Supported by the Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, City of Prague and State Fund of Culture of the Czech Republic.

This research is conducted under the REDI Program, a project that has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 101034328.

5th Studio is an industry host to the REDI (RMIT European Doctoral Innovators) program, a global €9 million doctoral training initiative funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions scheme.

This paper reflects only the author's view and the Research Executive Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

5th Studio is a friendly and exciting B-Corp architecture and design practice with studios in London and Cambridge. We work with a broad range of clients and commissioners to design and deliver innovative proposals for the built environment. We work on projects ranging in scale from small buildings to large urban strategies.

We are currently working in some of the most challenging parts of the UK, with a focus on masterplanning, and the realisation of buildings and infrastructure within those larger plans.

5th Studio is seeking talented and enthusiastic designers to join our London and Cambridge studios. We are currently seeking applications for positions starting as soon as possible.

We are currently recruiting for a series of positions:

• Part 2 architectural assistants; and
• Part 1 architectural assistants.

Applicants should be:

• Ambitious and engaged with a strong interest in public projects;
• Skilled designers with excellent drawing and model making skills;
• Enthusiastic with a positive attitude and strong communication skills;
• Proficient across a range of software including Adobe Creative Suite, Microstation & Revit; and
• Proficient in written and spoken English and eligible to work in the UK.

Please send applications to recruitment@5thstudio.co.uk, to include the following:

• A brief cover letter including details of when you are available to start work, and any notice periods or university term dates;
• A CV; and
• A short portfolio (maximum 10MB)

No hard copy applications. Please note that due to the volume of applications we can only respond to shortlisted applicants.

We actively encourage qualified applicants from underrepresented backgrounds to apply.

A film introducing our collaboration with Bloqs, made by filmmaker and photographer Jim Stephenson, has been shortlisted for the 2024 Archiboo Awards for Best Use of Video. The winner will be announced on May 22nd at Shoreditch Arts Club. You can watch it here

Tom Holbrook will be speaking at the OxProp Summit in Oxford on Wednesday 17 April, entitled ‘Inclusive Growth – Can Oxfordshire grasp this golden opportunity?’.

Tom will be presenting 5th Studio’s work in progress on the Infrastructure Place Study for the reopening of the Cowley Branch Line, and its two new stations, asking ‘How will the investment in the Cowley Branch Line enable social and economic change for the City of Oxford?’

A panel discussion will follow, including Tom Bridgman (Oxford City Council), Bill Cotton (Oxfordshire County Council), Helen Horne (OxPlace - delivering affordable housing) and Rory Maw (CEO of the Oxford Science Park).

5th Studio is now a Certified B Corporation: we’re counted among businesses that are leading a global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.

This certification is a significant milestone on the journey of the practice, and part of our continuous improvement as an ethically-driven and environmentally sensitive business. Since our establishment in 1997, we have always instinctively worked with what already exists, and from our earliest projects we have approached design as a regenerative practice: from the retrofit of a room to a one-hundred mile landscape.

The certification process depends on our amazing team, our clients and the people with whom we collaborate – thank you!

5th Studio are delighted to begin 2024 with news of a significant new commission from Oxford City Council – the production of a Infrastructure Place Study around the re-opening of Oxford’s Cowley Branch Line. The Infrastructure Place Study will “ensure the rail scheme contributes to the creation and improvement of the neighbourhoods around the two new stations”.

The contract will be led by SLC Rail and 5th Studio will be developing a spatial framework for the project.

The Infrastructure Place Study will help to identify any additional infrastructure place needs to ensure that the rail scheme is fully integrated with existing communities, maximising options to improve local movement and connectivity. This work will happen in parallel with the development of the finance and funding strategy that will support the project’s Full Business Case.

The commission is part of a wider £4.5million package of work aiming to reopen the Cowley Branch Line to passengers, supported by Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council and major local landowners.

The line is currently only used for freight services to BMW’s Cowley manufacturing plant. If funding is secured for the implementation phase, the rail track would be upgraded for reinstated passenger rail services, with two new stations at “Oxford Littlemore” (near Oxford Science Park) and “Oxford Cowley” (near ARC Oxford).

The Infrastructure Place Study multi-disciplinary team includes 5th Studio (spatial framework), SLC Property (property and planning), Anthony Collins Solicitors (legal planning policy), Transition by Design (stakeholder engagement), and Maddison Graphic (engagement material).

The team will work closely with Network Rail who are currently developing the engineering design for the rail infrastructure and core station solutions, and producing the Full Business Case, drawing upon previous development work. The two workstreams will work closely together to create the most compelling funding requests to Government and other potential funders and deliver well-integrated station designs that meet the requirements of local stakeholders to promote modal shift to sustainable transport. 

Tom Holbrook, Director of 5th Studio, said: “The Infrastructure Place Study for the Cowley Branch line will build on our thinking for the National Infrastructure Commission on good growth in the Oxford to Cambridge Arc. It joins a suite of projects at different scales in the practice that aim for better integrated rail infrastructure and urban planning.”

Councillor Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for Planning, said: "I am delighted that we’ve reached this exciting stage in our proposals to facilitate reopening the Cowley Branch Line to passengers. A passenger service on this line would allow people to get from Blackbird Leys to the city centre in just over 10 minutes. This would really improve the city’s public transport options, increasing overall capacity locally, reducing congestion on our roads and contributing to a better rail network regionally. While Network Rail is already working on the designs for the two proposed stations, this new commission will specifically look at bridges and paths to ensure that the new stations are accessible to the surrounding residential and commercial areas and provide new links across the existing line. We’re looking forward to working with SLC Rail, 5th Studio, Transition by Design, Anthony Collins, and all stakeholders so that the train line can deliver maximum benefits for local communities and businesses.”

Sam Uren, Director of SLC Rail, said: “This is the type of exciting project we like to get involved with, and we’re keen to contribute to its progression so that the new stations are thoughtfully integrated and fully accessible to maximise the positive impact to the communities within southeast Oxford.”

This government is focussed on a ‘big project’ for Cambridge. What is less evident is the objective of such a project and how to measure its success. What would a Development Corporation ‘mission’ look like for the development of Cambridge? What public good could it try to achieve by 2050?

In an opinion piece published in The Developer Director Tom Holbrookidentifies the need for any Development Corporation for Cambridge to have a clear ‘mission’ to create a fairer city that lives within its planetary boundaries, extends its contribution to human knowledge and has the highest quality of life for its citizens.

Read the article here.

The Greater London Authority London Plan team are running a series of events to allow people to share their views about London, how to tackle its challenges and to help shape a future London Plan.

Tom Holbrook will be giving the keynote at an event focussed on the capital’s Infrastructure and utilities challenges and opportunities on Monday 18 December, 2pm to 4pm at City Hall.

The session will explore perspectives on the London Plan’s success in promoting best use of energy, waste, water & transport infrastructure, including:

• Infrastructure planning - where and how could it go further or be dialled back – waste/water/ energy/ digital/ social infrastructure;
• Infrastructure and sub-regional relationships;
• Infrastructure and the London Plan spatial strategy; and
• Emerging and future trends and change.

More on this and other Planning for London stakeholder events here.

To request to attend and participate, please email: planningforlondonprogramme@london.gov.uk

A team from Salix have visited our project for Darwin College, Cambridge on site to see the implementation of the decarbonisation works to student accommodation at Frank Young House that they are funding through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Salix – the Government owned, Non-Departmental Public Body, under the sponsorship of the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero – is playing a key role in increasing awareness of sustainability and retrofit across the UK's public sector.

5th Studio supported Darwin College in a successful application for funding towards the cost of reducing the current heat loss to a level that makes replacement of the old gas boilers with new air source heat pumps both economically and environmentally viable.

The works have been installed as part of the comprehensive renovation to Frank Young House which was designed by Dixon Jones in the 1990s. This has included the installation of new high-performance vacuum glazing, allowing the retention of the original window frames. Other poorly performing W20 steel glazing has been replaced with new triple glazed units in thermally broken composite frames.

Salix client support officer Kate Bowden said:

“It is fascinating to see how the college has come up with innovative solutions.It has proved forward thinking and very creative in coming up with solutions to reducing carbon footprint.”

During the factfinding visit, the Salix team met Second Bursar Giles Greenfield and key members of the teams from 5th Studio and JG Consulting who are involved in the decarbonisation project.

“As a College, we are working towards putting environmental issues at the heart of our strategic and operational decisions and we believe Darwin is already recognised as being one of the greenest Cambridge Colleges.We are delighted to be exploring different technological solutions to heating our properties and making them more energy-efficient.”

5th Studio is delighted to announce that it has been selected for the University of Cambridge Estates Division’s new Consultant Framework as architects on two Lots: Minor works (up to £1.8m) and Major Projects (£1.2m - £7.2m).

We look forward to working with Estates Division to deliver future design and construction projects, which will draw on our experience in creating spaces for innovation, decarbonisation & retrofit and urban renewal.

Bloqs is the UK's first open-access factory providing flexible and affordable access to industrial machinery, workshops and training with cafe / exhibition space and events venue. Winner of three architectural awards in 2023 from RIBA and AJ.

Come and join for a tour by 5th Studio Director Tom Holbrook on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th at 2pm and 4pm. Find out more information here.

Our collaboration with Bloqs for Enfield Council to deliver the UK's largest open-access factory has been given a RIBA National Award, one of the UK’s highest accolades for architecture.

RIBA National Awards are given to buildings across the UK in recognition of their significant contributions to architecture. This welcome news follows the project winning both a RIBA London Award and the RIBA London Sustainability Award in May. In April, the project won an Architects’ Journal’s Retrofit Award.

Tom Holbrook will be speaking at the 2023 Academy of Urbanism Congress 'Designing for the Future', which is hosted in Cambridge. 21 - 23 June

Full programme and tickets here.

We are delighted that our collaboration with Bloqs and Enfield Council to deliver the UK's largest open-access factory has been awarded both a RIBA London Award 2023 and RIBA London Sustainability Award 2023.

"The jury was impressed by the obvious collaborative approach between client, architect and users, who all engaged positively and proactively with the environmental design of the building. Bloqs has a circular approach to heating – a new biomass boiler is fed by waste timber produced from makers in the building, while new solar photovoltaics on the roof provide electricity. There was also a waste-not approach to its fit-out: materials for the refurbishment were sourced from across London. cross-laminated timber partitions that were being removed from an architect’s office were repurposed, windows destined for scrap were reappropriated for the café shopfront, and many of the landscaping components are from industrial waste products. The site takes a high-value, low-maintenance approach to drainage, collecting rainwater run-off in rain-gardens to feed biodiverse planters on site.

This clever and very practical initiative cries out to be the first of many other similar facilities to be repeated across the UK, encouraging more like-minded people to develop an interest in design and manufacturing, and to hone useful skills that are greatly lacking across the country."

Read more about the project here.

5th Studio will be supporting GCRE with the Global Centre of Rail Excellence Community Roadshow. These events will showcase the work we have been progressing to develop the wider plans surrounding the construction of the UK’s largest rail testing facility.

We want to talk to local residents and stakeholders about our wider plans for the site and to provide a forum for you to ask questions of the GCRE team at the upcoming roadshow events.

Wednesday 3rd May 2023: 3pm to 7pm – Onllwyn Miners’ Welfare Hall Wembley Avenue, Onllwyn, Neath Port Talbot, SA10 9HL

Friday 12th May 2023: 3pm to 7pm – Ystradgynlais Community Centre, Hendre Ladus, Ystradgynlais, Powys, SA9 1SE

Saturday 13th May 2023: 11am to 3pm – Abercrave Welfare Hall, Tan Yr Allt, Abercrave, Powys, SA9 1XA

These roadshow events will be the start of further engagement with the local community. We will publicise the dates of further events and engagement on our website and locally.

For more information about GCRE please visit www.gcre.wales or to contact the team email enquiries@gcre.wales

Bloqs open-access factory in Enfield, North London, has won the Architects’ Journal’s Retrofit Award 2023 in the 'Workspace under £5m' category.

The judges commented:

“Bloqs, which provides makers with low-cost workspace and equipment as part of north London’s Meridian Water regeneration programme, won after impressing judges with its social and collaborative design approach and its contextual and ‘Continental’ flavour.

This hangar-like building – designed in close collaboration with client Bloqs – provides a huge array of facilities within 3,000m2 of workspace, a combination of new build and the adaptive re-use of a former vehicle-testing facility. One judge said: ‘It’s rather international in its approach. When we have to solve a lot of questions regarding how to make a denser, more urban environment out of brownfield land or leftover areas, it’s important not to disregard what’s already there."

5th Studio has been appointed by Brent Council in North West London to lead the production of a Masterplan Vision & Urban Design Framework for Staples Corner.

The project will be delivered in collaboration with RCKa, who lead on public engagement, and supported by PRD, Alan Baxter and XCO2.

Located at the intersection of the North Circular (A406), the M1 and the Midland Main line, Staples Corner is an important strategic industrial location, serving London’s need for logistics and manufacturing. The opening of Brent Cross West station – the first major new mainline station in London in over a decade – brings this site to within 12 minutes of St Pancras via Thameslink and the emergence of a new town centre at nearby Brent Cross will further transform the area.

This project aims to establish a viable industrial-led masterplan for the intensification of Staples Corner. The Masterplan will allow businesses to grow through intensification of existing sites and define opportunities for co-location with new residential uses where appropriate. It will set out a shared vision, established through community and stakeholder engagement.

The main aims of the project are to:

• Intensify industrial uses within the Strategic Industrial Land area to support business and employment growth
• Establish an Urban Framework that can accommodate a mix of new uses including 2,200 new homes, a proportion of which will beaffordable.

