Welcome everyone to the NLA’s 20th anniversary party.

 

I’m Catherine Staniland, Director at NLA. We are so pleased to have so many of our members, colleagues and friends here as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the NLA.

 

We also mark the closing of this years’ London Festival of Architecture, which over the month of June has brought together hundreds of thousands of people to engage in the future of our city, this year through the theme of Voices.

 

Thank you to everyone who has been involved and I’d like to say an especially big thank you to Festival Director Rosa Rogina and our Head of Public Programme Eliza Grosvenor for their leadership in making this years’ Festival such a success.

 

The Festival provides a space to engage with Londoners across city about the role that architecture and urban design has to play in our lives. It also provides a platform to test and learn, through numerous temporary projects and installations, many of which are created by emerging talent.

 

It is in that spirit that we are delighted to have partnered with Culture Mile and Destination City for this street closure at Aldernanbury this week - transforming this into a temporary space for rest, play and knowledge sharing, which will go some way to shaping the future of this part of the city that we now call our home.

 

And so to our 20th anniversary. We have come a long way since we first opened our doors in 2005, when, for context, it had just been announced that London had won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics. 

 

But though much has changed in this time, sitting at the heart of all we has always been this amazing community of built environment professionals, who work together to make London the best city in the world. We have incredible city-making expertise right here in this city, and on this street!

 

Tonight, I have the pleasure of introducing our two co-founders - Peter Murray and Nick McKeogh. 

 

Peter and Nick, as you all know, have not only played a leading role in championing the built environment community of London, but along the way have supported a great many individuals with new ideas and talent too.

 

Myself and our team, both past and present, have benefitted hugely from their passion for London and for city-making - they continue to inspire a culture of collaboration and innovative thinking which is at the centre of all that we do.

 

And so I’m delighted to hand over first of all to Peter, who will say a few words about the NLA’s foundation 20 years ago…

Twenty years ago, next Monday to be precise, we opened the doors to NLA for the first time.

 

I remember it vividly — not just because of the occasion, but because of the extraordinary 48 hours that surrounded it. The night before our opening, we were elated: London had just won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games — we weren’t expecting it, and even the cynics cheered – it was a moment of immense pride and hope for the future of our city. It felt like a new era was beginning.

 

And then, the next morning, July 7th, London was shaken by tragedy. Bombings took 52 lives and injured hundreds more. In a single night and day, we saw both the heights of joy and the depths of grief. And yet, through it all, the city stood firm. People carried on. 

 

I remember Ken Livingstone standing in Trafalgar Square, surrounded by leaders of all the major faiths, addressing a shaken city. His words were defiant and compassionate. He spoke not just as a mayor, but as a Londoner among Londoners — making it clear that those attacks would never divide us. It was a moment of great unity, and it helped to steady the city’s mood. 

 

I’m very honoured that Gill Hicks, the last survivor to be removed from the wrecked trains will be speaking here on June 15th.

 

Through fires, wars, plagues — and pandemics — London has been tested. But each time, the city doesn't just recover. It evolves. It absorbs the lessons of hardship and the energy of hope, and it grows stronger, richer, more complex.

 

It’s in that spirit that New London Architecture was born — to champion this city’s ever-changing fabric, to provoke dialogue, and to bring people together to imagine what London can be. To shape a better city.

 

We have built the largest network – a community - of built environment professionals of any city in the world, We have engaged in, and sometimes led, the debate about the London of the future.

 

I have stepped back from day-to-day involvement but am proud that there is a hugely talented team delivering a busy programme of events guided by the New London Agenda with its aims  to shape a city of Equity, Sustainability and Prosperity, guided through the values of Taking Responsibility, Providing Clarity, and Building Trust.

 

There are too many to name all those who have helped and supported us through the two decades. Many of those people are in the room tonight and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. One isn’t. And that is Barry McKeogh who we must thank for his vison in creating the London models that have been at the heart of our activities and whose support was key in the early days.

