Group aims to capture global business as UK leaves EU
A cohort of professionals from practices including Coffey Architects, Duggan Morris and Haptic have launched a new body aimed at helping the sector explore global opportunities following Brexit.
The programme – named Londonon – seeks to increase research and residency programmes for London-based architects in cities around the globe to “pool resources, question, collaborate, make and experience, to broaden our minds, expand our reach and widen our worldview”.
The bid to make the best of the UK’s departure from the European Union particularly focuses on small- and medium-sized firms, and has won the backing of Liam Fox’s Department for International Trade.
A statement from the collective, timed to coincide with the triggering of Article 50, said the programme’s creation was a response to the “critical juncture in international politics, cultural identity and urban development” faced by the capital.
“As creatives based in one of the most intense and thriving international cities, we are in a unique position,” it said.
“We can, and must, look outward to learn from others and share our own stories as well.”
Coffey Architects principal Phil Coffey said he was “incredibly excited” about the programme.
“The next 24 months while [prime minister Theresa] May negotiates are critical in how we see ourselves as global creatives, and how others see us,” he said.
“We must look to the future, to new ideas, new possibilities, new territories. I look forward to meeting with likeminded members.”
Marks Barfield Architects director Julia Barfield is also supporting Londonon.
“It’s good to see smaller and medium-sized architecture practices taking the initiative, pooling resource, collaborating and looking outward to the wider world to explore ways for them to contribute globally,” she said.
Programme participants will be asked to fund the new body, although figures have yet to be finalised.
A spokesperson said: “The involvement costs will be determined during the research and planning period, as we didn’t want to predetermine the scope/brief before opening it up to the wider the design community, and getting the input and ideas from those people who will be involved for the long haul.”
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