David Taylor  

Hello. Nicola, how are you? 

I'm really good, thank you, David. How are you? 

 

I'm very good, thank you. I'm very keen to talk to you about your current projects, specifically Camley Street, and the way in which it perhaps exemplifies the way that you approach fairly large-scale regeneration at Ballymore. Is it fairly archetypal? 

 

Well, maybe let's just start with where I started at Ballymore, because I've been going on a journey with Ballymore for quite some time; for over nine years now. I'm a projects director; I joined Ballymore in 2017 and in this role, I basically lead the planning and delivery of some of the company's really large scale and very complex urban regeneration schemes across London. I've been closely involved in the planning and delivery in particular, of two neighbourhoods at Royal Wharf and Riverscape, which are located in the Royal Docks Opportunity Area. And together, these two schemes delivered more than 4100 homes, a community for, I would say, just over 10,000 residents. So that's really large scale. In addition, we're looking at Camley Street in partnership with Camden Council to bring forward, again, significant regeneration on a site just north of King’s Cross, where planning consent was secured last week. So, yes, we're talking about a pretty big scale of regeneration.

 

With this big-picture planning scenario, does that fill you with a certain amount of optimism about things progressing in London at a major scale, such that the housing crisis can be averted by sheer volume? 

 

Yes, I think regeneration schemes take a long time, so those journeys, they won't start today and get finished tomorrow. They started a long time ago. The majority of our planning projects are going back through 10, 20 years. So it takes a long time to get through planning, and then once you get through planning, you embark on another journey to deliver your commitment and get on site; that's another challenge. But yes, I think we're quite optimistic about bringing forward the next big schemes and creating new neighbourhoods – and the homes that London needs, absolutely. 

 

How important to Ballymore is community engagement? 

 

Very important. It's not a bolt-on or tick-box exercise. It's pretty fundamental to the successful delivery of any of our schemes. Most of them are very complex. For us, community engagement is more than a consultation event; it's about building trust between the developer, the local community, and the relationship is really crucial; often we find it can make or break a regeneration scheme. Also, having an open, honest conversation with the community is essential. Listening to communities early throughout the design process, so we can respond to people better. We find out how people live, work, how they use their neighbourhoods, etc. On the other hand, those conversations can sometimes be very difficult. So, you have to have some really difficult conversations with people who may be directly impacted. For example, we've got lots of neighbours of large-scale regeneration projects, and they experience years of disruption before they get anything out of the development, before they benefit from it. When we delivered Royal Wharf and Riverscape, we had a decade of construction-related impact. So being there to the community, being visible on the ground, taking people on the journey, sometimes holding conversations, events during evenings, weekends, just to ensure everyone has a voice and is heard. So [in short, consultation is] very important. 

 

What are the pitfalls that other developers, say, or other people engaging in community consultation fall into, would you say? What is the key area? What's your tip, I suppose, for positive engagement? 

 

Yes, I think it's being there, being present, being on the ground, listening. Don't use it as a bolt-on or tick-box exercise. It's not just submitting a statement of community involvement. It is being on the ground, listening, engaging, being seen and listening to what the community has to say. 

 

Tell me a little bit more about Camley Street, and what we can expect. 

 

Well, Camley Street, I don't know if you know anything about the project, but basically, in 2024 we went through a procurement process which took just over a year, and Ballymore and Lateral as our JV partner for life science, we were then selected as development partner by Camden's Community Investment Programme to redevelop two council-owned sites just north of King’s Cross. Ballymore and Lateral as partners will acquire the southern side and deliver a life science building and the private and the intermediate homes, and then, following making a payment to Camden, Camden will then directly deliver the social rented homes and commercial space on the northern side. So: very exciting. We recently got planning permission, so we are really trying to move this to the next stage, the delivery phase. The project will represent a major regeneration scheme in Camden, and will really come forward and be a test case for partnership-led, community-focused regeneration in Camden. 

 

How did you celebrate winning planning permission last week? Was there a glass of champagne or two? 

 

We went to the next pub around the corner! 

(laughs) 

 

There were many options, but we didn't choose the champagne option in the next pub around the corner, outside the town hall! 

 

Fair enough. I'm interested in your background as well, because you're an architect turned developer, aren't you? How has that influenced the way that you work within Ballymore? What extra perceptions has that allowed you, do you think, if I can put it like that? 

 

I get involved in, I would say, every stage of the project, from design to construction to handover to the estate team. Yes, my background is architecture and urban planning, and I've got a very strong passion for urban regeneration. Why did I move to the client side? It was really a practical reason. We worked long hours. Technology wasn't there to support flexible working, in particular for mums with young children, so I moved to the client side, and my role really evolved from designing to a more commercial and management-focused position overseeing the development activities. I get involved in every single design team meeting, whether the architects like it or not! However, I'm happy to leave the creative side and process to far more, I would say, talented minds, our architects, while I focus on taking the vision on and trying to make it into a commercially viable proposition. I think there's a saying: you can take the person out of architecture, but not architecture out of the person. 

 

Yes. Do you miss it at all? And, I mean, do you sketch, for example, ever? 

No. I did actually, back then - we didn't use 3D, Revit and all the other technologies. It was all about sketching at university. It was all about sketching, having visions, building physical models, etc. So, no, I haven't done it for a very long time. 

 

So final question, I suppose, is back to the big picture again, and what your feeling is about London's development in terms of large-scale urban regeneration projects. It feels like there's momentum suddenly for major schemes right across London. Is that how it feels to you? Or do you sense a sort of nervousness in the market because of viability, etc? 

 

I think 2026 will be a much better year for housing delivery than it was in 2025. Viability is still challenging on a lot of schemes. However, we are starting to see demand pick up and there is clearer policy and regulatory support which gives us more confidence. We have just recently started three new projects on site, which went through the Gateway Two approval process. So we are very optimistic, to start works on site to deliver more homes. In 2026, just within the last couple of weeks, we have had two big planning schemes, regeneration schemes, being approved, one in Newham and one in Camden. So again, moving that to the next stage, we're very optimistic that we can bring those to the next stage and start delivering. 

 

Great! Thank you very much for your time. It all sounds rosy; good luck with all those projects, which was the one in Newham you mentioned? 

 

It is called UNEX Thames Road Industrial. It's just outside the Thames Barrier. It's in the Royal Dock area, and it's basically the next chapter of the projects that have been delivered in Newham, the next phase of extending our neighbourhoods that we've already built.

 

How do you find the time? Are there not enough hours in the day to do all this stuff? 

 

There are not enough hours in the day, absolutely! But I guess it's what we do. We enjoy it. We're passionate about it. And I'm personally very passionate about regeneration. So: watch this space! 

 

Brilliant, it sounds like it's in good hands. Thank you very much for your time, Nicola. 

 

Thank you. David, Cheers!