The shortlist has been revealed for the ‘Welcome to Warren Street’ competition, delivered by the London Festival of Architecture with The Fitzrovia Partnership.
The ‘Welcome to Warren Street’ competition invited architects, designers, and artists to propose creative designs that signpost to key destinations in the area and promote the use of less polluted, and safe pathways.
Forming part of a four-year partnership between The Fitzrovia Partnership and the London Festival of Architecture, the programme’s focus will be improving gateways into Fitzrovia and it will test and implement successful public realm schemes to improve navigation and the overall experience around the area. This competition will prioritise Warren Street as the first gateway to reimagine the space and experience through sustainable, creative design solutions which address the challenges at this location.
The winning team will be awarded £37,000 to develop and deliver their design, which will be installed in June 2024 and remain in situ for one month.
The shortlisted teams are:
Able and Elliott Wood
Team ‘Able and Elliott Wood’ is a collaboration between Able Partners, an architecture practice, and Elliott Wood a structural engineering firm, who share a workspace in Fitzrovia W1.
Able Partners specialise in creating bold, innovative and sustainable solutions to urban challenges. Working from our London studio we work to deliver impactful, original and affordable projects that improve our world and challenge conventional thinking.
Elliott Wood is a large established structural engineering practice with sustainability and community at their heart. Driven by strategic consultancy with creative and technical problem-solving, they act as originators, advisors and doers for the built environment. They inspire clients and organisations to think differently about their spaces – not just aesthetically and commercially – but for the benefit of the planet and the people who use them every day.
andre kong and Cake Industries
andre kong studio and Cake Industries have partnered to bring a fresh perspective to Warren Street. Combining creative design with expert engineering and fabrication, the team eagerly anticipates the next chapter.
andre kong studio, an emerging London-based architecture practice, is actively involved in international projects across diverse typologies and scales. Embracing site-specific, playful ideas over a prescriptive style, they advocate for simple and clear solutions, finding a balance between pragmatism and idealism. Their projects are driven by a commitment to people and the planet, with a focus on creating sustainable, diverse, and inclusive spaces for local communities.
Cake Industries, a design, engineering, and fabrication firm (represented by David Knight and Mariana Dolores Rivera), crafts beautiful objects ranging from sculptures and staircases to bridges and small buildings. Operating from their workshop in South London, they work with nearly any material and explore collaboration through design. With a robust in-house skillset and a diverse array of specialised machinery, they deliver bespoke projects to the highest specifications.
Anna Russell, Asia Zwierzchowska and Jaymi Sudra
Anna, Asia, and Jaymi are a collective of designers working at the intersection of art and architecture. Their work is focused on the social, political, and environmental impact of architecture, grounded in a shared joy of making and an appreciation for craft. Throughout their practice, they have collaborated with diverse disciplines and communities, and are driven by an interest in developing enduring methods of collaborative and collective design.
The principles of circular economy sit at the core of their practice, helping to foster their strong commitment towards sustainability, centred around an ecology of care and maintenance. As advocates for inclusive and accessible education, the collective contributes as guest critics, speakers, and tutors at various institutions, as well as organising and running student workshops. Anna, Asia, and Jaymi all currently work at Assemble where they are continuing to develop their interest and skills in sustainable and material-led design through a hands-on approach.
New Practice
New Practice is a women and LGBTQ+ led architecture practice based between Glasgow and London.
They exist to develop the community, creative and cultural capacity of cities and to connect people with the decision-making processes that underpin the urban experience.
They have a strong focus on embedding social value in place-based practice across the UK through community engagement, meanwhile use, retrofit and spaces for community; ensuring that community-led briefs and shared decision-making shape the future of our built environment.
Raskl
Raskl are a young but well-established creative team, with an eclectic portfolio of impactful and functional public realm projects.
Working at the intersection between art and architecture, they’re a design consultancy specialising in collaborative solutions for architects, artists, and developers.
From sculptures that spark conversation to features that seamlessly integrate into their surroundings, their pieces are developed to enrich the everyday experience, while considering their impact on our culture and environment.
As well as their self-ideated interventions, they have an approach which combines open dialogue and skilled fabrication, resulting in functional and engaging objects that enhance urban spaces.
As a team of born problem solvers, they look for the creative solutions within project constraints to get ideas through to reality.
Sandwich Club and Narrative Practice
Sandwich club is a multidisciplinary design collective focused on creating spaces which have meaning to the people that live and work in them. With backgrounds in landscape architecture, skatepark design, spatial design, graphic design and community engagement, we define spaces with meaning as those which bring people together and reconnect them to the natural world.
Narrative Practice is an architectural design and research platform. The studio aims to engage in dialogue around global storytelling and speculates on the futures of the built environment as a cultural and theatrical space. Led by Architect and Director Dhruv Gulabchande, NP since 2020 continues to provide complimentary mentoring to those from underrepresented backgrounds.
The shortlist will be reviewed and interviewed by the jury, chaired by Festival founder Peter Murray OBE, and the winner will be announced later in February.
The full list of jury members are:
Peter Murray OBE (Chair), Lee Lyons, Chief Operating Officer, The Fitzrovia Partnership, Lavinia Scaletti, Placeshaping Manager, Camden Council, Mark Hart, Community Partnership Specialist, TfL, David Byrne, CEO, The Doctors Laboratory, Ruchi Chakravarty, Urban Designer, Edwin Heathcote, Architecture and Design Critic.