Our work to retrofit New Court, Trinity College, Cambridge has been awarded the Editor's Prize in the inaugural Architecture Today Awards for building that have stood the test of time. The Architecture Today Awards have only considered projects that have been in use for at least three years and which can demonstrate a strong track record for delivering on their environmental, functional, community and cultural ambitions.

The winners were drawn from a shortlist of 32 finalists selected by a panel of technical experts. Finalists were then invited to make the case for their project at a day of live crits in front of a jury.

Judges commented:

The opportunity for design research that draws in micro scientific approaches is rare – this team identified an opportunity to take this on and created a rigorous approach to challenging conventions around conservation. The application of the research, and the impact on the project, should and will be replicated. We should be grateful for the team’s willingness to share this work.

Hanif Kara, of AKT2 engineers

William Wilkins’ New Court has already lasted over two centuries. It has even had the difficult Grade 1 Listed accolade bestowed upon it. This project addresses a vital design question: when the outside and inside are both listed, where does the wiring, plumbing and insulation go? This team has delivered a sympathetic yet critically intelligent model for creating Banham’s well-tempered environment in a way that met with Historic England’s approval. This is a 21st century reinvention of what Cedric Price termed a ‘medieval castle with 13amp plugs’.

Simon Allford, Director of AHMM and President of the RIBA

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has appointed a panel of innovative and diverse built environment specialists to his new Architecture + Urbanism (A+U) Framework, to support his mission to build a better London for everyone.

The new A+U Framework provides a diverse, pre-approved panel of built environment consultants, making it quicker and easier for organisations like councils and housing associations to commission high quality expertise for certain types of public sector projects in London.

The A+U Framework can be used by the Greater London Authority Group and other public sector commissioning authorities to appoint high-quality architectural, place making and urban planning design services for a range of built environment projects. It is organised into 10 different categories of work to ensure high standards at every stage of the design process.

5th Studio has won a spot on Lot 10: Transport Design: Specialist Infrastructure, bringing our strong track record of integrating infrastructure into the wider urban environment.

We are delighted to announce that Bloqs – the UK’s first open access factory –has been shortlisted for the 2023 RIBA London Regional Awards!

“With 5th Studio on board, we have achieved a home that is not only fit for purpose – light, bright, with decent clearance and smooth floors – but that celebrates and supports our makers by giving them a space with the function of a factory yet the aesthetics of a gallery. We are here to empower makers and manufacturing as a necessary and intrinsic part of any vital city.”

Al Parra, co-founder, Bloqs

5th Studio are an industry host to REDI (RMIT European Doctoral Innovators) program, a global €9 million doctoral training initiative that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions scheme. Following an extensive international search and interview process, we are pleased to announce that Nabi Agzamov has been appointed to this unique research position and has joined us at 5th Studio. Researchers will be supported by the practice and supervisors Prof. Tom Holbrook (5th Studio) and Prof. Martyn Hook (RMIT)

Nabi – formerly Head of the Center for Urban Resilience and Ecology at Strelka KB and a graduate of Columbia’s GSAPP masters programme – will be exploring ecological urbanism and common challenges across a number of countries and city administrations around the North Sea and western Baltic. He will be looking at shared experiences and creative responses to issues, including energy production and networks, climate change adaptation and resilience, responses to sea level rise, trade, logistics and post-Brexit conditions, rural/urban relationships, including landscape re-wilding and repair. His research will be drawing on and building networks of city governance and practice with colleagues in cities including Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Bergen, Copenhagen, Dunkirk, Felixstowe/ Harwich, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Hull, Le Havre, London, Malmo, Oslo, Paris and Rotterdam.

Please do get in touch if you would like to be involved!

This research is conducted under the REDI Program, a project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 101034328. This paper reflects only the author’s view and the Research Executive Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

We are thrilled that our collaboration with Bloqs and Enfield Council to create the UK’s first open access factory at Meridian Water has been named number one in Oliver Wainwright’s best architecture of 2022 in the Guardian.

A big shed in Edmonton in London might make an unlikely contender for one of the best buildings of 2022. But the arrival of Bloqs to this unloved corner of the Lower Lea valley is quietly revolutionary. Standing next to a cash and carry warehouse and a ready-mix concrete supplier, this new temple to fabrication provides affordable shared machinery and studios in an “open-access factory”, as the capital rapidly loses industrial workspace elsewhere. As a nimble retrofit and extension of a dilapidated warehouse, by 5th Studio, it is a model for a new kind of productive local economy that could be readily replicated across the country.

Read more about the project here.

Image: Claudia Agati

We are proud to announce that 5th Studio has received accreditation as a Good Work Standard employer.

This reflects our commitment to a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace through supporting training, career progression, good recruitment practices, positive work-life balance and fair pay.

We are happy to have achieved this recognition from the Mayor’s Good Work Standard initiative alongside our status as an accredited Living Wage Employer.

5th Studio co-founder Oliver Smith shares his radical approach to upgrading listed buildings. In this episode of the Architects Journal Climate Champions launches a mini-series on how to make heritage buildings more climate-ready.

Oliver Smith discusses the practice’s radical retrofit of New Court at Trinity College, Cambridge. Completed in 2016, New Court remains a trailblazing project, because it pioneered an ambitious sustainability agenda in a Grade I-listed building using a nuanced approach that balanced heritage concerns with upgrading thermal and energy performance and internal comfort. The conservation methodology developed at New Court was subsequently adopted by Cambridge City Council.

Oliver explains how to intervene in heritage buildings in a way that respects their character and also meets 21st-century expectations for comfort, amenity and sustainability. He challenges accepted wisdom on cold bridges at cornices and party walls, promoting the concept of ‘cool’ bridges. He advocates making a building ‘as good as it can be’ without aiming for a particular environmental certification, which can result in more insulation (and hence more cost) than necessary.

In this episode, Oliver explains how much to model and how much to monitor on a given project and why this is best done over the winter. He sees the monitoring at New Court as proof of concept that subsequent buildings can emulate.

To catch up on all AJ Climate Champions episodes, click here.

The London Legacy Development Corporation’s (LLDC) Planning Decisions Committee has voted unanimously to give the green light to an outline planning application that will transform Pudding Mill Lane on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into a new residential and commercial neighbourhood.

Forming a new neighbourhood centre and supporting Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s growing innovation district, the Pudding Mill Lane masterplan – 5th Studio contruibuted to its development as part of the multidisciplinary team assembled and led by Gort Scott, along with JCLA and ZCD – sets out LLDC’s commitment to delivering a rich mix of social infrastructure, complementary uses, and high-quality public amenities to create a vibrant place to live, work and visit. As well as providing new homes and workspaces, the masterplan provides over 0.63ha of publicly accessible open space, with two new riverside parks and a new urban square at Pudding Mill DLR station, seeking to unlock connectivity improvements and support a series of wider social and economic opportunities.

Around 948 homes will be delivered with a minimum of 45% affordable homes by habitable room, of which a minimum of 30% will be low-cost rent housing by dwelling. A diverse range of housing needs have been carefully considered, with at least 51% of homes family-sized with two or more bedrooms including apartments, townhouses and maisonettes, and provision for 40 dedicated later living homes. Families will be supported with a nursery, health centre, community pavilion, inclusive play areas and local courtyards with biodiverse planting, as well as the new neighbourhood centre with shops, cafes and restaurants around Pudding Mill DLR station.

In addition, the development will include up to 52,000sq.m of floor space which will accommodate a rich mix of workspace, retail, community and leisure uses. Delivering ‘good growth’ with employment and skills opportunities for young people, and space for businesses to seed, grown and scale up – complementing clusters of cutting-edge businesses at Here East, Hackney Wick and Fish Island Creative Enterprise Zone, East Bank and International Quarter London – Pudding Mill Lane will generate around 2,000 jobs.

Now is the right time to drive forward thinking about the Stratford Station area to ensure that it is ready for the next 100 years: establishing a vision that matches the scale of ambition and quality of public space that residents, businesses, visitors and commuters deserve.

We need to hear from you! Following an initial consultation event last autumn, 5th Studio are excited to be part of the next stage in this process, through the launch of a new consultation on the emerging design proposals. We have developed design ideas for new connections, an improved interchange, new and improved public spaces and new building uses – all of which we heard were important to local people and those who use the Stratford Station area.

Consultation is now open, with the first of four in-person events. Details of these are as follows:

• Saturday 8th October: 8am-6pm at Westfield Stratford City
• Tuesday 11th October: 12pm-4pm at Stratford Shopping Centre
• Wednesday 12th October: 8am-1pm at Stratford Station
• Wednesday 12th October: 2pm-6pm at Stratford Station

Alongside this, a digital consultation will run until Friday 18 November here.

New Court, Trinity College has been selected as a finalist in the Architecture Today Awards Education category.

The refurbishment of New Court – completed in 2016 – has proven a continuing success, improving both the quality of spaces and amenities for undergraduate residents, but also cutting the operational carbon footprint by 80%.

The Architecture Today Awards represent a cultural shift away from celebrating newness and towards a focus on longevity. In stark contrast to most awards programmes, the Architecture Today Awards has only considered projects that have been in use for at least three years and which can demonstrate a strong track record for delivering on their environmental, functional, community and cultural ambitions.

Read more about the project here.

5th Studio's work creating the Royal Docks Public Realm Framework and Design Guides has been shortlisted for a New London Award in the Masterplans and Area Strategies category.

5th Studio worked with the Royal Docks Team to develop a comprehensive Public Realm Framework, produce a series of Design Guides, and deliver a series of phase one projects — to steer and catalyse the creation of new public realm across London’s Royal Docks. With renewed focus and investment, the Mayor’s approval of a £314m Delivery Plan and the arrival of Crossrail, the time has come for major change. The vision for the Royal Docks is of a productive place with the potential to generate 35,000 jobs & 4,000 homes, supported by its status as the capital’s only Enterprise Zone.

5th Studio are part of the project team developing proposals for the Global Centre of Rail Excellence on the site of the Nant Helen open cast mine and Onllwyn Washeries. These proposals have recently been showcased in a series of conferences and articles as the projects continues to gather momentum.

5th Studio are leading a multidisciplinary team to produce an overarching masterplan for the transformation of the site. Our team including Expedition Engineering, Jonathan Cook Landscape Architects, Faithful & Gould, Fairhurst, PRD, Wildwood Ecology and Thirty 4/7 are in the process of developing a holistic spatial plan that will incorporate the track testing facility including proposals for the future landscape of the whole site, together with an innovation campus incorporating visitor accommodation. This integrated design process will include public consultation to engage and integrate the views of local residents.

The Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) was established by the Welsh Government as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in 2021. It is a major infrastructure project that will provide state-of-the-art rolling stock testing, infrastructure testing and storage and maintenance for the UK and international rail industry.

GCRE will:

• Deliver a modern and comprehensive rail testing and innovation facility; providing the capacity and capabilities for rigorous testing of rolling stock, infrastructure, and integrated systems from prototype to implementation;
• Be a catalyst for the creation of a rail technology hub in Wales; providing a flexible, open-market platform for leading R&D activity that drives and accelerates innovation on the journey to net-zero;
• Help to reduce regional inequality and promote regeneration in Wales; working with industry to support skills development through high-quality employment in fair, secure and sustainable jobs that contribute to reducing regional inequality and promoting regeneration in Wales, and
• Support the development and testing of rail sector principles, standards and specifications; improving the UK's competitive strengths as a world leader in achieving carbon neutrality, contributing to an overall decrease in carbon emissions across the rail industry, boosting exports, enabling greater efficiency in a lower cost reliable railway, key tool in major project risk mitigation.

We are delighted that our collaboration with Bloqs and Enfield Council to create the UK’s first open access factory at Meridian Water has been shortlisted for the 2022 AJ Architecture Awards. Read more about the project here.

Shortlisted in the Workplace under £10m category the Winner will be announced on the 23rd November.

Image: Claudia Agati

Following seven years of post-occupancy monitoring of this landmark project, the deep retrofit of the Grade 1 buildings of New Court at Trinity College, the college are reporting an 80% reduction in energy usage, the building fabric conditions are exceeding the model predictions, and the students and other users are very happy occupants.

It is time to start talking with confidence about the relevance of this project to the wider heritage sector and the challenge of retrofitting our listed buildings in the context of a climate emergency.

Oliver Smith will be discussing New Court in the Architecture Today Webinar on Retrofitting Heritage on Wednesday 8th June.

Link here for registration here.

5th Studio have been appointed by Ealing Council and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation to define a set of delivery-focused public realm projects for North Acton embedded within a wider spatial framework focused on improving the streets and spaces in and around North Acton.

As North Acton changes, its streets and spaces need to be improved to make them enjoyable, connected, accessible and welcoming. With funding from developers, the project aims to deliver up to six projects within the next few years as well as setting out a list of longer-term projects to improve public spaces and the street environment.

This first round of public consultation will help shape the projects from the beginning and welcome ideas from all residents, workers, businesses, landowners, community groups and visitors of the North Acton area including local people who are seldom heard and those who regularly use the space.

Friday 4th March - 10.00-11.00am

5th Studio director Tom Holbrook will be taking part in this weeks NLA's webinar on Makers spaces. Tom will be presenting the practice's recently completed work at Merdian Water – one of London's key regeneration projects – where Bloqs the largest open-access factory in the UK launched last month.

In this webinar experts across the sector will describe how they are currently tackling the challenge of affordability for makers spaces in London.

London inherently has been city which has creativity at its core. Artists and makers spaces have been driving factors for Londons regeneration for decades and is now imbedded within our city’s cultural heritage. However, recent years have highlighted how Londons makers spaces are under threat. Increasing rent prices within the capital and a change in work trends to more laptop-based approaches have meant that large workspace is becoming widely unfeasible.

However, where does that leave the makers sector that still heavily relies on larger floor capacity for its creative outputs? As cities move towards resilience and sustainability across its industries how do we ensure makers spaces are not left behind and pushed to London’s periphery cities? How do we maintain creative activation within London’s neighbourhoods and safeguard our makers spaces for the future?

