We Made That

We are excited to announce the launch of the final Kensal Voices podcast!

Please click on the links to listen to all 3 episodes of the Kensal Voices podcast on YouTube, Mixcloud or Soundcloud.

Alongside our Kensal Canalside creative workspace project we teamed up with Octavia Foundation to deliver the Kensal Voices youth programme. This multimedia project is centred around exploring community and change in the local Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area through podcasting, sound design, creative writing, performance, architecture and the digital arts.

A group of students from across the North Kensington aged 13-19 worked hard to create the podcast over 8 weekly workshops delivered in conjunction with a range of exciting partner organisations and professionals including Afterparti, Kids on the Green, Portobello Radio and the Rugby Portobello Trust.

The podcast is brought to you in a collaboration between We Made That, The Mayor Of London’s Office, the Royal Borough Of Kensington & Chelsea and the Octavia Foundation. Find out more here.

Following recent expansion of our team, we’re pleased to offer further opportunities for candidates wanting to help create equitable cities through incisive research and impactful projects:

Senior Architect/ Urban Designer (Projects leader)

The ideal candidate will be responsible for leading small project teams in delivering masterplanning projects, influential spatial strategies and large scale public delivery projects across the capital and the UK. Job description here.

Urban Research Assistant

The ideal candidate will have a desire to work on a number of live research and strategy projects, assisting with quantitative and qualitative analysis. Job description here.

Urban Researcher/ Senior Urban Researcher

The ideal candidate will have a desire to lead live research and strategy projects, and support our team in understanding the environmental and social impact of our work. Job description here.

Deadline for applications is 30th September 2021. See more information in each of the job descriptions.

We Made That is London Living Wage accredited and an equal opportunities employer. We are keen that our practice reflects the diversity of communities we design for, and welcome and encourage applications from under-represented groups.

(Image: We Made That team 2017-21)

Swaffham and Watton engagement has begun, and Dereham Town Delivery Plan is now live.

We Made That and Hatch have been appointed by Breckland Council to develop action-oriented Town Delivery Plans for Dereham, Attleborough, Swaffham, Thetford and Watton. These plans will involve an assessment of the latest available data and will be based on extensive local engagement. The plans will include new and refreshed project proposals to support economic, social and environmental development in each town. Further information can be found on Breckland Council’s dedicated webpage here.

We Made That will lead the engagement process for each town. There are a series of upcoming public and stakeholder events planned for Swaffham and Watton, starting with a ‘Meet the Team’ event which will be a chance for members of the public to meet with the consultant team and ask questions. Sign up for the Watton events here and Swaffham events here.

The Dereham Town Delivery Plan has now been published for public feedback. The document is available for comment for six weeks, up until 30th September and all comments can be sent through to the project team at TDPS@breckland.gov.uk. Work will commence on Attleborough and Thetford at the end of the year.

The team at We Made That has recently expanded with four new starters.

Larry Botchway joined We Made That as a Senior Architectural Assistant. Since completing his Part I at University of Portsmouth and his Part II at Royal College of Art, he has gained a wide range of experience in both the UK and Spain, working on several projects in different sectors, including residential, cultural, urban planning and conservation. He is also co-founder of Power Out of Restriction Collective - a social enterprise that focuses on the development of communities through the elevation of young people.

Ana Santini joined We Made That as a Senior Urban Designer. She is a chartered landscape architect with eight years’ experience in the UK, Denmark and her native Croatia. Ana has led projects of a range of scales including urban regeneration frameworks, residential capacity reports, town centre strategies and visions, residential and mixed-use masterplans, citizen engagement processes and landscape masterplans.

Jake Williams joined We Made That as an Architectural Assistant. He graduated in 2019 from The Bartlett School of Architecture and his experience ranges from masterplanning and housing design to leading the design of a landscape gardening project. He has also conducted research projects, and had his writing published.

Serena Purewall joined We Made That as a Studio & Bid coordinator. She holds a Book Arts & Design BA from London College of Communication at the University of the Arts London, and has wealth of experience in coordinating brand design processes, ensuring the timely delivery of projects, directly liaising with clients on behalf of the studio and management teams.

