London’s Towns: Shaping the polycentric city

As part of the New London Architecture (NLA) Insight Study, London’s Towns: Shaping the Polycentric City, a number of BDP projects have been selected to demonstrate London’s new wave of development. The study looks at how incorporating mixed use facilities and good access into London’s outer urban centres can accommodate the capital’s growing population whilst making them great places in which to live and work for local communities. Regeneration is a key topic in the research and Boxpark Croydon is documented for its role in transforming the area along with Hale Village in Tottenham. Future projects are also explored such as Eden Walk in Kingston upon Thames, which is due to complete in 2020.

Planning director Anna Sinnott joined a select group of built environment professionals to debate the development of London’s towns with employment, transport, character and good growth emerging as keys to unlocking the potential of the capital’s outer reaches.

Landscape architect Lucy White took part in a major design workshop which investigated key public transport sites in outer London’s town centres, generating innovative ideas on how they can be revitalised. Lucy’s team designed a proposal for Burnt Oak in North London where a new public space would be created around the station. The existing sub-station would be repurposed into a space for employment, delivering a range of residential typologies, and co-locating community and civic uses around a new town square with enhanced transport facilities. The group presented their schemes to the Mayor of London’s Design Advocates, including our head of retail Peter Coleman, who was appointed as one of 50 to support the ‘Good Growth by Design’ agenda, contributing to design inquiries and design review processes across London.

An accompanying exhibition and events programme support the NLA Insight Study publication. Further information is below.