This webinar will hear from core stakeholders aiming to combat the challenges that makers spaces face within the capital. The speakers will debate the affects affordability is having on London’s makers spaces and provide much needed thought leadership in protecting our creative industries for the future.

Speakers:

• Chair: First Sukpaiboon, Head of Programme, New London Architecture

• Rumi Bose, Principal Project Officer, Greater London Authority

• Alex Jeremy, Head of Partnerships, Poplar HARCA

• Tom Holbrook, Director, 5th Studio

• Patrick McKeogh, Managing Director, Pipers Model Makers

• Gemma Dean, Head of Development, Creative Land Trust

More information on the event can be found here.

5th Studio's proposals in support of Goldsmiths College's PLAN25 to decarbonise its estate have been granted planning permission.

As part of the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, this proposal radically overhauls Goldsmiths College’s existing energy centre, replacing its inefficient, and carbon intensive, gas boilers with a state of the art 1MW air-source heat pump array. The electrically powered heat pumps will provide over 6,500 MWh of low- carbon heat to the campus every year, reducing site gas consumption by 77% with associated annual CO2 savings of 1,375 tonnes.

The proposal’s form and material articulation draws from local heritage structures, including the sectional water tanks of the nearby Laurie Grove Baths. The reinterpretation of these utile structures is expressed through offset massing and equally sized ETFE cushions, alluding to the building’s function as a facilitator of airflow, rather than the storage of water.

Rather than an anonymous plant enclosure, the proposal maximises the potential of the site and programme to create an intriguiging structure that acts a beacon within the campus.

Tom Holbrook will be speaking at the 9th ECTP Conference, Madrid, on 2 December.

The ECTP (European Construction, built environment and energy efficient building Technology Platform) is exploring ways to shift the European construction industry to the heart of green transition in the built environment.

Following a welcome from the Mayor of Madrid, José-Luis Martinez-Almeida, Tom will address the role of the built environment in promoting health and wellbeing, speaking about our experience in the transformation of East London. The session will be chaired by Marta Fernandez (RMIT Europe, ECTP Vice-President on Built4Life) and Helianthe Kort (TU Eindhoven).

Booking in-person and online attendance here.

Portrait by Tim Soar

5th Studio are an industry research partner as part of the EU-funded REDI PhD training program. We are pleased to announce that the application process for the first round of the REDI program is now open. REDI is a unique offering industry-supported positions with excellent salaries, enviable international experiences including a residential year in Melbourne, Australia and annual workshop weeks in Barcelona, Spain, top-class training as well as networking with academic and industry leaders across 60+ supporting partners.

5th Studio will host a doctoral researcher, able to draw on 5th Studio's networks and portfolio of past and current projects. Researchers will be supported by the practice and supervisors Prof. Tom Holbrook (5th Studio) and Prof. Martyn Hook (RMIT) to research by design within three broad themes, falling under the heading of Making Cities: Centres & Edges:

Ecological Urbanism

Project: Research through design at the very large scale, addressing the challenges of climate change in the city. Deep contexts, ecologies – methodologies for documenting evolution of land uses and existing conditions. Estate retrofit. Conceptions of the 15-minute city, circular economy, social equity. Approaches to adaptive re-use, retrofit, co-production + community empowerment.

A New Hansa

Project: Exploring intra-national interplays between contemporary resonances of the old Hanseatic League of countries / city states around the North Sea. Exploring energy production, common conditions and environments, climate change adaptation and resilience, post-Brexit conditions and sociologies. Drawing on and building networks of city governance and practitioners: Amsterdam, Hamburg, Malmo, Copenhagen, Oslo. Rural/urban relationships – landscape re-wilding and repair.

Urban Logistics

Project: Exploring emerging thinking on logistics within the city, including food /just-in-time relationships, new markets, distribution of building materials, waste and the circular economy. Exploration of different modes including water, rail, new transport, Consolidation within cities; future of work. Emerging architectural hybrids that draw on co-location and intensification; new typologies and urban Impacts; social aspects. Economic and historical survey of precedents.

For more information visit the REDI program website here.

We are delighted that two of our projects have been shortlisted for NLA’s New London Awards.

Our Meridian Water Meanwhile Masterplan is the result of 3 years of work for the London Borough of Enfield on their flagship regeneration project. Our role has been to lead on the creation of a meanwhile and interim masterplan, and to deliver key building projects and public realm components. This includes a new home for Building Bloqs, which is set to be the largest open access workshops in Europe when it opens this autumn.

The Pudding Mill Lane masterplan is a collaboration between Gort Scott and 5th Studio, with support from JCLA, ZCD and Stantec. Pudding Mill Lane will be a new mixed-use local centre with over 900 homes, offices and retail around the DLR station. Pudding Mill Lane is shortlisted along with the proposed development at Bridgewater, which is being designed by Mikhail Richies with RCKa, BBUK, Expedition and Momentum. Together these two sites together will deliver around 1,500 new homes, public open space and workspace for around 2,000 people.

The New London Awards 2021 celebrates all scales of projects, from community-led to large-scale mixed-use developments, both built and unbuilt, that contribute to and enhance this vision of the city. Head to New London Architecture's website to check out the full shortlist here.

The winners will be announced Friday 26 November.

5th Studio are working with the GLA's Royal Docks Team to produce a Walking and Cycling Action Plan for the Royal Docks area. The Action Plan will identify where to improve existing walking and cycling routes and where to create new infrastructure to create key connections. It is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The Action Plan will also include guidance for walking and cycling routes and will identify tactics to increase footfall and encourage sustainable travel modes.

We are about to hold two consultation tours: Walking tour: 22nd September, meeting at 12 noon at Pontoon Dock DLR station. Cycling tour: 27th September, meeting at 5.30 pm at Cyprus DLR station. More information and survey here.

5th Studio has completed its first Oxford project: the refurbishment of the 17th century grade 1 listed Dining Hall for Oriel College. This project realises the first phase of the College’s masterplan for redeveloping their social spaces.

The project was an opportunity to review and enhance the Hall’s heritage character whilst upgrading to modern comfort standards with new underfloor heating and lighting systems. Exemplar conservation techniques synthesised old historic fabric with new joinery insertions. Taking up the original oak floor boards revealed a patchwork of primary beams and joists reflecting the fascinating changing patterns of use of the over its 400 year history. Oak joinery wall panelling by early 20th century architect Ninian Comper was given a new lease of life with a bold new decorative plan to highlight the carved joinery frieze of grotesques interspersed with heraldic devices.

Image credit: Tim Soar

As the lead on the Stratford Station Urban Design Framework, 5th Studio has been working with GS Solutions and Thomas Matthews on behalf of the LLDC, Network Rail, LB Newham and TfL to develop consultation material. The team want to hear what local residents, visitors, passengers and businesses think about the station now and how it could be improved in the future, in order to shape the developing Urban Design Framework we are developing.

We would like to invite you to attend one of the consultation events on site to discuss the project. The consultation events will be happening on:

• Saturday 11 September: 10am-5pm at Westfield Shopping Centre (top floor, outside M&S entrance)
• Monday 13 September: 8am-1pm at Stratford Station (next to Jubilee Line platforms)
• Monday 13 September: 2pm-6pm at Stratford Station (outside station entrance, next to National Rail ticket office)
• Tuesday 14 September: 8am-12pm, now at Stratford Shopping Centre (South Mall Location Point opposite Costa) due to inclement weather
• Tuesday 14 September: 1pm-5pm at Stratford Shopping Centre

More details about the consultation events and how to get involved can be seen at: https://stratfordstation.commonplace.is

After more than 5 years at the practice Raluca has relocated from London to Lausanne, Switzerland.

Raluca has worked on a variety of projects at 5th Studio, from masterplanning, strategy to delivering built work. More recently she has been leading the Meanwhile Masterplan for Meridian Water, one of the biggest regeneration sites in Europe. Raluca is now embarking on a new adventure in academia, joining the the School of Architecture at the prestigious École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne as a Studio Director teaching first year undergraduate students.

We wish her the best of luck!

5th Studio are proud to have our recent Trinity College retrofit scheme featured as a key case study in a recent paper, written by Grosvenor with Donald Insall Associates.

Historic buildings are central to Britain's culture and economy, and can also play a leading role in reducing carbon emissions nationwide. Retrofitting existing building can help to reduce energy demands, but also reduce the emboddied carbon associated with demolition and new-build developments. But policy change must play a part to incentivise the retention and retrofit of heritage assests.

The argument behind this call for policy change is captured in a new paper published by Grosvenor Britain & Ireland. This has been developed over the last six months in discussion with a group of consultative partners including the National Trust, Historic England, Peabody, Southern Housing Group and The Crown Estate, and written with Donald Insall Associates.

This summer, one part of that jigsaw could be tackled immediately. We think the Government should use the impetus of planning reform and COP26 to commit to aligning heritage protection and environmental sustainability much more closely in the NPPF and include policies for carbon reduction in relation to all designated heritage assets, excluding scheduled ancient monuments.

If this happened, it could cut operational carbon emissions nationwide by up to 7.7 MtC02 per year, equivalent to 5% of the UK’s carbon emissions associated with buildings in 2019.

It would also act as a powerful stimulus to the green economy and help protect a crucial part of our common heritage which gives so many people a sense of civic pride and identity across the UK.

TAKING CARE

8:30pm-9.30pm, 30.06.21

Sometimes, the best way to support biodiversity in the city is to step back. Neglect can be intentional, and it can be positive: either through allowing nature a foothold to reassert itself in the city, or in supporting self-sustaining ecosystems and habitats to establish. Wilding or letting go can be a crucial part of being a good steward. Spaces outside of human circulation and human access can also contribute just as much to urban wilding as those spaces we encounter and can touch.

In this event we’ll dig into the tension between productive land & the gaps in-between, and the opportunities of a hands off approach. We’ll look around to see how expanding our understanding of nature in the city can uncover a network of wild-ness above and beneath us, and how a steward approach might also have community benefits.

Speakers:

• Chair: Cristina Monteiro with Edward Powe

• David Knight - Radical Nature, Wastelands of the Lea Valley

• Tom Holbrook - East London Green Grid

• Madeleine Kessler - Garden of Privatised Delights

More information on the event can be found on eventbrite here.

5th Studio – appointed through a competitive tender via the GLA’s ADUP II Framework – is leading a multidisciplinary design team to produce a concept masterplan for Harrow Road and its environs. Following on from the masterplan, the team will develop detailed design for three strategic sites, working closely with residents and stakeholders, to be delivered via the GLA’s Good Growth Fund.

The project seeks to transform and revitalising the high street and canal to bring forward much needed improvements to the area. Public realm projects at Maida Hill Market – the heart of the high street – and Westbourne Green and Canal Terrace (Queen’s Park) – the intersections of the high street and canal – are due to be implemented in 2022.

5th Studio is leading a consultant team that includes regular collaborators Jonathan Cook Landscape Architects (JCLA), Studio Dekka, Expedition Engineering, Accertum, Daisy Froud (leading the consultation work) and Waterway Projects. The team has recently worked with the Council on ‘Paddington Places’, the public realm and connectivity strategy for neighbouring North Paddington.

Harrow Road has a diverse and close-knit community but suffers from severances caused by the Westway and the railway corridor. Its inclusion in the North Westminster Economic Development Area recognises that regeneration and growth is required to improve employment and social opportunities. The Council and the community have established four objectives for the Harrow Road Place Plan: create a 21st century high street; improve access to public open space; ensure a socially sustainable future; benefit from future development. This next phase, particularly the delivery of the three key public realm projects, aims to be a catalyst for wider regeneration and investment to meet these objectives.

Cllr Matthew Green, Cabinet Member for Business, Licensing and Planning, said:

"Local high streets have been lifelines for our communities during the Coronavirus pandemic and none more so than the iconic Harrow Road. As retail and hospitality emerges from the Covid crisis, the Council is providing unprecedented levels of support to shopping areas across our City. On Harrow Road, we will ensure that the street responds to the needs of its communities while sustaining commercially successful businesses that are sources of jobs and revenue for local residents.

Improving access in the Harrow Road area while delivering better public spaces and more greenery will help to create a 21st century high street. Working alongside the local community, we will co-design a scheme that will increase opportunities for both businesses and residents alike."

Image credit: Oliver Goodrich

5th Studio – appointed through a competitive tender via the GLA’s ADUP II Framework – is leading a multidisciplinary design and planning team to produce a planning and development framework. Their work is focused on Stratford Station, how it can be improved as an interchange and how it links to the nearby International Station. A key part of this study will also assess how better connectivity could be formed between Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Stratford Town Centre. The team will also identify strategies to enable the station to be more accessible and passenger friendly.

In 2019, The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) identified Stratford Station as the seventh busiest Network Rail station in the UK and it is estimated that there are 128 million passenger movements a year across all lines. The passenger demand is expected to continue to increase in the future, even post-Covid.

5th Studio is working with Expedition Engineering, Momentum Transport, Turner & Townsend and Giorgia Sharpe with Thomas Matthews to develop a vision and urban design framework. This work will inform the strategic business case for the long-term redevelopment of Stratford Regional Station that is being progressed by LLDC, Network Rail, LB Newham and TfL.

The scale of transformation needed is similar to what has been seen at Kings Cross and London Bridge.

LLDC, the regeneration agency responsible for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, is leading on the procurement of this project as part of its work alongside Network Rail, LB Newham and TfL.

Rosanna Lawes, Executive Director of Development at LLDC, said:

“The scale of regeneration on and around the Park has meant that passenger usage at Stratford Station has trebled over the past ten years.

“This essential work will not only help us make a case to government which secures Stratford as an appealing place to work, live and visit, but it will also help us identify ways in which we can improve local connectivity and job opportunities for nearby residents.”