We Made That and long-term collaborators and regeneration specialists PRD, have recently been appointed by Hackney Council to develop and implement a Town Centre Strategy for Hackney Central. The project will recognise and build on Hackney Central’s unique culture, heritage and distinct neighbourhoods. It will also consider potential physical changes in the town centre to support the town centre’s diverse communities and stakeholders and ensure a fair recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The team is supported by heritage specialists Authentic Futures, green infrastructure specialists Green Infrastructure Consultancy and cost consultants Stockdale. The role of local people and businesses is crucial in developing this strategy, and engagement specialist Maayan Ashkenazi will work with the Council to ensure Hackney Central communities are at the heart of building on the findings of the Hackney Central Conversation listening exercise and the newly established Hackney Central Community Panel.

“We’re looking forward to bringing positive impacts to Hackney Central. It’s a critical time to be setting new trajectories for how high streets and town centres adapt to the challenges we’ve experienced and the challenges ahead. Our work with the Council and the wider public will blaze a progressive trail for shaping inclusive change. The newly established commission will work to review the strengths and challenges of the town centre today, before developing a vision, planning for transformational change to benefit residents and businesses, and finally focusing on implementation and delivery of the plan.” - Oliver Goodhall

For more info on the project see Hackney Council website here.

We are pleased to announce that the final draft of the Folkestone Town Centre Place Plan is now live here. The Place Plan sets the direction for a sustainable and vibrant future for Folkestone Town Centre. Folkestone & Hythe District Council commissioned this work to create the best future for Folkestone town centre and for all those who live in, work in and visit it. It is a chance for residents and businesses to submit any final feedback on the actions and priorities included in the document until 20 August 2021. This draft of the document will be going to Cabinet on 22 September 2021. 

The Place Plan for Folkestone Town Centre sets out a vision to guide the town centre’s evolution for years to come. Informed by a comprehensive community engagement process and input from industry experts, the document is intended to build on current strengths and guide a trajectory that responds to contemporary challenges. It will be used to guide future public sector investment and action in Folkestone town centre, and may be used to develop emerging planning policy and guidance.

We Made That, led the project design team and the community engagement process. Transport and movement specialists, Steer, looked into town centre access. Socio-economic experts, PRD, advised on the economy and town centre business opportunities. Architects, Fletcher Priest, advised on the architecture of specific opportunity sites and the Night Time Industries Association provided support to review the existing licensing policy to support the evening economy in the town.

We are pleased to announce that our Cheney Row Park project recently won a Pineapple Award 2021 in the ‘Public Space’ category!

Cheney Row was a former landfill site that, through remediation and community co-design, has been transformed. The £1.2m project was commissioned by Waltham Forest Council and opened in the summer. Over 1,300 people from the local area and beyond attended the launch day!

The previously empty 3ha now has:

• A new events space and outdoor stage where activities and performances can be held;
• A new playspace supporting active, social, sensory and creative play;
• 467 new trees to support biodiversity and ecological interest in this overlooked corner of the Lee Valley Regional Park; and
• A BMX cycling track opened up for new use supporting local cycling charity COG to run BMX sessions for young people.

Join Nisha Kurian and fellow panellists Niki Gibbs (Community Plan 4 Holloway), Yvonne Jewkes (University of Bath) and Kate Paradine (Women in Prison) discussing a Women’s Building on the site of the former Holloway Prison, exploring how the process of design development and community engagement can play a therapeutic role when delivering a building with such heavy history and symbolic importance.

This event is the third in a series of architectural panel discussions organised by Reclaim Holloway and is one of the Curator’s Picks at this year’s London Festival of Architecture, centred around the theme of ‘care’.

Book your tickets here.

Links to all 4 events in the Reclaim Holloway series here.

We Made That will be leading the Dereham Intervention Workshop at 6pm 17th June as part of the Breckland Town Delivery Plans project.

The project was launched in May as “Future Breckland: Thriving People & Places”. This new initiative will create a blueprint for the future of the district, with a focus on each of its five market towns (Dereham, Thetford, Attleborough, Watton and Swaffham) and their unique strengths. We are working with Hatch Regeneris, as well as local residents, businesses and stakeholders throughout the project to develop Delivery Plans for each town.

The Derham Intervention Workshop marks the fifth in a series of public engagement events that focus on Dereham. It is a public event and all are welcome to attend. The purpose of the workshop is to discuss the emerging project proposal ideas before full draft proposals are submitted. A limited number of tickets are available here.

We Made That and PRD are hosting a series of online discussions focusing on the ways in which social integration can be a fundamental component of what architects and built environment professional do.

