Helping future design talent evolve new ideas in London

Ballymore sponsored the London School of Architecture’s Summer Design Charrette this month – helping connect the design community with emerging talent as they seek to address critical urban challenges. 

The Summer Design Charrette involved architects and others from non-design backgrounds teaming up with students and the London Borough of Hackney to work on a live project, testing ideas and making recommendations for a new development site in the borough.

Participants made site visits and engaged with other groups throughout the two-day process – sharing ideas and debating topics such as the impact of sun and light, how to create play spaces for all, and creating spaces for music groups. The event concluded with students and architects giving presentations to the charrette groups at Hackney Town Hall.

Speaking at the event, Ballymore’s Creative Director Roger Black said: “Good design is at the forefront of everything Ballymore does. It was refreshing to see the new LSA graduates working alongside experienced practitioners and interdisciplinary experts who all brought different perspectives to the table. There was a healthy exchange of ideas and topics of discussion around how to create a sustainable community space for the residents of Hackney.”

A charrette is a meeting which provides a platform for schools of architecture and their students to showcase their talent and creativity, as well as providing an opportunity to work creatively and collaboratively on a ‘live’ project in a team environment. They are hosted regularly by the design community to provoke new ideas and techniques; speaking of the process, the LSA’s director Lara Kinneir added: “The LSA seeks to fuel and find new ways to design the city, responding to the constantly evolving social, economic, and environmental conditions.

“The summer design charrette allowed us to bring together newly graduated LSA students with practitioners and interdisciplinary experts to do just that and we are hugely grateful to Ballymore for sponsoring the event.” 

Find out more about the London School of Architecture here.