Tom Holbrook, Director of 5th Studio, said:

“Stratford has been shaped by the railway, but the railway has set up some challenging obstacles to movement and connectivity that have baked in inequality. We are delighted to win this important commission, which builds on previous work over the last decade to ‘improve connectivity on and around the Olympic park and Legacy Boroughs.

The project presents an opportunity to ensure strong, well-designed connections between Stratford Town Centre and the growing social, cultural and economic assets of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and its neighbouring communities across East London.

In doing so we hope to unlock a much better interchange around Stratford Regional Station and bring the International station more into play.”

5th Studio was invited by the Internationale Bauaustellung 2027 to participate in the urban planning competition based in the Stuttgart Region of Germany.

Our collaboration with ARUP and Taktyk landscape architects, Brussels has been awarded a Special Prize.

The aim of the competition was to develop radical ideas for a sustainable urban quarter on a former industrial site in the town of Backnang in Baden-Württemberg. The 30-year project will transform the district into an environmentally friendly light industrial and residential neighbourhood featuring educational and cultural facilities. The development will be part of Germany’s International Building Exhibition which has been held since 1901 (including the Weissenhof Siedlung, 1927) and will focus on Stuttgart in 2027.

5th Studio was one of six teams pre-invited to participate in the competition, joining White Arkitekter, KCAP, Rotterdam and Denmark’s Cobe. Invited teams were joined by 18 teams of global architects and urban designers who qualified through an international ideas competition.

We warmly congratulate Teleinternetcafe Architektur und Urbanismus, Berlin, working with Treibhaus Landschaftsarchitektur, Hamburg on winning this competition and look forward to seeing the exhibition of the shortlisted schemes and the built results at the Internationale Bauaustellung in 2027.

You can read more about our submission here, or download the full boards.

5th Studio is a core industry partner in RMIT University’s €9 million European Doctoral Innovators (REDI) COFUND doctoral training program, funded through the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND grants scheme.

The programme will be led by RMIT Europe and support 41 new PhD positions across a network of 24 academic partners in 11 countries, including the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris, Politecnico di Milano, and the Max Plank Institute, Dusseldorf.

5th Studio will host a doctoral researcher placement, who will work with the academic network and also complete a year's secondment at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Details will follow on researcher recruitment.

More information here.

A landscape that’s a joy to explore and that has everything you need. A place where natural beauty and historic artefacts are thoughtfully highlighted, and where every route is accessible, intuitive and suitably lit.

That is the vision for public realm in the Royal Docks, and now the Design Guides that set out a detailed code for how to achieve this have been published.

Developed by 5th Studio in collaboration with JCLA and Studio Dekka, the Guides draw on engagement sessions with stakeholders and the community on both the overarching strategy and their specific recommendations. These conversations are detailed in the Guides’ engagement appendices, and build on several years of prior consultations, such as Join the Conversation, which gathered perspectives from nearly 2,000 people during the course of last year.

The Design Guides provide a unified handbook for wayfinding, lighting and landscape, as well as guidelines for accessibility and inclusive design. They’re a detailed toolbox for architects, developers, community groups and designers – or indeed anyone who is creating design and public realm work for the area. The Guides will ensure that new projects in the Royal Docks contribute to a public realm that is coherent, legible and socially inclusive – a group of distinct neighbourhoods united by subtle and beautiful elements of continuity. Shaped by a culture of innovation, the Guides posit the Royal Docks as “an urban testbed… a site of innovation and experimentation for London”. They cover everything from light fittings, planters, species of trees and flowers, and how a banner might be attached during a special occasion.

Read more about the Guides and the GLA and LB Newham's work towards regenerating the Royal Docks here.

Tom Holbrook will be discussing 5th Studio's ongoing work in cities and landscape in RMIT's forthcoming webinar – The Future is Landscape.

The European Commission's €750B recovery plan to kick-start the economy and to invest in a long-term future for Europe prioritises the green and digital transition that Europe needs. ​

The commitment to a green recovery and a healthy environment has brought into focus the importance of our buildings and the impact they have on people’s lives. Homes, schools, hospitals and office buildings suffered the effects of the pandemic and had to be re-adjusted to the new reality.​

This presents a unique opportunity to rethink, redesign and modernise Europe’s buildings and urban landscapes to meet the demands of a greener and digital society.​

RMIT's Global Webinar brings together leading academics, designers, policy makers, industry leaders and practitioners to explore and discuss the crucial role of the built environment in creating a greener and more sustainable future.

More details here.

Tom will be contributing to a webinar on the UK Innovation Corridor at Real Estate Live 11.00am, Wednesday 7th October 2020.

The session will be chaired by Helen Crane, property editor, City AM, and will feature Monika Jain, Principal City Planner at Transport for London and Professor Greg Clark, Global advisor on future cities.

This year has been one of upheaval – and it has changed our outlook on life, work, and leisure, and on how we move between those parts of our lives.

Do the changes in the housing, labour, and transport markets offer a new set of opportunities for the places in the UK Innovation Corridor? Can there be a new mix of functions and activity in places like Harlow, Stevenage the Upper Lee Valley and towns close to Cambridge? Could there be a hybrid model in which we can find a new paradigm for our towns and cities?

Sign up here.

Earlier in the year we worked with Emily Seabrook, a graduate civil engineer based in Oxford, to develop and illustrate her winning entry to the Vision 2050 Competition organised by England’s Economic Heartland (EEH) - the collaborative partnership of 11 transport authorities and four local enterprise partnerships that covers the Oxford to Cambridge Arc.

The competition was aimed at students, recent graduates and apprentices, with the intention of encouraging fresh perspectives on the future of transport in the region – an endeavour that we wholeheartedly support.

The vision has recently been published and Emily will be presenting it today at EEH’s annual conference.

The judging panel was chaired by Professor Sadie Morgan OBE who said ‘Emily's vision covered many different aspects of connectivity, considering both urban and rural needs, and those of freight as well as people. It contained a number of innovations and was an example of the type of forward-thinking approach we need to meet the challenges of the future.’

Emily has commented that she ‘enjoyed trying to piece together all the interconnected features of a transport system and the varying nature of its users’ .

Here at 5th Studio we were really pleased to support the competition and to work with Emily to develop and illustrate the spatial and design aspects of her vision for future mobility as a continuation of our work in the Arc for the National Infrastructure Commission, and for England’s Economic Heartland – and as part of our commitment to support the next generation of designers and engineers to work in innovative and collaborative ways.

More information about the competition can be found here.

As part of New London Architecture's focus on London's Royal Docks, Tom Holbrook will chair a panel of experts on public realm and inclusivity to find out ways we can ensure our public spaces are fit for all.

The Royal Docks is providing a range of unique opportunities for London across Public Realm, Transport, Culture, Communities and the Economy. At this extraordinary moment as we struggle through a period of social unrest and the impacts of lockdown on our City, how can areas like the Royal Docks help to champion innovation? How can the built environment sector contribute to more democratised public space? And what is the role of public realm in equalising opportunity?

The panel will feature:

Daniel Bridge, Programme Director, Royal Docks

Maria Adebowale-Schwarte, CEO, Foundation for Future London

David Ogunmuyiwa, Partner, ArchitectureDoingPlace

Bridget Snaith, Senior Lecturer Landscape Architecture, University of East London

Fahmida Rahman, Research and Policy Analyst, Resolution Foundation and Commissioner, Newham Democracy and Civic Participation Commission

Wednesday 15 July 2020

14:00 - 15:00

Book here.

Greater Berlin will be 100 years old this year, an occasion marked by a public exhibition at the Kronprinzenpalais, Berlin Mitte.

Over the past 100 years Metropolitan Berlin has changed and reinvented itself under a variety of influences. Exhibition themes include diversity of centres, planning, housing, transport, sustainability and major projects. A key focus of the exhibition will be a comparison with the peer cities of Moscow, Vienna, Paris and London.

The London contribution will illustrate key topics and projects shaping London and will feature two 5th Studio projects: The Crossrail Atlas (2010), and ongoing work on the Royal Docks.

The Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, is the lead patron; the main curator is Professor Harald Bodenschatz. The initiator is Berlin 2020, which is part of the Architekten und Ingenieurverein zu Berlin e.V. AIV in cooperation with the Architekturmuseum of the Technical University Berlin.

More on the exhibition here.

5th Studio has been invited by the IBA Internationale Bauaustellung 2027 to participate in the urban planning competition based in the Stuttgart Region of Germany.

The aim of the competition is to develop radical ideas for a sustainable urban quarter on a former industrial site in the town of Backnang in Baden-Württemberg.

5th Studio is one of six teams pre-invited to participate in the competition, joining Netherlands-based MVRDV, Herzog & De Meuron of Basel, KCAP from Rotterdam and Denmark’s Cobe. Invited teams will be joined by up to 12 teams of architects and urban designers qualifying through an international ideas competition. The competition will conclude in October 2020.

The Internationale Bauausstellung (International Architecture Exhibition) began in Darmstadt in 1901 and has been a consistent source of innovation and a platform to explore progressive thinking in architecture and urbanism.

More about the project here.

5th Studio has been appointed by regeneration specialist LCR to deliver a masterplan for Chester City Gateway.

Chester City Gateway is a bold vision to regenerate the historic railway station and its surrounding area, having the potential to attract significant investment into Chester and deliver the One City Plan.

Supporting lead local partner Cheshire West and Chester Council, and in collaboration with Network Rail, regeneration specialist LCR will lead on development management to advance the regeneration, public realm and transport connectivity improvements.

Following a highly competitive process, the parties have appointed 5th Studio as lead consultant, supported by a local team. Over the next six months, the team will create the masterplan and delivery strategy, working alongside engineering consultancy Arup together with CBRE and Faithful & Gould. LCR led on the appointments of the consultant team to develop the masterplan for the Chester City Gateway programme, the major regeneration and infrastructure project that will transform Chester’s railway station and surrounding land.

Alex Bowker, Development Manager in LCR’s regional North West team, said: “The formation of our consultant team marks a key milestone in a project that will help to create public value and unlock significant economic growth for Chester. Our masterplan will ensure that the railway station and its surrounding land reach their full potential, helping to deliver new homes, jobs and community assets.

“We’re excited to begin delivering on the Council’s exciting vision for Chester and realising the benefits of investment in the city’s key transport hubs, creating an outstanding experience for residents, commuters and visitors alike.”

Dr Tom Holbrook, director at 5th Studio, added: “Chester City Gateway lies at a crossroads of the key Northern Powerhouse economies of Liverpool and Manchester, the anticipated HS2 hub at Crewe, and is the North West’s gateway to Wales. This is an opportunity to maximise the potential of Chester’s railway station, cementing its role as a key Northern transport hub. “We know that successful placemaking is greater than the sum of the project’s individual parts, and we’re excited to transform this site to tie it firmly into the life of the city.”

The Chester City Gateway regeneration project is being delivered through LCR’s ongoing partnership with Network Rail, which aims to realise the full potential of land around a portfolio of the UK’s of railway stations. Including Chester, the collaboration currently has 16 active schemes across the UK that have the potential to deliver over £2 billion GDV and 4,000 homes.

LCR and Network Rail’s partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council will see all three parties contribute equally to the cost of producing the scheme’s masterplan and spatial framework.

LCR is a purpose-led, sustainable regeneration company that strives to maximise public value from underutilised public sector assets, with emphasis on those assets connected to the UK’s network of railway stations. Through collaborations and key strategic partnerships, LCR has delivered major regeneration schemes including the £2.4 billion IQL project in Stratford, Manchester Mayfield and the transformation of King’s Cross.

Our work on the New Cross Area Framework has been shortlisted for the Planning Awards 2020.

The Framework – jointly commissioned by the London Borough of Lewisham, the Greater London Authority and Transport for London – has been shortlisted in the Award for plan-making category. More details of the project are available here.

The Planning Awards reward excellence in professional planning work. The awards presentation will take place on 24 September 2020 at The Mermaid London – more details here. The New Cross Area Framework won the New London Award last year in the Masterplans and Area Frameworks category.

Our vision for the public realm of London's Royal Docks has now been published: the Public Realm Framework, describing the overall strategy, is available to download here. More information on our work in the Royal Docks can be found here.

The Royal Docks are the largest area of impounded water in the world: a globally significant man-made structure. Laid over central London, the docks would stretch from Marble Arch to Whitechapel.

The overarching principle of the Framework – ‘Occupy the Docks’ – reflects the ambition to create a more varied, rich, and well-connected set of distinctive places, converting a huge piece of infrastructure into a successful piece of city. Within the coherent overarching vision, the Framework will develop tactical interventions, each deploying a palette of landscape, wayfinding, lighting and design interventions keyed to the overall design principles.

The Royal Docks is one of the most significant regeneration projects in the UK – home to London’s only Enterprise Zone – with an ambitious £314 million investment programme over the next five years.

5th Studio have been appointed to work with Westminster City Council’s Place Shaping team to establish a Permeability Strategy for North Paddington, addressing the severance caused by the Westway and Marylebone Flyover, the canal and the railway lines into Paddington Station.

Working with Jonathan Cook Landscape Architects, Studio Dekka and Daisy Froud, the strategy seeks to improve north-south permeability and create legible and attractive routes for walking and cycling.

The strategy will provide a holistic approach and guidance for future growth and development in the North Paddington area establishing a holistic approach to key development sites, the public realm and improvements to infrastructure in order to create new connections, public spaces and destinations.

There will be opportunities to engage with emerging thinking and proposals in due course.

5th Studio’s work for the National Infrastructure Commission on the Oxford-Milton Keynes-Cambridge Arc illustrates the potential of well-planned and integrated growth around infrastructure. There is much work to do to develop this thinking, particularly around the potential for net-zero carbon and the creation of new landscapes to support sustainable growth.