We increasingly care about wellbeing, quality of life and inclusion when we think about how places are planned, developed or adapted, but we could do a lot more. Using the three themes of the London Mayor’s Social Integration Strategy, we will take a critical view of three different projects, reflecting upon their successes but also inviting challenge as to how they could achieve more.

Book now!  

‘Relationships‘ – Thursday 10th of June 2021 at 5pm, with Ketki Mudholkar (Hawkins\Brown), Farah Elahi (GLA), Jill Rutter (British Future) and David Robinson (Shift Design). Book here.

‘Participation’ – Thursday 17th of June 2021 at 5pm, with Sohanna Srinivasan (Karakusevic Carson Architects), Jack Skinner (Selby Trust) and Dr Eve Avdoulos (Young Foundation). Book here.

‘Equality’ – Thursday 24th June 2021 at 5pm, with Dr Bridget Snaith (UEL & Shape landscape architecture), Rita Olufunmi Adeoye (London Legacy Development Corporation) and Beth Collier (Wild in the City). Book here. 

Half day workshops for groups of six young people to explore the design and architecture of key locations in Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark & Wandsworth are now open for applications.

Each workshop is free to attend and will be facilitated by a leading practitioner from the London Practice Forum participating practices alongside an array of exciting collaborators; NimTim Architects, Urban Symbiotics, Alpa Depani and Salads.

There are 4 different workshops you can sign-up to through a simple application process. Tell me more and apply by 20th June to take part here.

The Thames Estuary Production Corridor Partners has selected a team to design and deliver the next phase of their ambitious project to ensure the estuary becomes the UK’s largest and most significant concentration of creative production. The appointed team is led by We Made That and comprises Hawkins\Brown, PRD, Ramidus, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy, Suzie Norton and Jan Miller. It is the shared vision of the Mayor of London, the South East LEP and partners in East London, South Essex and North Kent, and is supported by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Over the next twelve months, the project team will work with Partners to identify new development sites for creative and cultural production, formulate action plans for the region’s high growth fashion and screen-based industries and develop feasibility studies for new flagship cultural infrastructure across the region.

Thames Estuary Production Corridor is a bold programme to build a world-class centre for creative production along the Estuary. It is the shared vision of the Mayor of London, the South East LEP and partners in East London, South Essex and North Kent, and is a unique example of an active cross-boundary partnership and strategic collaboration.

The Thames Estuary Production Corridor will play a crucial role in London and the South East’s recovery, economically and socially, after COVID-19, potentially creating 50,000 jobs and generating £3.7bn for the UK economy. Cultural and creative industries will be integral to accelerating the UK’s economic and social recovery and the Thames Estuary Production Corridor will help create thousands of jobs, building world-class cultural infrastructure and developing local skills opportunities that will be crucial to deliver sustainable growth.

Read more.

Please join us 6.00-7.30pm on Thursday 10 June to discuss the development of the ideas and actions for the draft Place Plan. For more information and to sign up for the second and final virtual webinar event here. 

The Place Plan will set clear ‘missions’ and propose specific actions to help shape the future of Folkestone’s Town Centre. The virtual webinar will include a presentation and opportunities to feed back on the emerging proposals that has been informed by our research and the engagement process so far.

We held a virtual public event in April to provide everyone with a chance to share the emerging priorities and vision for discussion. More than 180 people tuned in live to the webinar and 225 questions were asked in the Q&A section. The recording and presentation from the first event and detail on the engagement process so far are available to view on the Place Plan project website here.

Stride has launched a new event series aimed at bringing together change-makers and underestimated talent in the creative and tech industries.

Stride: Barrier Breakers is a series of knowledge exchange events hosted by Stride that will help attendees establish connections, share key learnings and promote development opportunities to nurture creativity and innovation - for creatives, startups and growing enterprises.

You can hear from RE—SET—GO programme leader Nisha Kurian.

Dispatches from the Old Boys Network: Host Victoria Ijeh from Iconic Steps leads a lively discussion with panellists Marc Lewis from School of Communication Arts, Nisha Kurian from We Made That and Oliver Benjamin from A New Direction about increasing diversity in traditionally white male dominated sectors.

Attendance is free: register now on Eventbrite.

We Made That recently held a virtual public engagement event to share the emerging priorities and vision for Folkestone Place Plan with the local community. An amazing 182 people tuned in live to the webinar and 225 questions were asked in the Q&A section.

