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Insights

New embodied-carbon contender for Farringdon

By Lee Mallett
The City may have a contender for best-in-class when it comes to the lowest levels of embodied carbon for a new building....
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One Leadenhall Street Event Review

By Xavier Aguilo
Yesterday's journey through One Leadenhall Street was nothing short of architectural poetry in motion....
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City Architecture Forum: Annual Dinner 5 November 2025

By Lee Mallett
Read the report on our Annual Dinner 2025 with guest speaker Tom Sleigh, Chair of the City’s Planning and Transportation Committee, and Robin Dobson, CEO of Platform4...
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Reflections on the Talk: 85 Gracechurch Street

By Matthew Thomas
Architecture is at its most compelling when it not only responds to context but actively reshapes it, carrying the past into the present while opening doors to the future. Last Tuesday’s talk on 85 Gracechurch Street delivered on this, offering an inspiring glimpse into a landmark scheme that sits at...
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TBC . London: going for green and social impact

By Lee Mallett

What is probably the best view of the City core’s cluster, CAF members agreed on their recent tour, is now available from the northern roof terrace of TBC.London – an environmentally and socially impactful remodelling of an unlovely 1980s building at 224-226 Tower Bridge Road, south-east of Tower Bridge that...

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‘Destination in the sky’ – One Undershaft

By Lee Mallett

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The sudden emptying of streets in the Pandemic meant ‘we started to think harder about the human elements of the City in that pause’, said Eric Parry, newly minted CBE in this year’s Birthday Honours, introducing One Undershaft to Forum members and guests at his practice’s Old Street offices. Having...

40 Leadenhall: More of the Metropolis

By Richard Golding

Image courtesy of Make Architects On a sun-drenched afternoon in early April, members of the City Architecture Forum filtered through the thirsty Leadenhall Market to arrive at an exclusive tour of 40 Leadenhall. A striking and unavoidable new presence on the City’s skyline and one of the most ambitious commercial...

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Bishopsgate Goodsyard: Where the buddleia reigns… for now

By Lee Mallett

“East is best, the West is the rest” was a saying in Shoreditch’s artist-led renaissance back in the 1990s, affirmation that a new place was emerging. We’re talking pre-Tea Building and way before Shoreditch House opened in 2007 – when nearly all buildings in Hoxton Square were vacant. Times were...

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Mixed outlook for Truman Brewery

By Lee Mallett

The 4 ha Truman Brewery site which members visited in February, courtesy of development manager Grow Places, like British Land’s nearby Norton Folgate site, has proved controversial and is the subject of three planning applications now in public consultation. Founded in 1666 and the world’s largest brewery by 1873 before...

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A Visit to Panorama St Paul’s

By Russell Whitehead

Panorama St Paul’s is an ambitious adaptive reuse project developed by Orion, transforming a substantial office building in the heart of London. Before visiting, I had heard a bit about the project from the architects, and chat in the market – particularly around HSBC’s pre-let – so was wondering what...

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Art & Architecture in the City

By Cécile Brisac

Artworks taking root within architectural and urban surroundings inspire us and challenge our thinking. Any doubts you may have had about their importance in our daily lives would have been lifted during last week’s talk on “Art and Architecture in the City”. Their production and their influence make for fascinating...

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CAF Annual Dinner 2024: Delivering Destination City

The City Corporation will work “collaboratively and transparently” with developers, architects and their teams alongside businesses to deliver “Destination City”, the object of City Plan 2040, the new Director of Environment, Katie Stewart (below, middle right), told a packed City Architecture Forum annual dinner. 88 CAF members and guests filled...

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Hold the front page for Fleet Street’s renaissance

By Lee Mallett
So the City Corporation sponsored the establishment of a fourth BID in the City, the Fleet Street Quarter Business Improvement District, which opened for business in 2022. Two years on, Mike Fairmaner, former Westminster planner, now head of placemaking for the BID, Introduced an update for CAF members (ironically in...
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2 Finsbury Avenue – Research based design thinking in the pursuit of innovation

By David Magyar

The business of attracting visitors to hotels and restaurants, customers into shops to buy retail products, and tenants into offices has, in recent times, become hugely challenging – and the competition is fierce. Leasing agents would have us believe we are in an ‘arms race’ to persuade people back into...

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Beyond the fringe at Norton Folgate

By Lee Mallett

A world away from the city’ promises one of the headings on British Land’s website for its £225m, 330,000 sq ft office-led mixed-use reincarnation of the Norton Folgate site in Spitalfields that was so controversial in its nascent stages back in 2013 when AHMM prepared their first feasibility study for...

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The City 2040: perspiration outweighs inspiration

By Paul Finch

The draft City of London local plan, at 44,000 words, is a prodigious effort, suggesting future development can be directed or fine-tuned to suit a very decent set of strategies reaching 2040. The product of a process which began in 2016, which has been subject to five public consultations so...

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Retrofit and Re-use First : The City’s journey to net-zero

By Kara Thompson

In the world of sustainable architecture and design, the conversation for the built environment is evolving rapidly, challenging industry norms and pushing for innovative solutions. With the Draft 2040 City Plan focusing on a ‘retrofit first’ approach there is a need to prioritise retention and retrofit of existing building in...

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A New Museum for London pt II

By Lee Higson

On a crisp and sunny February afternoon, a privileged group of 10 CAF members assembled at West Smithfields in anticipation of an early glimpse of the new Museum of London spaces as they begin to take shape. We were met by Museum Director Sharon Ament and Stephanie Kirkness from Museum...