Cranfield University, in association with the Arc Universities Group and the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities is hosting a one and a half day conference on June 4th-5th on ‘Science and Innovation for the Arc’. The event will both give a voice to a selection of perspectives on delivering the promise of the Arc and showcase leading edge research aligned with the four policy pillars of Connectivity, Place Making, Productivity, and Environment.

Tom Holbrook will be speaking on the opportunity of creating well-designed places in the Arc on 4th June. Other speakers include Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor, University of Buckingham, Liz Varga Professor of Complex Systems at UCL and Will Hutton, Principal of Hertford College, Oxford.

https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/events/events-2020/science-and-innovation-for-the-arc

As part of the Mayor of London’s Good Growth by Design programme, Designing a City for All Londoners is an event to celebrate the programme and its first term of activities. It will also be an opportunity to show the work to date on draft guidance for two important policies – ‘Good Quality Housing for all Londoners’ - new housing design guidance, which embeds quality at the centre of housing delivery, and the Public London Charter, which sets out new principles for the rights and responsibilities of the owners, managers and users of public spaces.

Tom Holbrook will be chairing a session on the Public London Charter, with a panel including Paul Harper from the GLA, Anisha Jogani, Placemaking Lead at LB Croydon, Professor Antonia Layard, Professor of Law, University of Bristol, Manijeh Verghese, Curator British pavilion Venice architecture biennale 2020 and Martyn Evans from developer U+I.

Compered by Sadie Morgan OBE, the event will celebrate the Good Growth by Design programme and progress made across a range of priority areas like circular economy, child-friendly cities and high streets. This work has all been summarised in a new compendium, edited by MDA Rory Hyde. The event will bring together local authorities, built environment experts, the planning sector and a public and civil society audience to showcase and recognise the role of design in improving development and delivering quality of life in a growing city.

#GoodGrowthbyDesign

Find out more about Good Growth by Design here. @MayorofLondon / @LDN_gov

5th Studio working in close collaboration with landscape architects, JCLA, recently put together a successful bid for the Royal Docks ward for The Urban Tree Challenge Fund organised by the Forestry Commission.

The project was awarded funding for 712 trees to be planted by winter 2020-21. The grant will fund the planting of trees and the first three years of their care to ensure they can flourish into the future.

Furthermore, 5th Studio were appointed by the Royal Docks Team to produce all public consultation material for the Tree Planting Programme and to coordinate the programme from inception to delivery.

Between October 2020 and March 2021 the Royal Docks Team hopes to plant trees across the Royal Docks which will not only create beautiful green spaces but also add to the environmental benefit for the Royal Docks as a whole. Walnuts, quinces, sweet chestnuts, white cherries, and ginkgos are a few of the proposed species, which have been chosen based on trees that were originally found in the borough.

London has almost as many trees as it does people, but don't underestimate the benefit of these familiar figures. Trees for Cities write that 2,367,000 tonnes of Carbon is stored in London's trees alone. They soak up pollutants, cool down urban heat islands, and lower stress levels. Last week, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced almost 7,000 new street trees across 20 boroughs, and over 900 of them will be in Newham.

The online consultation survey is now live.

To respond to the online Tree Planting Programme questionnaire by March 6th here.

To help transform Thames Barrier Park, respond to the questionnaire by March 15th here.

To find out more about the Royal Docks Tree Planting Programme here.

5th Studio were finalists for the Smithfield Market competition, making the final five from over 70 entries were received from across the world in a strongly fought competition that included BIG and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Our team included John O’Mara Architects, Estudio Martí Franch, Arup, Donald Hyslop, New Economics Foundation, Squint Opera, Counterculture and the Planning Lab. The other finalists comprised teams led by David Kohn Architects (the competition winners), ACME & b720 Fermín Vázquez arquitectos with James Corner Field Operations, Moreau Kusunoki Architects and Publica with Alejandro Echeverri & Shigeru Ban.

We can now reveal our submission which, as required by the competition, focussed on a design approach rather than a proposal.

The new markets will be the centrepiece of the £1.5 billion Smithfield development. Lendlease is Birmingham City Council’s preferred development partner for Smithfield and the Markets are central to the City Council’s Big City Plan, a 25-year vision to support the development of a world-class city centre.

Film above created by Squint Opera / Executive Creative Director – Oliver Alsop / Director – Jason Brooks / Producer – Yinka Obisesan

Plans by 5th Studio for a major new makerspace at Meridian Water, providing affordable workspace for hundreds of workers, have been approved by LB Enfield Planning Committee.

Building BloQs is one of Enfield Council’s key partners on Meridian Water and will play a major role in providing creative manufacturing workshop space while the development is being constructed and beyond.

Building BloQs will move into a bespoke workshop facility which incorporates an existing vehicle testing building. Together the new facility will provide more than 30,000 square feet of manufacturing workshop space with capacity for more than 1,000 workers across five major departments - Engineering, Computer Numerical Control, Wood, Metal and a Fashion Studio.

Workers would have access to more than £1million worth of light industrial equipment as well as new skills training facilities, a waterside café, gardens, shop and event space easily accessible to Enfield residents.

Enfield Council’s flagship £6 billion Meridian Water scheme is seeking to provide 10,000 homes and 6,000 jobs and to create 8.2 hectares of parkland in the Lea Valley over the coming 25 years.

The Council has taken direct control of the vision and delivery of Meridian Water to ensure that local people are the principal beneficiaries. It aims to provide thousands of affordable homes and quality jobs in Enfield as well new schools, community and health services, nurseries, shops and youth and leisure facilities.

The Leader of Enfield Council, Cllr Nesil Caliskan, said: “Building BloQs is a vital partner and this planning application seeks to provide them with flexible and affordable open access workshop space. In doing so it will increase the amount of space and facilities available to support freelance designers, makers, and small businesses while Meridian Water grows around it – and for many years to come.

“Meridian Water has always been about jobs as well as homes and this planning consent will play a major role in helping use achieve our aspiration of providing a range of good quality creative jobs on the site.”

Al Parra from Building BloQs said: “ Building BloQs and Enfield Council have today reached a truly exciting moment in our project to make affordable, manufacturing workspace available in Enfield. This planning consent fires the starting pistol on the building of a truly remarkable facility.”

5th Studio Director Tom Holbrook added: “We are really pleased that this important project has won planning consent from Enfield’s planning committee. As one of the first construction projects on the long-term Meridian Water redevelopment it is great to see this project gain momentum, and we look forward to helping get it built and occupied as a significant making and workshop resource for North London."

The Building BloQs project is part of a series of interim projects that will play a significant role in supporting the regeneration of Meridian Water. It will play a key role in defining the character of the area through placemaking and bringing unused and underused sites into use ahead of advance of longer term regeneration and development plans.

We have opened a studio in King Edward Street, Oxford to support a growing number of projects in and around the city at a variety of scales from individual buildings and public realm to regional infrastructure. The studio will build relationships with both town and gown and with both the reinvention of historic fabric and contemporary challenges. You can read more about how our expertise will help address Oxford's particular and pressing spatial dilemmas here.

Some relevant projects and approaches include our work in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, the Greater Cambridge Greenways, New Court, and Westlegate quarter.

The Draft New Cross Gate SPD is now open for consultation and will run from 13th Nov 2019 - 5th Jan 2020

This draft SPD has been produced following the adoption of the New Cross Gate Framework and Station Opportunity Study in April 2019, and covers the area immediately adjacent to the Station. With the proposed arrival of the Bakerloo Line the area is experiencing great change. It has a growing night-time and creative economy, and is in close proximity to the Old Kent Road regeneration area. All of these factors make the area an exciting prospect for new development, and planning applications are expected to come forward in the near future. The SPD will provide LB Lewisham with guidance on this development, helping to steer positive change.

At the southern entrance to the park and adjacent to UCL’s emerging eastern campus, the new neighbourhood consists of two sites - Pudding Mill Lane and Bridgewater - the last of the five Olympic neighbourhoods to be established. Around 1,500 new homes are set to be built between the sites, alongside enough workspace for 2,000 jobs and a new neighbourhood centre.

The Pudding Mill Lane site, adjacent to the DLR station, will be designed by Gort Scott, 5th Studio and Jonathan Cook Landscape Architects. This will form one of the most mixed legacy neighbourhood on the Olympic Park, with around 900 new homes, 36,000 sqm of employment space and health & community facilities. A significant proportion of the housing is designed for families and will also include purpose-built accommodation for older people.

The Bridgewater site will be designed by Mikhail Riches, RCKa, William Matthews Associates and BBUK Landscape Architects. The plans for Bridgewater include C. 600 new homes.

The new neighbourhood will deliver 40% affordable housing, split between a mix of London Affordable Rent, London Living Rent and Shared Ownership. The entire neighbourhood has high sustainability ambitions: all commercial buildings aim for BREEAM Excellent and all homes achieving a Code for Sustainable Homes 4+. Enabling people to walk, cycle and access public transport is an important part of the development’s sustainability.

Rosanna Lawes, Executive Director of Development, London Legacy Development Corporation, said:

“Pudding Mill will be a thriving new neighbourhood on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and we’re determined to build high-quality new homes and significant commercial space, generating jobs and homes across a variety of tenures, affordable and for sale which cater for everybody. We’ll continue to work closely with people in the area as we develop our plans with our design teams, ahead of a planning application submission next year.”

Professor Tom Holbrook said:

“This commission is hugely exciting: a significant addition to over 12 years of work at a number of scales in the Lea Valley to ensure the legacy of the Olympic Games is realised through a well-integrated and mixed urban fabric.

It’s a real pleasure to be working with old friends Gort Scott and JCLA, as well as a stellar team across the two sites, with a very high design calibre. We look forward to rising to the challenge!”

Image: LLDC

Selected from 75 international competitors, 5th Studio has been shortlisted to lead one of five teams for the Celebrating Birmingham: City of a Thousand Trades competition. The competition is at the heart of Lendlease’s Birmingham Smithfield development: one of the largest city centre regeneration opportunities in Europe. We are working with with John O'Mara Architects; Counterculture; New Economic Foundation; The Planning Practice; Donald Hyslop; EMF Landscape and Arup.

The £1.5bn development of Smithfield is part of the 2010 Big City Plan, which sets out a 25-year vision to support Birmingham’s continuing transformation into a world class city. Smithfield is the birthplace of Birmingham, a city that is known for its markets: indeed, there has been a market in the area for over 850 years.

As the gateway to the wider Smithfield development, the Market complex will be one of the first elements of the masterplan to be built. It will be the standard-bearer for the quality and character of the overall project, setting the tone as the centrepiece of both Smithfield and the rejuvenated city.

You can read more about the competition here.

Image Credit: Birmingham City Council / Lendlease.

A talk by Tom Holbrook on 5th Studio's approach to working in cities, originally produced for RMIT University's Masters in Urban Design programme, Melbourne, Australia.

Tom flags the importance of synthetic design thinking in addressing complexity and change, and asks ‘what if architects became activists for their cities and towns?'

This Friday 20th September 5th Studio will be participating in the Global Climate Strike.

5th Studio is a signatory to Architects Declare and as a practice we seek to raise awareness of the climate emergency and the urgent need for action amongst our clients and supply chains.

We therefore support the Global Climate Strike and we will be using the day in a variety of ways to understand how we can improve our contribution to addressing the emergency and foreground affirmative action.

globalclimatestrike.net

5th Studio is one of ten practices invited to participate in the London exhibition for the Seoul Biennale of Architecture & Urbanism, Republic of Korea. The exhibition is curated by Peter Bishop with Isabel Allen as Creative Director. The Biennale is co-Directed by Jaeyong Lim & Francisco Sanin and is open until November.

We are now on the cusp of a Fourth Industrial Revolution that will be characterised by a fusion of technologies that will blur the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres. The current speed of these breakthroughs is changing almost every aspect of our lives. London is a city of constant adaptation, which is why it has remained one of the major cities in the world. In this exhibition we will consider London’s key strengths and attributes that it will need to develop in order to remain a paradigm of urban living in the 21st Century; a city that celebrates intense human interaction.

5th Studio have contributed a proposition around the idea of London as a city to work in, through and beyond the middle of this century. You can read more about our proposal here.

In describing the exhibition Peter Bishop says:

’The Seoul biennale is establishing itself as one of the principal forums of debate about the future of cities not just in Asia but globally and I am excited to have been given the opportunity to curate London’s contribution to this debate. It will be an opportunity to showcase the wealth of ideas and architectural talent from both students and new and established practices. The theme ‘London is…’ will pose propositions concerning what the successful city will look like by the middle of the century. Although based on new ideas for London, we hope that our exhibition will strike a resonance with other cities across the world.’

http://www.seoulbiennale.org/2019/index.html

For further information contact Tom Holbrook via email: tom@5thStudio.co.uk. The official Instagram is: @London_is.2019

Other participating practices include Assemblage, Studio Egret West and dRMM. The exhibition will also showcase visions for a future London by students from the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL.

Our spatial study illustrating an approach to growth in the Oxford-Milton Keynes-Cambridge Arc for the National Infrastructure Commission has been shortlisted by the Royal Town Planning Institute for its Regional Awards for Planning Excellence in two regions - East of England and South East. The RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence celebrate outstanding projects that demonstrate the power of planning.

You can read more about the Awards in the East of England here.

And the South East here.

5th Studio has been invited to participate in the international exhibition ‘100 Architects of the Year 2019’, hosted by the Korean Institute of Architects (KIA) and the Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA). The exhibition runs between 20 and 26 September at Culture Station Seoul 284 the city’s former Namdaemun Railway Station. The exhibition aims to present a unique perspective on Korean architecture, in the context of global architectural trends and exchanges.

5th Studio are also exhibiting as part of the Seoul Biennale 2019.

Tom Holbrook will be speaking at the forthcoming ’Transforming Peripheries’ Urban Land Conference in Ulm, Germany in September.

