A Symbiosis of Urbanity and Nature

Additional author Kate Glensman, Associate Director

Hoare Lea and John Robertson Architects (JRA) set out to reimagine London with the help of those around them. The responses gathered were thought-provoking and sometimes radical.

We recently collaborated with (JRA) as part of the Studio Lates programme for the 2024 London Festival of Architecture. The London Festival of Architecture (LFA) is a month-long celebration of architecture and city-making, taking place every June across London. The theme for this year’s festival was ‘Reimagine’; with the LFA asking participants to reflect, rethink, repair, rebuild, and reimagine.

JRA and Hoare Lea invited designers, clients and the local community to reimagine London as they know it. Together we encouraged people to think big on nature, sustainability, materiality and innovation. Through a series of questions, we gathered participants’ thought-provoking responses, drawings and designs and used them to generate content for our Studio Lates LFA event. The responses were used to create content including AI-generated imagery, a virtual reality experience, an interactive video installation and a demonstration of the novel Hoare Lea sustainability modelling tool, Biome.

At the first Studio Late, we transformed our atrium into a space full of wildlife and greenery. We also demonstrated a novel sustainability tool, Biome, we have developed that compares key performance indicators to appraise landscaping strategies and quantifies the benefits. We showcased AI-generated images generated using participants’ responses to some probing questions and a film with designer’s responses.

The AI images generated provided a glimpse into the future where participants’ views on how London could be reimagined were reality. Images show the Thames clean and full of wildlife and amenity, new modes of transport intended to make London a pollution-free city, along with well-known landmarks rewilded and given back to nature!

At the JRA Studio Late they transformed their meeting rooms into an immersive art installation with the video display of designers’ ideas projected onto the walls. Novel materials, like mycelium, which have the potential to transform the construction world were on display and Arper presented their ‘Catifa Carta’ chair made using a re-engineered wood by-product.

Both Studio Lates events generated discussions encouraging us all to think differently about designing in urban environments.