In a joint venture with Newcastle University, we are pleased to announce the first year of student applications for the Gavin Eldred and PLP Architecture Bursary. Gavin Eldred, 1965 – 2017, earned his degree in Architecture at Newcastle University. Passionate about architecture, Gavin worked to support his studies. He travelled to New Zealand to practice, and after settling in London became a Director at PLP Architecture. Among the significant built work that Gavin helped deliver are The Four Seasons Hotel in Abu Dhabi; NOVA-Victoria in Westminster; and 22 Bishopsgate, the tallest office tower in the City of London. In honour of Gavin’s love for life and Architecture, PLP Architecture will offer a bursary in the amount of £2500 to one student, to encourage the study of Architecture. The bursary will be awarded in four consecutive years to four different students.

The construction of Tower Ten, the new expansion of the World Trade Centre Amsterdam, officially began last week at a Ground Breaking Ceremony launched by deputy director Sandra Thesing of the City of Amsterdam and Ronald van der Waals of CBRE Global Investors, the Fund Manager of the Fund that owns the building in the Zuidas central business district.

Karl Sharro, PLP Partner, presented research on Gulf urbanism in a keynote speech at Dubai Design Week. The discussion illustrated our ideas about the future development of cities in the region, and how technological development can have a bold influence on interaction, movement, culture, learning, the workplace and living. Arab cities today face serious challenges, but they also have huge potential. We have been working on a piece of research, leading to the first in a series of publications, The New Arab City – Volume 1: The Gulf.

PLP Partner and President, Lee Polisano was interviewed by Elizabeth Hopkirk for Building Magazine. The cover story delves into Lee’s history, motivations, hobbies, and aspirations for the future, as well as discussing TwentyTwo Bishopsgate, currently under construction and the tallest structure in the emerging cluster of towers in the City of London.

The Telegraph reports today on the unique interiors of our new residential development for Lodha in Bloomsbury. The building will open at the end of the year, and will offer 230 apartments with amenities for residents, and a landscaped courtyard with communal gardens. The interior design team comprises Bowler James Brindley, and the Spanish designer, Patricia Urquiola – it is her debut residential project in London.

The second of PLP Architecture’s Metropolitan Reflections series was held at the Arts Club in Central London yesterday. The event focussed on the changing nature of work and brought together 10 leading voices in the field. It featured a keynote address from Dr Carl Benedikt Frey, Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment at the University of Oxford.

PLP Architecture is designing an innovative new smart headquarters for Yandex, the global technology leader, in the Gagarinsky District of Moscow. The inclusive, 170,000m2 campus will enable staff to have a healthy and sustainable place for seamless work and recreation, a space for inspiration and fun that will integrate technology with materiality to inspire new ideas and refined ways of working. The campus will be a striking yet sensitive addition to the city’s skyline, sitting on a prominent site near the Moskva River a short distance from the some of the city’s leading research institutions and the location of the company’s first office.

Corso Como Place in Milan, designed by PLP Architecture, was presented today to an audience in Milan at a well anticipated and attended launch event. Manfredi Catella, Founder and CEO of COIMA SGR, client for the project, explained the motivations for the scheme in the wider context of the Porta Nuova masterplan, which aims to connect a new series of developments with high quality public and community spaces.

Karl delivers a regular feed of satirical musings on middle-east politics and culture to his 135,000 followers on a daily basis @KarlreMarks. His posts have recently been collected and published in And Then God Created The Middle East and said ‘Let There Be Breaking News’.

The summer exhibition at the RA is always a favourite event in the London cultural calendar. This year, PLP Architecture was fortunate enough to have two project models selected for the architecture room: Oakwood Tower, and Tour888/IUMO (formerly known as SkyPod). Both projects are the result of our own research, conducted by PLPLabs. Oakwood Tower is the first in a series of collaborations with Cambridge University to interrogate the potential of tall buildings constructed from wood. The IUMO project is an exploration of a new system of circulation that takes elevators out of central cores and positions them on the exterior of buildings. We are interested in how this logistical move might influence the future form of new urban structures.

Lars Hesselgren, Head of Research at PLP Architecture, revealed the latest design for IUMO (formerly known as SkyPod), featuring an innovative propulsion system based on Maglev technology to delegates at the 22nd International Congress on Vertical Transportation Technologies. IUMO is the result of four years of research undertaken by PLP Labs, the in-house think tank of PLP Architecture in London.

PLP Architecture has been named by the London Stock Exchange Group as one of the companies that are making Britain tick. PLP was the first featured company in the Creative Industries sector and the only architectural practice to be singled out for this prestigious publication.

PLP Architecture has been selected for Mayor Sadiq Khan’s new Architecture and Urbanism framework. The framework covers architecture, urban design, public realm, and housing projects on publicly owned land throughout London.

PLP Partner Andrei Martin spoke at Texas A&M College of Architecture. The lecture, titled “Another Kind,” focused on lesser known PLP projects, including N+ Masterplan, Yuyao International City of Culture and Arts, St Helen’s and The Nexus.

Porta Nuova, Milan’s central business district, was awarded Best Urban Regeneration Project of the year at the MIPIM ceremony gala in Cannes on Thursday. The vision of COIMA CEO Manfredi Catella, and the result of a vast collaborative effort – involving more than 20 design architects from 8 different countries including PLP president Lee Polisano and PLP partners Alessandra Luzzatto and Andrei Martin, the project has transformed over 290,000sqm of industrial wasteland into a thriving mixed-use urban hub. Comprising office space, residential units as well as retail and cultural venues, Porta Nuova is one of the largest urban development projects in Europe.

Oakwood Timber Towers I & II feature in the new exhibition ‘Timber Rising – Vertical Visions for the Cities of Tomorrow’ at Roca Gallery. Curated by Studio Woode and Clare Farrow, the comprehensive show is the first of its kind in the UK that introduces the phenomenon of timber structures, sustainability and their ambitious concepts.

Oakwood Timber Tower London features in The Economist Films about visionary wooden buildings and the increasing use of timber as an innovative solution to problems posed by urbanisation. Michael Ramage from the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at the University of Cambridge, highlights the concept of our collaborative project in the video below.

PLP Architecture has launched a studio in Japan. The office is PLP’s second expansion in Asia and will operate alongside existing bases in London and Beijing. Located in the Shibuya area of Tokyo, the studio will serve local clients, support projects in the region and act as a liaison for international clients pursuing opportunities in Japan and Southeast Asia.

We’re thrilled to announce that Sky Central has won Best Workplace of the Year at the Architects’ Journal Awards and UK Project of the year at the FX Design awards, alongside AL_A and Hassell.

The Collective Old Oak features as part of the recently opened exhibition ‘New Urban Body’ at La Triennale di Milano, curated by Giordana Ferri of Fondazione Housing Sociale and designed by ETT SpA Solutions.