A large segment of Europe’s population lives outside the traditional city: in towns, in suburbia or on the urban fringes. To date this territory has not received the attention it deserves (see for example our provocation here).

The conference - organised by the Institute for Architecture and Urbanism at Biberach University - will investigate strategies for shaping these marginal territories, with input from policy makers, urban designers, business leaders, academics and community groups. Other speakers include AWB’s Joachim Declerck (Brussels), Interboro’s Georgeen Theodore (Brooklyn, USA) and Christian Schmid from ETH’s Future Cities Laboratory (Zurich).

The conference is on the 26 September 2019 - more details and registration here:

http://www.interboropartners.com

http://www.architectureworkroom.eu

http://www.fcl.ethz.ch/about-us.html

Public consultation has begun on the Royal Docks strategies starting with the Newham Show and the I Love BV Summer Fun Day. A number of workshops and pop-events are taking place in LB Newham collecting valuable information for this project.

5th Studio are working with the Royal Docks Team - a joint initiative by the Mayor of London and the Mayor of Newham - on the development of a Public Realm Framework, working with stakeholders to reimagine the role of the vast water areas, to help plan for public realm improvements and to create a structure for the longer-term asset and water stewardship. 5th Studio’s work is one of three parallel studies - an economic purpose analysis led by Hatch Regeneris, and a Cultural Strategy led by Fluid with the Contemporary Arts Society.

5th Studio has created the draft Public Realm Framework with Jonathan Cook Landscape Architects, Alan Baxter, Maddison Graphic, Studio Dekka, Urban Space Management, Quod and Accertum.

To find out more about upcoming public consultation events here.

You can contribute your thoughts online here.

5th Studio is featured in the New London 2019/2020 - Best Buildings and Projects exhibition at the Building Centre London until Friday the 1st of November. The exhibition features a collection of the newest and most significant projects in London, selected for the New London Awards 2019. The New London Awards is London’s annual celebration of the best architecture, planning and construction projects that contribute to the capital’s wider social and economic wellbeing, supported by the Mayor of London.

5th Studio's featured project is our New Cross Area Strategy which was the winner of the Area Strategy category at the New London Awards 2019. Focused on a 1km area around New Cross gate station, this is a vision to maximise the benefit of infrastructure investment associated with the Bakerloo line extension to support Good Growth. Establishing an evidence base that allows insight into the life of New Cross, its economy and its built environment, the study identifies how those can be reinforced and improved through smaller projects. It will be used by the London Borough of Lewisham, Transport for London and the Greater London Authority to inform the Lewisham Local Plan and the design of new Bakerloo line infrastructure. More information about the New Cross Area Framework is available on the project page here.

More information about the exhibition can be found here.

5th Studio has opened a studio in Oxford to support our ongoing work in the Oxford-Milton Keynes-Cambridge Arc and projects with Oxford-based clients who need our close attention. Look out for details of some key Oxford college projects on our Projects page soon.

The studio is at 2 King Edward Street, Oxford and we will have a formal opening in the Autumn.

The new studio is part of a rebalancing of 5th Studio’s spaces: the main London Studio at Wren Street is expanding with the addition of a great new Project Space (Unit 10). A reorganisation of the original Darkroom in Cambridge has created a fantastic event space - look out for a programme in the near future.

The New Cross Area Framwork has been announced as the winner of the Area Strategy category at the New London Awards 2019.

Focused on a 1km area around New Cross gate station, this is a vision to maximise the benefit of infrastructure investment associated with the Bakerloo line extension to support Good Growth. Establishing an evidence base that allows insight into the life of New Cross, its economy and its built environment, the study identifies how those can be reinforced and improved through smaller projects. It will be used by the London Borough of Lewisham, Transport for London and the Greater London Authority to inform the Lewisham Local Plan and the design of new Bakerloo line infrastructure. More information about the New Cross Area Framework can be found on the project page here.

New London Architecture (NLA) is the independent centre for London’s built environment, where professionals, politicians and the public can meet, learn and have a voice on the future shape of London. NLA’s annual New London Awards, presented in association with the Mayor of London, celebrate the very best architecture, planning and development schemes making the capital a better place in which to live, work and play.

We’re really excited to hear that our recently completed Feel Good Too Centre, in Leyton, will be one of the host venues for the international Beach Volley Ball Championships in May 2019. It’s great that this fantastic new facility for the London Borough of Waltham Forest, has been selected for the Continental Cup.

5th Studio are delighted to have been so closely involved in the design and delivery of this project, including the inland beach and its six volleyball courts. We’re looking forward to the spring, when the site's landscaping will be established, and the Borough gets to fulfil the project's ambitions by hosting an international sporting event, as part of their commitment to the Olympic legacy.

More information on the coming tournament and the reaction to its announcement can be found on Volleyball England's website here.

5th Studio and urban designers We Made That have been appointed by a partnership of LB Lewisham, Transport for London and the Greater London Authority to develop a practical vision for the area.

The final draft of the New Cross Area Framework is currently out to public consultation until 14th December 2018.

There are three ways to view and comment on proposals:

• Visit the window display at New Cross Learning from 1st December
• View copies of the document at New Cross Learning, Deptford Lounge, Pepys Community Library, and Catford Library
• View and comment on the document online here.

Read more about our involvement on the project here.

Tom will be discussing his experience of practice-based doctoral research at a conference hosted by Virginia Tech at their Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, USA.

Virginia Tech is hosting a forum of globally distinguished practitioners and researchers in the architecture, landscape and design disciplines in order to explore Practice-Based Research. It will focus on new forms and methods of knowledge-production & innovation and investigate the potential of reducing barriers between the academy and industry.

The conference is free to attend and is at the WAAC, 601 Prince Street Alexandria, VA 22314 between the 12th and 14th November.

Register here.

Tom’s PhD Viva, held in the Market Hall, Ghent, can be viewed in full here. Tom’s doctoral thesis, published by Routledge, is available here.

As part of the Venice Biennale Architettura 2018 series 'Meetings on Architecture' 5th Studio have been invited to contribute to a Symposium to be held in the Australian Pavilion on Saturday 17 November as part of a group of international participants.

'Meetings on Architecture' is a programme of events that take place during the 16th International Architecture Exhibition from May to November in 2018. The programme is curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara and explores all aspects of their FREESPACE Manifesto.

This event is part of the Repair exhibition curated by Louise Wright and Mauro Baracco with artist Linda Tegg for the Australian pavilion. The curators aim to reveal what is displaced when we occupy land, inviting one to look anew at the ground we use. This panel will extend this theme, showing and discussing projects that disclose what is displaced, replaced, altered, adapted, destroyed, repaired, not ‘seen’ or overlooked when we use the ground.

Tickets available here.

We are excited to reveal the mural for The Coalface, which is a new coworking space in Finsbury Park designed by 5th Studio. The scaffolding has just come down to reveal the full extent of the external transformation.

As a former railway coal depot, the graphics reference diagrams of geological strata. The mural was designed by Maddison Graphic (who are also collaborating on the workspace identity) and executed by Jane-lee Palmer and Keir Ralph.

Construction work on the internal transformation of the building is nearing completion and this exciting contemporary workspace will be unveiled later this Autumn.

The Lea River Park is exhibited as part of the Brussels Urban Landscape Biennial, currently at BOZAR / Centre for Fine Art, Rue Ravensteinstraat 23, 1000 Brussels.

The Brussels Urban Landscape Biennial (BULB) aims to sensitise the wider public to the importance of water and its related cycles in the urban landscape. In this context the exhibition Rising Waters – Shaping Our Gardens, Street And Urban Valleys, curated by Joachim Declerck (Architecture Workroom Brussels), is held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts. It is a collaboration between Architecture Workroom Brussels, BOZAR, Bureau Bas Smets, Latitude Platform, JNC International, and Taktyk.

More information here.

Our multi-sports, community rooms and landscape regeneration project at Ive Farm for Waltham Forest was opened by Clr Clare Coghill on Friday October 5th.

The project redevelops the run-down playing fields site in Leyton, providing competition standard facilities for football, hockey, beach volleyball and athletics, along with informal jogging trails, petanque and community allotment raised growing beds. The pavilion building at the heart of the park includes changing facilities and a public cafe.

The project restates the community legacy of the 2012 Olympics and opens up this small but valuable site as Metropolitan Open Land, connecting with green infrastructure routes across the borough.

February Phillips is presenting at the 2018 RIBA Smart Practice Conference with the theme of ‘Value-added’. She will be talking about assessing the social value of refurbishing brutalist buildings using Wolfson Flats, Churchill College, a 5th Studio project, as case study.

The session will be chaired by Flora Samuel, RIBA Vice President for Research, and the key speaker is Dr. Jennifer Thomas, Head of Built Environment, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The event is on Thursday 4th October at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

Third year student Selam joined 5th Studio’s weekly site visit to our project at Ive Farm which is currently in the final month of construction.

5th Studio runs monthly mentoring workshops as practice mentors with the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust’s Building Futures Programme. Together with workshops focused on creating a portfolio and preparing for job applications, site visits like this are a great teaching opportunity, offering a practical insight into delivering public projects in London.

More information about the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust’s Building Futures Programme can be found here.

Tom Holbrook will be taking part in a Demos fringe event at this year’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool to discuss some of the challenges of the UK’s crisis. The talk is entitled Quantity and quality – How can we make sure new homes improve quality of life, and build strong communities?

The event will be chaired by Alan Lockey, Head of Research at Demos, and Tom will be joined by Sarah Jones MP, John Myers, Co-founder of YIMBY and David Thomas, Group Chief Executive of Barratt Development.

The event is on Monday 24th September, 7.30am – 9.30am Concourse Room 9, ACC Liverpool and will be situated inside the Conference secured zone.

The Lea River Park has been announced as a finalist in the European Prize for Urban Public Space 2018.

It is one of 25 finalists from across Europe selected by an international jury, the winning project and commendations will be announced on the 20th June at a ceremony taking place at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona. Read more about the European Prize for Urban Public Space can be found here.

More information about 5th Studio's long term involvement in creating the Lea River Park can be read on our project page here.

5th studio will be acting as practice mentors for the Trust’s Building Futures Programme, following this week’s introductory workshop by the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.

The programme was set up to address barriers to access to the architectural profession faced by aspiring students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and provides young people with the support, advice and guidance they need to achieve and confidently take the next step in their architecture careers. Over the next six months, Kaiyil Gnanakumaran and Emily Carmichael will be mentoring two students in their final undergraduate year.

More information about the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust’s Building Futures Programme can be found here.

5th Studio have won a place on a record five lots on the Greater London Authority’s Architecture + Urbanism Panel which runs until 2022. 5th Studio have qualified on the following Lots:

Lot 1: Urban Strategies, Spatial Policy and research

Lot 2: Site Masterplanning and Development

Lot 3: Public Realm and Landscape

Lot 7a: Transport Architecture and Interchange design

Lot 7b: Specialist Infrastructure

The Architecture and Urbanism Panel is a pre-approved panel of built environment consultants. Consultants on the panel were whittled down from more than 225 shortlisted applicants through a design challenge to demonstrate their expertise. The panel is available for EU-compliant pre-qualification by virtually all public bodies, including Network Rail, boroughs & local authorities outside London and housing associations.

The GLA set up the Architecture and Urbanism Panel with Transport for London to advise London's public sector on how to deliver the best quality building and design work. The Panel’s job is to support the Mayor's regeneration programmes and priorities, as well as other public sector-funded projects in London and beyond.

More details available here.

Illustration: Our proposals produced during the tender process of Lot 7b, for a crossing between the key growth areas of Barking Riverside and North Thamesmead.

Professor Tom Holbrook will be taking part in a Symposium exploring the design of innovation districts in Melbourne, Australia.

RMIT University is hosting a Symposium on the Melbourne Innovation District that will focus specifically on the role of design. The symposium will share knowledge between emerging mixed knowledge economy quarters in Melbourne, the @22 district of el Poblenou, Barcelona, and 5th Studio’s project in North East Cambridge. Participants include representatives of the municipalities and key universities of these cities. The Symposium aims to make explicit the contribution of design in all its forms, exploring how through strategy, advocacy and action, designers can facilitate positive change.

The Symposium is part of Melbourne Design Week and takes place on Friday 23 March from 9:30 am – 5:30 pm AEDT at the RMIT Design Hub, Victoria Street, Carlton.

Tickets are available here

Councillor Clare Coghill, Leader of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, joined Associate Liz King for a chilly topping out ceremony for 5th Studio’s new sports facilities in Ive Farm, which will be, as the poster says, ‘Opening in Summer 2018’. In the background is the former Leader of the council, Chris Robbins, who initiated the project, Darrall Bishop, the council’s Project Manager, together with members of the team from the contractors, Willmott Dixon. More details here.

5th Studio’s long term project to create a new public foreground to regeneration in London’s Lower Lea Valley was picked as a top ten highlight of the year by The Guardian’s Architecture & Design Critic Oliver Wainwright. Read the article here.

“After years of negotiations, 5th Studio’s Leaway riverside path finally opened in spring, stitching together crucial missing links with ramps, bridges and new sections of towpath with a rugged, as-found quality that makes them feel like they’ve always been there. A model of useful green infrastructure – unlike the Garden Bridge, which was finally cancelled this year."

5th Studio’s spatial study for the National Infrastructure Commission illustrates how growth in the 100-mile Oxford-Milton Keynes-Cambridge arc can be realised, securing the future of this critical engine of the UK’s knowledge economy. The study proposes the establishment of the first New Towns in a generation, as part of a diverse range of development typologies that draw upon exemplars from around the world to make strong and beautiful places rooted in their locale. The study identifies optimal relationships between transformational growth and associated infrastructure, including East-West Rail and the proposed Expressway.