We’re keen to capture individual comments on the proposals. If you would like to get involved, the proposals are available to view in the presentation slides, or you can watch the webinar on our YouTube channel. All responses will help us shape future work on the Place Plan and what Folkestone Town Centre could look like in the future. The survey will be open until Sunday 9 May, available here.

We Made That are leading on the project, working with a team of specialists, with transport and infrastructure consultants Steer; socio-economic analysts PRD; and professional licensing policy advice provided by the Night Time Industries Association. Fletcher Priest architects will contribute their expertise to the architecture of specific opportunity sites.

We Made That and Hatch have been appointed by Breckland Council to develop action-oriented Town Delivery Plans for Dereham, Attleborough, Swaffham, Thetford and Watton. These plans will involve an assessment of the latest available data and will be based on extensive local engagement. The plans will include new and refreshed project proposals to support economic, social and environmental development in each town. Further information can be found on Breckland Council’s dedicated webpage.

We Made That will lead the engagement process for each town, beginning with Dereham. There will be a series of public and stakeholder events for each town, starting with a ‘Meet the Team’ event which will be a chance for members of the public to meet with the consultant team and ask questions. Sign up for the Dereham event here.

Design Council has announced its refreshed network of more than 400 built and natural environment experts who collectively embody the organisation’s commitment to make life better by design. The network, which consists of a wide range of active leaders and change makers from various professions, backgrounds and regions, is an essential part of Design Council’s role in delivering design advice and support services in the built and natural environment and beyond.

This new network of experts will join with Design Council’s recently refreshed group of design associates, to form a dynamic community of practice which will share ideas, insights and develop exciting opportunities to collaborate. By bringing together increasingly diverse experts, social and business innovation, service and systemic design, this community of practice is in a strong position to respond positively and even more effectively to some of society’s most pressing challenges.

More information on the Design Council’s Expert Network here, and the full list of new corporate partners, associates and specialists here.

We Made That and PRD are excited to announce that The Margate Town Investment Plan has been awarded £22.2m of Town Deal funding from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The Margate Town Investment Plan provides a long term plan to transform Margate and act as a catalyst for future investment.

The bid was developed with PRD, alongside Thanet District Council, the Town Team, People’s Panel, stakeholders, local businesses and the community. Pleydell Smithyman ran an extensive engagement process that also informed the plan.

Four project interventions have been outlined to address the challenges facing the town, helping to provide long-lasting benefits for local people and create a nationally significant visitor offer to support COVID-19 recovery. The four interventions outlined include Scaling Margate’s Creative Production and Skills, Coastal Wellbeing, Public Realm and Connections and Supporting and Diversifying Heritage Assets.

The full document can be read here.

Are you driven by wanting to help create equitable cities through incisive research and impactful projects? One of these three positions could be for you:

Senior Urban Designer (Projects leader)

The ideal candidate will be responsible for delivering masterplans and area strategies at a range of scales across the capital and the UK and will be responsible for leading small project teams. Job description here.

Architectural Assistant (Part I/II)

The ideal candidate will have a desire to work on urban-scale strategies, participative co-design projects and early stages of architectural project development. Job description here.

Studio and Bid Coordinator

The ideal candidate would have previous public sector bidding experience and enjoy a collaborative environment alongside a highly motivated team of architects, urban designers, researchers and admin staff. Job description here.

Deadline for applications is 18th April 2021. See more information in each of the job descriptions.

We Made That is London Living Wage accredited and an equal opportunities employer. We are keen that our practice reflects the diversity of communities we design for, and welcome and encourage applications from under-represented groups.

We Made That are delighted to be engaging on our proposals to improve Penstock Tunnel and the open space at the eastern entrance of the tunnel. Following our last public engagement event in September 2019, we have been updating our proposals alongside lighting designers Studio Dekka, and artist Emma Smith, to take on on board comments from the public. 

The proposals seek to create better connections between the east and west of the borough with improvements including drainage, wayfinding, lighting and landscaping, along with an integrated artwork commission. The project is part of the wider Connecting Wood Green programme supported by the Greater London Authority’s Good Growth Fund.

Exhibition boards detailing the proposals are available to view on site between 8 – 21 March 2021, as well as on the Haringey Council Penstock Tunnel Improvements page here.