I’ll have to say writing my book. I’ve discovered that writing is a very singular experience, and not at all like designing a building. But I’ve just recently had the satisfaction of it becoming real, which has given it a life of its own now, including flying round the world. I’m hoping it can go on to change things.

 

Maybe something else within architecture. It offers so many different ways of working, exploring ideas and taking new paths. In my career I have taught, designed, written policy and advised. It’s quite broad. But if not architecture, I would like to make things or paint, I’m just not sure I could make any money doing either.

 

I landed a job as an ‘office junior’ before university at Edward Cullinan Architects, and worked there, in between studying and a couple of other jobs, for 16 years. To start with, I learned how an office works, and what architects do, and they all became my friends for life. Going straight from school into a place which just oozed passion and belief in architecture, environmental sustainability, building and social good was a stroke of luck. Ted of course was amazing to learn from, but it was a collective –everyone in the practice taught me about how to ‘do’ architecture in an incredibly considered way.

 

If you’re interested in architecture, it offers a lifetime of thinking and exploring. Things are changing fast, so learn as much as you can, keep your mind open and who knows where it will take you. Friends you make at university will be friends and colleagues for life.

 

It’s been an amazing experience. We’ve been working with Earls Court for more than three years, leading the PRIP, a group of 15 local people with a range of needs who we meet once a month, reviewing as much of the developing masterplan together as possible. 

 

Together, we’ve had the space and time to experiment, develop, learn and test ideas and really stretch what co-design and community engagement can look like at scale. The sessions are creative, with a spirit of working together. We have also collaborated with another client of ours, the Van Leer Foundation, which has enabled us to dig deeper with our community engagement, involving parents of very young children. What we are doing at Earls Court is more than the sum of its parts. Intergenerational panels are the way forward in our work now.

 

It’s epic! We tackled it with the PRIP over two sessions, choosing the parts that were particularly focused on the public realm. By this point the panellists were well versed on the jargon around planning documents, and we were able to approach it in quite a structured way. We were very pleased that ECDC and the Hawkins Brown/Studio Egret West team were able to incorporate all their comments and suggestions.

 

It’s mixed, although I’d be positive about London and the UK in general. I have spent some time abroad as part of my research for the book. For better or worse, the planning system in the UK has resulted in quite sophisticated and extensive community consultation compared to many other parts of Europe and the US.

 

We need to move on from the idea that engagement is about ‘de-risking’ planning. It should be about long-term thinking, investment linked to social value, listening to less well-heard voices, and seeing a place through the eyes of the people that live there. Earls Court and other projects have taught us we need to stay involved, through construction, to build and maintain trust so we can manage all the issues that arise.

 

The built environment professions maintain a poor level of diversity and inclusion, which stifles innovation and change. Small and diverse practices like ours are light on our feet — we can do things that the bigger practices can’t and stay ahead of the curve.

 

Badly! My daughter has just qualified as a doctor, a profession where women are now in the majority. The change has happened in her lifetime. It’s embarrassing that we aren’t moving at the same pace.

 

No single group in society has the monopoly on design solutions, but I do think child-friendly housing is better housing. There are plenty of architects who want to design child-friendly housing, and I’m enjoying working with many of them. Between us we’d all like to be doing more!

 

You miss meeting the needs of a significant percentage of the population — their everyday needs, their health and well-being (which has immediate and long-term implications). Thirty five per cent of the population are children along with one primary carer, who spend up to 85 per cent of their time close to home. Local neighbourhoods have a duty to support all of us throughout our lives, and neighbourhoods that are child friendly can help tackle issues of health and loneliness, among many others, that we all face.

Young people are very sensitive and very empathetic. They also know a lot about their local area — where it is good to hang out, where they feel unsafe. They can give you specific ideas — like putting bike racks near benches, so they can lock their bike up when hanging out with friends, or making sure pavements are wide enough, which helps them feel safe. You’ll also hear how young people want to be part of the community, be seen and be welcomed.

 

They are easy to find as they are in schools and youth clubs. We use our youth engagement toolkit — called voice opportunity power — which gives schools the confidence that we are carrying out quality engagement. But increasingly we include young people in intergenerational community consultation groups so that other residents can hear directly from them.

 

London is looked to as being a good example, particularly around child-friendly policies. The London Plan has helped keep children on the agenda as it has a specific area of policy and an SPG. But other cities like Cardiff and Leeds have child-friendly policies and are worth watching.

 

The key is to think about children and play strategically, right from the outset. That is what my book is about. It shows how to do it, how we can build housing more efficiently, and how we can involve children and young people in the conversation.

 

I am an optimist, but I’ve never felt more challenged in my thinking by global events. In terms of development, I’m worried there is a lack of evidence and experience and a lot of powerful lobbying by the volume housebuilders, who are a major part of the problem. I would love to see a vision — I think child-friendly housing could be that vision.