The cities and towns across the arc are some of the UK’s most productive and innovative places, but their continued success and vitality is not guaranteed. Oxford and Cambridge have some of the most expensive housing in the UK; the lack of suitable, affordable housing in the corridor threatens sustainable growth.

The corridor is currently hard to negotiate, and needs connective infrastructure to make stronger, more functional relationships between its constituent cities and towns. A lack of integrated metropolitan transport infrastructure results in congested cities, affecting productivity and blighting the environment.

Without swift and determined action this innovative landscape will fall behind its international competitors and fail to attract and retain the talent and skills it needs. With a finite amount of land, it is critical that this scarce resource is used in the most optimal way. 5th Studio’s study explores the consequences of accommodating up to 1.9 million additional people in the corridor by 2050.

NIC Commissioner Sadie Morgan said:

“The work of 5th Studio was instrumental in framing the ambition of the NIC final report on Cambridge Milton Keynes Oxford arc. Their work is rigorous, thoughtful and credible and they have been a pleasure to work with.”

Both our study and the NIC’s report to Government - Partnering for Prosperity: A new deal for the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford Arc - are available for download as PDF documents.

Our multi-sports and parkland project for Ive Farm in Leyton has started on site. Piling is now complete for the community pavilion building that will be at the heart of the new development.

5th Studio have been working closely with London Borough of Waltham Forest on the strategically important regeneration of this previously neglected public open space within the Borough.

The plans include a full size 3G pitch, competitive standard hockey pitch and a 4 court beach volleyball arena. Landscaping includes a publicly accessible green roof, raised spectator seats in the landscape, community allotments, wetland reedbed area and fitness/jogging trails around the park.

The project is due to complete in summer 2018.

Tom Holbrook has been appointed as a member of the RIBA Planning advisory group.

The RIBA advisory groups are made up of expert advisers appointed following an open call to the profession, these advisers bring with them specialist knowledge and experience to help inform RIBA policies and guidance.

Read more in RIBA's Practice News post.

Oliver Smith has been invited to represent The Edge - a campaigning built-environment think tank - on the Membership Panel of the Construction Industry Council.

The Construction Industry Council is the representative forum for the construction industry, with a mission to improve the industry by collectively representing and supporting the built environment professions, research organisations and specialist business associations.

Tom Holbrook will speak at the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Annual Conference at the Royal Dublin Society, 6-7th October. The conference theme is Challenge, Change and Collaboration and Tom will be a protagonist in The Great Debate: The Generalist vs The Specialist. Leading on from his book, Expanding Disciplinarity in Architectural Practice, Designing from the Room to the City, Tom will be defending the role of the generalist in architectural practice, with Dr Alan Mee of University College Dublin, speaking for the specialist.

Tom Holbrook will be taking part in a week-long urban design workshop at the Università IUAV, Venice, 18-22nd September. Other participants include Hernan Diaz Alonso (Director of Sci-arch, Los Angeles) Marjan Colletti (University of Innsbruck), Enric Luis-Geli, Barcelona and Tom Kovac and Mauro Baracco from RMIT Melbourne.

Tom will be discussing 5th Studio’s work seeking to integrate infrastructure with successful city making. Material from the workshop will feature in the International Architecture Biennale, Venice in 2018, and the workshop forms part of the Malaysia Biennial 100YC.

At a lecture at the London School of Economics Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London launched City Hall's Good Growth by Design programme and announced the appointment of Founding Director Tom Holbrook as one of his Design Advocates to help steer the programme.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, launched his Good Growth by Design programme to enhance the design of buildings and neighbourhoods for all Londoners. In a major speech at the London School of Economics, the Mayor spoke of his vision for the future of London as the city’s population heads towards 10 million peopleIn his first major intervention on this topic, the Mayor is calling on London’s architectural, design and built environment professions to help realise his vision of London as a city that is socially and economically inclusive as well as environmentally sustainable.

London needs to provide space for 46,000 new jobs and build 50,000 new homes a year just to keep up with demand, as well as build the social infrastructure to support both. Good Growth will enable this, leaving a legacy of world-class buildings, outstanding public realm and large-scale regeneration for Londoners of the future.

The Good Growth by Design programme will:

• Set ambitious design standards.
• Apply these standards and undertake rigorous design reviews.
• Increase capacity by launching a new social enterprise - ‘Public Practice’ - that will plug the skills gap in local authorities.
• Support diversity to tackle the under-representation of women and people from minority groups in the built environment professions.
• Use open procurement processes such as design competitions to seek the highest standards for public projects.
• Lead by example, with the Greater London Authority being champions of good growth by advocating best practice to support success across the sector.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “My vision for London is a city that enables all Londoners to reach their potential, a city that is inclusive and a city where growth brings benefits to communities.

5th Studio's new Oxford office are taking part in Oxford Green Week event 'Greening your historic home' on 21 June at Lady Margaret Hall. Iona is presenting the recently completed project at Trinity College Cambridge which upgrades the Grade 1 listed building to current energy standards.

Oliver and Iona will be in a panel discussion with other building experts from the University, Oxford City Planning and the construction industry and answering questions on how to save energy within the constraints of a heritage building - of which there are many in Oxford. The 5th Studio Oxford team will be holding a stall and Helena will be introducing 5th Studio's 'Top Trump' green cards of projects completed.

This event is free and can be booked through eventbrite.

More information about our award winning work for Trinity College, Cambridge can be found on our website here.

On 23rd May associate February Phillips took part in the Panel discussion at the Cambridge Associate of Architects annual event, alongside Prof Wendy Pullan, head of Cambridge University Department of Architecture, and Colin Brown, chair of the Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry.

The evening was a huge success with stimulating and provocative discussion on current and potential future issues surrounding the Greater Cambridge area as well as a celebration of 30 years of the Cambridge Architecture Gazette.

Tom Holbrook will be speaking at the Launch Event for Open City’s Green Sky Thinking Week on the theme of ‘How to Build an Open City: three projects changing how we think about London’.

The event will be chaired by Sarah Cary, Head of Sustainable Places and British Land, and Tom will be debating the topic with Holly Lewis of We Made That and Patrik Schumacher of Zaha Hadid Architects.

This year’s Green Sky Thinking is centred on the theme of Building the Open City. Over 50 events are planned: workshops, seminars, hackathons and debates, all run by industry experts. Each takes place in a unique location in London. More details here.

Ongoing work on this project – spanning over ten years for a number of different clients and commissioners – connects strategic thinking with highly practical problem solving to create a new London park in one of London’s most complex post-industrial landscapes. 5th Studio’s involvement has spanned strategy, policy-making, public advocacy, programming and curation, landscape and architectural design, project management and realisation.

This exhibition explores the past, present and future of the project, showcasing current and planned works that are leading the evolution of this former industrial backland.

The exhibition has a number of associated events, including a Breakfast Talk by Director Tom Holbrook on April 7th and two guided walks on the valley- on Wednesday 12th April and Saturday 22 April.

We would like to hear your thoughts on the Lea River Park and Leaway - if you use social media you can use the #Leaway

5th Studio are designers of a new transport interchange and public realm improvements at Vauxhall, London, which together seek to re-establish the lost space of Vauxhall Cross: an important threshold to central London.

The project is catalysed by the replacement of the car-dominated road gyratory, established by transport engineers in the1970s, with a two-way highway arrangement. The project integrates this more urban road plan with one of London’s busiest bus station and interchange with rail, riverboat and underground services. The project also creates a new set of public spaces, including a station square.

A network of public realm spaces in the wider Vauxhall area will create a unified and connective landscape with the transport interchange at its heart. Our work builds on the rich character and history of Vauxhall, and this set of spaces and streets is intended to work as an urban ensemble, articulating the area’s distinct character.

More details - including a series of engagement events - are available here:

https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/roads/vauxhall-cross/

Tom Holbrook is Visiting Professor at the Scuola di Architettura e Società at the Politecnico Milano and will take part in the Milan International Architecture Workshop (MIAW) in February - March with other practitioners including Olav Kristoffersen of Brendeland & Kristoffersen, Norway, Ippolito Pestellini of OMA, Oliver Thill, Atelier Kempe Thill, Lisa Fior of Muf and Luis Basabe Montalvo of Arenas Basabe Palacios, Madrid.

Each research workshop focusses on a specific question related to the urban transformation of Milan. This year the research will concentrate on developing urban scenarios around the Farini rail yard (circa 618.000 m2) as part of an ongoing discussion seven rail yards in Milan about to be vacated by the Ferrovia Statale - a total area of 125Ha returned to urban use.

5th Studio's Trinity College, New Court refurbishment project has been featured in this month's RIBA Journal.

The article sets out the collaborative research project which was key in the development of the detailed designs for renovating this Grade 1 listed building and the conflicts which had to be managed along the way.

Read the article here.

We have been working in Waltham Forest on the council-led regeneration of the Ive Farm Sports Ground in Leyton (4.9ha). The site is categorised as Metropolitan Open Land yet has been neglected and largely inaccessible for many years, with a derelict former pavilion. The proposal includes two all-weather multi-use sports pitches that address a critical shortfall in outdoor sports provision for schools, club and community use across the borough. The project also includes an international standard beach volleyball arena, 60m sprint track, a new sports pavilion, landscaped perimeter jogging trails and natural gym facilities, a woodland car park, community allotments, new and relocated pedestrian and cyclist bridges across the Dagenham Brook and an outdoor petanque area.

The design incorporates a comprehensive sustainable drainage proposal with landscaped reedbed area. The scheme opens up the site as publicly accessible open space and provides crucial links in the network of cross-borough pedestrian and cycling routes.

We are excited to announce that Richard Thompson has joined 5th Studio from Dixon Jones, where he was Associate Director.

At Dixon Jones since 1996, Richard worked on a number of projects including the Royal Opera House, Saïd Business School, Oxford, Chelsea Barracks masterplan, and £100m Kings Place, London - home of the Guardian newspaper.

Richard brings a wealth of experience to 5th Studio and strengthens our ability to deliver complex large-scale commercial projects. Having worked across education, residential and commercial sectors, he also brings experience of all aspects of the design process, managing programme costs and delivery through a variety of contract types and procurement approaches, and through all phases of the design and construction process.

Richard enjoys working closely with clients and consultants to fully understand the functional and commercial drivers of projects, and believes that successful schemes stem from a truly collaborative approach to design and construction.

See Richard's profile on the People section here.

Tom Holbrook will be speaking at Cambridge Ahead’s Annual Seminar on 18th January 2017, which will highlight placemaking, asking ‘What makes for a Successful UK City in the 21st Century?”.

Cambridge Ahead’s annual seminar, will take place on the morning of 18th January 2017 at Granta Park, Great Abington. The seminar will cover a variety of topics but will highlight place-making and its relevance to Cambridge. This is a widely debated issue, especially its contribution to quality of life. It is arguably more so in high growth cities, where demand for those other aspects that contribute to a strong quality of life – housing, commuting, education and leisure – can rapidly outstrip supply.

More details are available here, and registration which is required can be carried out here.

The University of Westminster's Ambika P3 gallery is proud to present ADAPT-r, a major exhibition exploring research processes of working artists, architects and designers – revealing the diverse approaches and how they do what they do. From digital designers to landscape architects, brand designers to design activists, painters to performance artists, and many different types of architects, including 5th Studio's Tom Holbrook.

The exhibition is on display from 26 November - 18 December 2016, open daily from 10am - 6pm, more information on the exhibition can be found here.

ADAPT-r is a partnership of seven European Universities - Aarhus School of Architecture (Denmark), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture (Belgium), Estonia Academy of Arts (Estonia), Mackintosh School of Architecture - Glasgow School of Art (UK), RMIT Europe (Spain) & University of Westminster (UK). For more information see: http://adapt-r.eu

This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 317 325.

Tom Holbrook will be taking part in a discussion on the regeneration of the Ligurian city of Imperia, co-commissioned by RMIT University, the Politecnico di Milan, the local council and Confindustria - the town’s business organisation.

Tom will be speaking on examples of collaborative regeneration projects in the UK: 'casi di progettazione in collaborazione allargata, in Inghilterra’ Friday 18th November, 9.30-13.00 Auditorio Camera di Commercio di Imperia, Via Belgrano 10, Imperia Oneglia, Imperia.

Tom Holbrook’s book - Designing from the Room to the City: Expanding Disciplinarity in Architectural Practice, has been published by Routledge. The book emerged from Tom’s PhD at RMIT University, supported by an EU Adapt-r fellowship.

A launch event and talk with Dr Tom Holbrook, Prof. Kester Rattenbury and Prof. Leon van Schaik, will be taking place at Ambika P3 - Westminster University. The launch is part of a series of events to conclude this EU Adapt-r funding programme, and there will be an opportunity to preview an exhibition of the creative practitioners who have been part of this process.

Registration for the event is free and should be made on Eventbrite.

Thursday 24 November 18.30-20.30

Ambika P3, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5LS

Credits: Photograph by Claus Peder Pedersen

February Phillips will be talking about 5th Studio's New Court, Trinity College, refurbishment - at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Architecture, in association with ARCSOC (the University of Cambridge Architecture Society) and the Cambridge Association of Architects.

The theme of how the interventions at New Court responded to the idea of 'local character' will be explored alongside four other presentations from practicing Cambridge architects. This lecture is intended to engage practitioners and students in discussions about the current topics affecting development in Cambridge.

Wednesday 16th November - 18:30 Faculty of Architecture, 1 Scroope Terrace, Cambridge CB2 1PX

The judges of the Civic Trust Awards - established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment – have shortlisted the New Court project as a Regional Finalist for the 2017 awards. The project will be put forward to National Panel for consideration for a National/International Civic Trust Award or Commendation.

