The Urbanism Hour / Community as tenant
This week we will be joined by Justin Nicholls from Fathom Architects and Jennifer Mui from MRG Studio.
Join us (almost) every Friday at 1pm GMT. This event series is free to AoU Members and carries a small charge for non-Members. Why not become a member to join the talks for free?
Community as tenant
The next Urbanism Hour will be a conversation around strategies for creating relevant community-focused places in the digital age. Justin and Jennifer will speak about projects both real and speculative to illustrate how we can inhabit town centres, reinvent the high street and cultivate diversity in public green spaces. The projects include:
Christ Church Woking, extension
Church or high street?
Landscape and the spirit.
Pod and Rotunda, White City Place
Podcasting and live music venue in new and reused spaces.
Sun, wind and rain as designer.
Development for social good – 62 Alms Houses, 20-storey office building and a community garden.
The Department of Digital Futures
Rebooting the redundant Department Store.
High level rooftop terrace
A woodland in motion.
Hour-by-hour place making as future high street.
Wimbledon and Putney Commons
Safeguarding diversity and building resilience.
Justin Nicholls
Justin founded Fathom Architects and leads the design direction of the practice with a combination of his inquisitive nature, creativity and proven technical skill. His architecture career spans over 20 years. During 11 years at Foster + Partners, Justin worked on a series of international projects including Beijing International Airport, leaving as Project Director in 2004 to become one of the original Partners of Make. Here he led a team focused on heritage, residential and higher education for 12 years, delivering high profile projects including Grosvenor Waterside, The Crown Estate’s St James’s Market and over 60,000sqm of world class research buildings for The University of Oxford.
Fathom specialises in unlocking complex briefs and sensitive sites. A unique collective of specialists centred around a core team of creative architects, we believe in bringing the best people together to work closely with our clients on their particular needs. From complexity and collaboration, we create places that are successful contextually, commercially and for their communities. Not unfathomable, but places that connect deeply with people.
Jennifer Mui
MRG Studio Director Jennifer Mui is a chartered landscape architect and holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania (PennDesign). At MRG Studio, she leads project design and coordination, and soft landscape design development. Jenn works with suppliers and growers on plant and material selection, remaining closely involved during construction and after project handover.
Jennifer began her career at Mosbach Paysagistes in Paris, France. At Olin Partnership she worked on university campus projects; as an Associate at Gustafson Porter she led design teams on projects in Europe and the Middle East. Jenn serves on the Landscape Institute’s Professional Review Group for the landscape architecture programme at the University of Greenwich and is a former editor of Quaker Voices.