 

I must also give my thanks to Nick McKeogh with whom I have worked, with hardly a cross word, for those 20 years. When we presented the idea for a London Centre to the Trustees of the Building Centre, our first home, we were told it was the first time in living memory that the Trustees had agreed unanimously to anything at all!

 

That unanimity has been at the core of our success. Right across the sector we have received amazing support. Our organisational model is envied internationally. Our purpose is clear. We offer a service that all great cities should have.

 

I looking forward watching NLA’s development in the future. Here’s to twenty years of helping to shape a bitter city — and to many more ahead.

Many thanks Peter for your kind words. Can I also thank you for your support, energy, and friendship over these last 20 years – it has been a real honour to work alongside you. 

 

As Peter so eloquently described – it is people that make a city, people that make buildings and places, people that make an organisation and of course people that make a party, so thank you all for coming and celebrating with us this evening – I know that some of you were here with us 20 years ago! 

 

Peter mentioned my father and I can tell those of you that didn’t know him that he loved people – bringing them together, selling to them, working with them, learning from them, having a drink and some ‘crack’ as the Irish would say – and I have come to realise that this love of people has rubbed off on me, which is why I love getting up every morning and going to work. 

 

So it is a real privilege to have so many colleagues here tonight – past and present – you are the people that have been instrumental in helping Peter and I create what NLA is today, the impact it has had, and our amazing current team are helping to shape what NLA will be tomorrow. Thank you all for that.

 

As Peter said, NLA has become a unique community: the membership organisation for the built environment sector in London, representing all the city makers across public and private sectors involved in planning, surveying, financing, developing, designing, engineering, constructing and managing this great city. 

 

According to recent NLA research, this super sector. represents one in ten jobs in the capital, generating over 20% of the total GVA of London – equivalent in scale to the Financial Services industry. 

 

So, as we enter our 20th year, the NLA team have been thinking about how we evolve our approach to support our membership.

 

And central to this will be us championing the built environment sector to government and the public – not just as a facilitator of growth, but as one that is a growth sector in its own right.

 

One that is growing rapidly as a result of urbanisation and decarbonisation, and one in which London leads the world.

 

To this end we will be publishing two pivotal pieces of research over the coming months:

– the first at LREF in September - in conjunction with GLA Economics and LSE - that will define the scale and significance of the built environment sector to London’s economy.

 

– and the second at MIPIM next March, which will explore the global impact of the businesses in our membership, underlining our world-leading position in the built environment.

 

And we will use this research to underpin a new NLA-led “Skills for Places Partnership” working with leading employers in our membership across the built environment disciplines to do two things:

 

- Grow our talent base: working with GLA Skills and our many charitable and education partners to inspire future city makers to choose a career in this great industry, facilitate pathways into education and employment, and support them once they arrive through our NextGen and Diverse leaders programmes.

 

- Sell our talent to the world: working alongside London & Partners and the Government to champion our talent through overseas missions and representation at trade shows, as well as continuing to host international delegations here at The London Centre and our city dialogues series.

 

We will also launch the Built World Summit, taking place here at Guildhall next summer – which we hope will become an annual global gathering of civic and built environment leaders seeking to shape better cities.

 

This autumn we will evolve our membership model to become more equitable based on company size, with an increased focus on helping all our members – both personal and corporate – to build relationships and develop the skills they need to remain competitive in this increasingly fast-changing and often challenging geo-political environment.

 

All of this will be delivered by the wonderful NLA team using our super-powers of convening, connecting and communicating across our familiar programme of research, expert panels, conferences and networking events as well as at our signature events the London Real Estate Forum and London Festival of Architecture, and through the Opportunity London Partnership that we run in joint venture with the mayor’s growth agency London & Partners.

 

In all of this, you can be sure that we remain committed to London and our community: engaging and acting locally whilst collaborating globally with communities, professionals, politicians and investors alike.

 

So, it just remains for me to thank you again for coming and for your continued support and friendship.

 

And please remember that it is only by working together that we will shape better cities.

 

Here’s to the next 20 years!