As the longest standing, independent built environment awards scheme in Europe the scheme has continued in its objective to recognise projects that have made a positive contribution to the local communities they serve and provides an opportunity for the general public to participate in nominating and judging schemes from their local area. Award winning projects are expected to exhibit strong sustainability credentials, a high level of inclusive and accessible design, and to provide a positive civic contribution.

The Civic Trust Awards/Commendations will be presented at the 58th Annual Civic Trust Awards Ceremony at The Guildhall, Winchester on Friday 10th March 2017

5th Studio are delighted to have been appointed by the National Infrastructure Commission to make recommendations on the Built Environment of the Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Oxford and Northampton Growth Corridor. The study was commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his letter to NIC Chair Lord Adonis in March 2016 in which the the Commission were asked to: “make recommendations to maximize the potential of the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford corridor as a single, knowledge intensive cluster that competes on the global stage, whilst protecting the area’s high quality environment and securing the homes and jobs the area needs. The commission will look at the priority infrastructure improvements needed and assess the economic case for which investments would generate the most growth.” The study - which the practice will be working on with SQW - will inform recommendations to government on maximising the growth potential of the corridor; in particular by spatial analysis, assessing the most appropriate options to deliver significant new housing, support for jobs and growth across the corridor.

Oliver Smith will be presenting 5th Studio’s New Court project at a 2-day workshop as part of the Venice Biennale Architettura 2016.

Sponsored by the Italian Chamber of Commerce for the UK and Valorizzazioni Culturali, the exhibition and workshop brings together international experts from different sectors across Europe to focus on ‘best practices’.

The project will be displayed at the ground floor exhibition in the 17th century building on the 29th and 30th October in the Palazzo Flangini in Venice, with a conference/workshop from 2pm on the Saturday.

- Workshop (29th October) and exhibition (29th – 30th October)

Twelvetrees ramp, one of the key interventions along the Leaway has topped out this week. The striking wayfinding structure has been installed at the head of the ramp to highlight the access down to the River Lea from Twelvetrees Crescent bridge.

This structure which draws on the maritime vernacular of daymarks, is designed to be clearly visible from the nearby A12 to the west, and to appear over the assortment of utility bridges to the north of Twelvetrees Crescent bridge.

The Westlegate Tower has been shortlisted by the Sunday Times for a British Homes Award.

The awards were established to celebrate and commend design excellence in today’s new homes, and feature a special category recognising the conversion and upgrading of existing buildings.

The Westlegate development transforms an 1960s office tower, creating exceptionally high-quality apartments as the centrepiece of a new mixed-use quarter in the heart of historic Norwich.

The sun is out, the external works have (almost) been completed and for a few moments before it becomes a car park again, New Court is returned to its former glory, providing a great opportunity for Tim Soar to photograph the project.

Progress has been made on the delivery of one of the first phase of Lea River Park projects at Canning Town Riverside. This previously overlooked space had become overgrown and had become an attractor for anti-social behaviour. Designs were developed to create a new public space which worked down to a new riverside clearing and are in the process of being delivered by London Borough of Newham. Hard landscaping has now been completed, including moments to pause and enjoy views along the river. New tree planting has been completed and the soft landscaping of the site to JCLA's planting plans will begin soon.

After several years of detailed planning and collaboration between the LLDC, LB Newham, LB Tower Hamlets and Transport for London, the signage strategy, which 5th Studio worked on, to incorporate the Leaway route into the Legible London family of products is coming to fruition. The Leaway route is being integrated into new Legible London signage being installed in the Lower Lea Valley, detailed updates have been carried out to incoroporate changes into the base mapping, and consideration taken into signing the route during its phased delivery.

After a summer of various Leaway projects progressing on site, the perches designed as an intrinsic element of the Leaway palette of street furniture have begun installation. They are illustrated here at the entrance to the pedestrianised Wharfside Road, an area formerly blighted by flytipping and on-street parking, which now acts as a key gateway into the developing Lea River Park.

5th Studio's New Court has been featured in the CIBSE Journal.

The "highly sensitive upgrade that sets the standard for the green retrofitting of UK’s historic buildings" received its first monitoring report in June, confirming the success of all planned sustainabilty improvements.

The full article is available to read on the CIBSE journal, and in the publications section of this website.

5th Studio’s renovation of New Court has been shortlisted for this year’s Architects’ Journal Retrofit Awards. These recognise and celebrate exceptional and innovative design, engineering and construction excellence that enhances the life of the built environment through the adaptation, retrofit and conservation of existing buildings.

The project provided 169 student rooms meeting contemporary standards of comfort, amenity and exceptional standards of sustainability within the historic interiors of this Grade 1 listed building. The completed project sets a landmark in the reconciliation of the potentially conflicting requirements of heritage and sustainability.

The winners will be announced at the AJ Retrofit awards in September.

5th Studio's work will be included in the forthcoming exhibition Occupied, at the the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology later this year.

The exhibition will bring together local and international practitioners to showcase proposals that anticipate the critical design approaches, ideas and strategies of the imminent future.

More information can be found here.

The piling rig arrives at Twelvetrees, Lower Lea Valley, time-lapse courtesy of contractors, the Buckingham Group, action by WHH barges Van-Elle, piling rig operator.

Tom Holbrook & Kieran Perkins will be taking part in the London Stansted Cambridge Commission's fourth Growth Commission Inquiry Event - Implementing Change.

Organised by the London Stansted Cambridge Consortium, this event will explore the main opportunities and challenges to this major growth corridor. Tom will be addressing the issues of place-making for the tech economy and what the key requirements to create globally competitive locations and environments for tech and knowledge-based enterprise might be.

The event takes place between 9-11.30am on Thursday 12th May, at BL_NK, 25-27 Curtain Road, Hackney, London, EC2A 3LT.

Further information on the event and registration can be found here.

5th Studio's Tom Holbrook will be presenting the practice's investigations into the subject of the 'Entrepreneurial City' in his lecture at the Politecnico Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban studies. The lecture will take place on Tuesday 3rd May at 18:30 in Aula Gamma.

“How should we design and govern our cities? Although we are not prophets, we can investigate and imagine tomorrow’s city, research it by design. 2016’s International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam, entitled THE NEXT ECONOMY takes the main challenges of the twenty-first century as its starting point. The biennale imagines the city of the future: the healthy and socially inclusive city, the productive city, and the sustainable green city. The city in which public space once again takes centre stage”

Maarten Hajer is the Curator of the seventh Biennale. Hajer is internationally renowned for his exploration of the relationships between public policies, urban development and environmental issues.

The biennale will incorporate 5th Studio’s Stour City proposition for a new city - on the East Coast of England - created through an active state delivering enabling infrastructure and promoting granular tract development and an intensive use of land.

5th Studio’s refurbishment of Westlegate House in Norwich has received a RIBA East Award. This project involved the redevelopment of the 11-storey Westlegate Tower, one of Norwich’s most high profile buildings, together with its immediate urban setting, blighted by the creation of the tower in the early 1960s.

"The Westlegate Tower project has redeveloped one of Norwich’s most high profile, and most unpopular buildings.…5th Studio decided to question the City Council’s planning policy, which recommended demolition of the tower; they saw that retention and reuse were not only possible but could bring real positives in terms of sustainability and a new social cohesion for the area.

In order to improve the proportion of the tower, its height was increased by three storeys. This, together with new cladding, means that the development now provides a landmark for the city rather than the eyesore that the unused tower became.

At ground level the development also repairs the urban grain in a most successful way. The new accommodation knits together a neglected area of the city’s urban fabric; a previously unloved car park in leftover space at the base of the tower. The development has helped to re-establish the historic grain of lanes, yards and passageways, rediscovering the lost Lion and Castle Yard as an enjoyable public thoroughfare, and enriching the pedestrian experience."

Extract from RIBA judges citation

New Court has been awarded the Cambridge Design and Construction Award for ‘Conservation, Alteration or Extension of an Existing Building’ and a Commendation for Sustainability - a special, discretionary award that may be awarded each year for good examples of sustainable design and construction.

The project, which provided 160 high-quality, sustainable student rooms within the historic interiors of a Grade I Listed building, sets a benchmark for reconciliation of the conflicting ambitions of sustainability and heritage. The integrated proposals have reduced the energy consumption, and will reduce the carbon emissions, by 75% and 88% respectively.

5th Studio are seeking an ambitious, qualified architect with housing and regeneration experience to expand the senior team at the London studio. For further information, and details on how to apply, please visit Dezeen. The deadline for applications is the 30th April 2016.

After years in planning there is now exciting activity along the banks of the River Lea.

The neglected landscapes around the A13 at Wharfside Road are being transformed by the London Borough of Newham to the designs of 5th Studio with JCLA. This scheme will create an accessible riverside, and transform Wharfside Road into a shared surface with new street tree planting and street furniture.

At Twelvetrees Crescent Bridge work has just commenced on creating a major Leaway project designed by 5th Studio in collaboration with Alan Baxter and JCLA. The Twelvetrees ramp will allow for the first time a connection between the towpath from Three Mills and the eastern riverside walk of the River Lea to Cody Dock, and is due to open in Autumn 2016.

These projects are key phase 1 projects in longer-term delivery of the Lea River Park. Together these, and a series of other planned projects will create the connective infrastructure needed by the housing zones of the Lower Lea Valley

5th Studio have won planning consent for the redevelopment of the Ferry Boat Inn site in Norwich, following our award-winning project at the City’s Westlegate.

The proposals provide 41 homes around a landscaped courtyard creating a new frontage to the River Wensum and the Novi Sad bridge. The project aims to repair the King street frontage and refurbish the listed but derelict inn.

New Court has been shortlisted for the Cambridge Design and Construction Awards, 2016.

In our presentation for the best project for Conservation, Alteration and Extension of an Existing Building, 5th Studio highlighted the breadth of collaborations involved in the landmark project to reduce the energy use and carbon emissions of this Grade 1 listed building by 75% and 88% respectively.

As well as the client, consultant, and local authority teams, these collaborations included a wide range of industry and academic experts in building physics, heritage, and planning policy.

5th Studio’s refurbishment of Westlegate Tower in Norwich has been shortlisted for this years RIBA East Award. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at St John’s College, Cambridge on 14th April.

5th studio have been appointed by Peabody as architects for the transformation of thirteen towers at Thamesmead.

In parallel with the planned arrival of Crossrail, and the development of the new Housing Zone, this work forms a critical part of the Peabody Vision, re-casting Thamesmead as a new quarter for London.

The towers formed part of the original phase of the Thamesmead development in the early 1970s, and were built using a structural concrete panel system, prefabricated on site. The project will address both the character and the environmental performance of the towers.

"Fifth Studio's Westlegate housing and retail scheme regenerates a broken edge of Norwich, kitting it back into the medieval street pattern."

5th Studio's refurbishment of Westlegate is featured in January's edition of the RIBA Journal. The article can be viewed in full here.

Sustainable Building Conservation, a collection of case studies and essays edited by Oriel Prizeman for RIBA Publications, will be launched on 15 December at our London Studio. The book features an essay by Oliver Smith, describing our groundbreaking work in sustainable retrofit on the Grade 1-listed New Court at Trinity College Cambridge.

The Norwich Society awarded our Westlegate project its Design Award for housing at its bi-annual awards recognizing the best contemporary architecture in the city.

Jonathan Hooton, chairman of The Norwich Society, said: We were delighted with the number and quality of nominations. Norwich is an absolutely wonderful city with many fine buildings and it’s important to us that new buildings reflect that.

Tom Holbrook joins a stellar cast, including Nathalie De Vries, Nicholas Serota & Selina Mason on the newly established independent design panel for HS2, Britain’s second high-speed rail-line. The Panel, chaired by dRMM director Sadie Morgan, will be the project’s independent adviser, helping it to deliver on its key design principles and will ‘mentor and inspire HS2 to design a transformational railway system which will exceed all of our expectations’.

HS2 Ltd chief executive, Simon Kirby said:

“I’m delighted the Independent Design Panel has now been formed. It’s a mark of HS2’s significance that it’s attracted such a wealth of talent to help us deliver this transformational piece of infrastructure for the nation.”

The London School of Architecture’s monthly Show and Tell asks leading figures to give an insight in to how they design. On Tuesday 20 October, 5th Studio’s Tom Holbrook joins architect and urbanist Deborah Saunt (DSDHA) and planner David West (Studio Egret West) to discuss the crafting of cities. The session will be chaired by London School of Architecture Director Will Hunter: See more here

This event, on September 5th, will bring together writers, historians, architects and economists to discuss the development of London’s periphery. Doughnut will be the first event of its kind – an adventurous celebration of all things Outer London and a critical reflection on the rapid transformation that the city’s periphery is currently experiencing.

Tom Holbrook will join Will Self, Hanif Kureishi, Gillian Darley, Ken Worpole, Ellis Woodman and Dutch historians Crimson Wouter & Michelle Provost among other speakers. Outside, businesses and artists from London’s periphery will be manning pop-up food stalls and staging music performances. This collaboration between the Architecture Foundation and the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich promises a great day out!

Tickets & further information available here

5th Studio is proud to be part of the Practice Network supporting the newly-launched London School of Architecture which opens in the autumn.

With fees of £6,000 a year, the school offers an alternative Part 2 route into the profession, and is designed to cut the cost of architecture education. Students spend half their time working in practice.

5th Studio’s Tom Holbrook is the school’s Leader of Urban Studies.

5th Studio has been shortlisted to design a new cultural quarter at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, dubbed ‘Olympicopolis’. The practice is part of a team with Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios, DRDH, Coffey and David Kohn Architects, together with Expedition, Gardiner & Theobald and Atelier Ten. The project will establish new east London locations for The Victoria & Albert Museum, Sadler’s Wells, University of the Arts London (London College of Fashion) and a fourth institution yet to be confirmed.

More information on the project has appeared in The Guardian and from competition organiser, Malcolm Reading.