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Transport for a changing Square Mile

By Gonzalo Coello de Portugal

Tuesday, 12 December 2023 City Architecture Forum set up an enlightening presentation by Bruce McVean, Assistant Director, Policy & Projects, City of London Corporation and Roy McGowan, Managing Director at Momentum Transport, followed by a lively discussion with the members of CAF attending the event. Will the UK meet the...

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All rise for Fleet Street’s super-court

By Lee Mallett

Tuesday, 12 September 2023 City Architecture Forum members were treated to a preview of the City Corporation’s new court complex at its Salisbury Square Development on Fleet Street by Lee Higson, director, Eric Parry Architects, and Tim Cutter, director, Avison Young (City of London). If you think a major city...

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Behind the Scenes: 8 Bishopsgate

By Mike Taylor

Wednesday, 10 May 2023 With less than a month until Practical Completion and with the building still a hive of finishing and commissioning activities the CAF were privileged to be given a tour of 8 Bishopsgate by Ollie Tyler of Wilkinson Eyre. Mitsubishi’s latest addition to the London skyline is...

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Behind the Scenes: Urbanest City

By Ross Hutchinson

On the 28th of March 2023 I had the great pleasure of joining the CAF’s tour of Urbanest’s Emperor House development on Vine Street, in the City of London. It was a project that I was unfamiliar with, designed by a practice whose work I used to know well when...

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Behind the Scenes: Leathersellers’ Hall

By Fabrizio Cazzulo

Thursday, 8 September 2022 I joined the tour of the of the Leathersellers’ Hall as a learning opportunity. I am an architect and I am always keen to visit good architecture and expand my pool of references. “The Leathersellers’ Company has occupied this site continuously since 1543. Whilst earlier halls...

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Behind the Scenes: The Gilbert & One Lackington (City Gate House)

By Ailish Killilea

Thursday, 14 July 2022 As we seek sympathetic and practical update of our City offices and rich heritage it was refreshing to join and learn about the recent architectural revamp of The Gilbert & One Lackington (‘The Gilbert’) carried out by Brookfield Properties. The Gilbert never was intended as offices,...

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Behind the Scenes: 21 Moorfields

By Chris Dyson

Thursday, 26 May 2022 New York was rebuilt on large plots of land, in a new grid network, with new ordinances that, for example, forbade the use of wood and encouraged tall buildings. But today, even New York is zoned into conservation areas and plots where tall buildings are allowed....

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Behind the Scenes: 135 & 155 Bishopsgate

By Jenny Freeman

Wednesday, 3 November For those who recall the mid-80s development scene in the City the huge Broadgate redevelopment represented a step change from the dismal multitude of dull buildings provided by so-called ‘developers architects’ of that time. The wholesale demolition of historic, characterful, useable City buildings that redevelopment entailed was...

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Behind the Scenes: 22 Bishopsgate

By Barnaby Collins

Tuesday, 12 October 2021 It is always a pleasure to experience the physical manifestation of one’s endeavours, particularly after such a long break away from being able to move around freely, let alone visit buildings, but it was even more exciting to be afforded the opportunity to tour the new...

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A New Museum for London pt I

By Roy McGowan

Friday, 7th February 2020 On Friday, a group of City Architecture Forum (CAF) Members were fortunate enough to tour the Museum of London’s new home at the historic West Smithfield. A planning application to support the relocation from the Museum’s current site at London Wall was submitted during December 2019...

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Behind the Scenes: Bracken House

By Richard Beastall

Thursday, 24 October 2019 A select group of City Architecture Forum Members were privileged to have an insightful visit around the newly refurbished Bracken House. The building sees the return of The Financial Times to its historic headquarters and their Global Facilities Director, Darren Long, welcomed us to their new...

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Behind the Scenes: One Fen Court

By Etain Fitzpatrick

Monday, 30 September 2019 One Fen Court is a new building located in the heart of the City of London designed by Eric Parry Architect (EPA) and owned by Generali. You’ve probably already seen its colourful iridescent top the peaking put atop the City’s winding streets. We had the rare...

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Frederick’s Place in the world

By Simon O'Donnell

Frederick’s Place Wednesday, 10 July 2019 I think Robert Adam would be very pleased with fellow architect and Scotsman John Robertson for not only extending the life several of his buildings, but also for respecting his original work that survived bomb damage during the Second World War. 7/8 Frederick’s Place...

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Green Pleasure

By Xavier Aguiló

33 King William Street Tuesday, 11 June 2019 On Tuesday 11thJune, we had the pleasure to join John Robertson, Director at John Robertson Architects, to explore 33 King William Street, a new landmark designed and delivered by his team for the international property developer HB Reavis, the latter’s first major development...

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Feeling Uplifted

By Liam O'Grady

London Wall Place 29 April 2019 Brookfield and Oxford Properties have made a bold move to knock down a large stretch of London Wall; the 1950’s version, that is. The impermeable podium building that once spanned the full length of the site is gone, and through close collaboration with many...

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Republic at East India Dock

By City Architecture Forum

Forum members and their guests joined Robert Wolstenholme, Founder of Trilogy Real Estate to discover the vision behind Republic, the next-gen office campus redefining the workplace in East London. The project is a dramatic reimagining of a tired post-modern office campus, the newly launched Import Building is a 270,000 sq...

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