Mayor's Design Advocate

We are excited to announce that our Director, Tara Gbolade, has been chosen as one of 42no. Mayor’s Design Advocates by the Mayor of London!

Mayor appoints experts to shape a better city by promoting quality and inclusion in the built environment

To support the refreshed Good Growth by Design programme, the Mayor, Sadiq Khan has appointed 42 new Mayor’s Design Advocates (MDAs) – including high-profile practitioners Sir David Adjaye OBE, Hanif Kara OBE, Farshid Moussavi OBE and Sir David Chipperfield CBE, alongside rising stars – to support the Mayor’s Good Growth by Design programme and help shape London into a better city by promoting quality and inclusion on the built environment.

MDAs are independent experts who will support the Mayor’s vision of “good growth” and will ensure that new buildings and public spaces will benefit Londoners and are at the heart of the capital's recovery from the pandemic.

In addition to high profile names, the new cohort also includes fresh, emerging talent in the built environment space and those who have relevant expertise in key areas such as zero-carbon and sustainability, the safety of women and girls and housing quality.

The group of 42 MDAs have experience in both the public and private sector, include practitioners, academics, policymakers and those from community-led initiatives. 55 per cent are women and 45 per cent come from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

The new cohort will support the updated Good Growth by Design programme which has a new forward programme responding to four years of change. The newly updated programme reflects the importance of an inclusive recovery from a pandemic that has highlighted inequalities in the capital and need to counter racism and other forms of prejudice in the built environment.

The pandemic has also accelerated a change in the way Londoners use the city. The reconfiguration of high streets and other workspaces, as well as the urgent need to meet net zero by 2030 is also reflected in the updated Good Growth programme.

The new cohort will work on three main objectives:

·      Quality  
Utilising expertise spanning the range of specialisms needed across the Greater London Authority Group to support quality, sustainability and inclusion in the built environment, in line with the Mayor’s Good Growth by Design programme.  

·      Recovery  
Shaping and supporting activities delivered as part of the London Recovery Programme. This could include work undertaken as part of the recovery missions, led by the London Recovery Board, or more general work towards its aims.  

·      Representation   
Being reflective of London’s diverse population and equipped to support the delivery of an inclusive built environment in which a spectrum of experiences and communities are valued and able to play a role in shaping the capital’s future. #GoodGrowthbyDesign

Find out more: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/regeneration/advice-and-guidance/about-good-growth-design

DIGITISING CONSTRUCTION

Lanre writes for PBC Today about the need to modernise, innovate and evolve the construction sector. As director of COLAB Consortium, Lanre gives cutting edge insight on Design for Manufacture & Assembly (DfMA) and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) as some answers to the “perfect storm“ of Brexit, the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Climate Emergency.

Read the full article HERE

ONE-ON-ONE WITH LANRE GBOLADE

Building.co.uk interviews our Director Lanre about his inspirations, aspirations and admirations. In “5 minutes with…” we learn about Lanre’s time is Spain, his interest in history, his personal philosophy as well as some great advice for life.

Read the full interview HERE

ARCHITECTURE TODAY: ART REFLECTS LIFE

Tara talks to Architecture Today about regenerative design, our practice and her personal goals.

“Our practice is predicated on the knowledge that when we bring our authentic selves to work, we can design authentic places, which in turn allows the communities we design for, to live authentic and regenerative lives.” -Tara Gbolade

Read the full article HERE

TARA FEATURED ON ZETTLERS 22 TO WATCH

Zettler announced thier 22 to watch for 2022 and our Director Tara Gbolade made the list as leader of one of the “bold, value-led emerging London architecture practices re-energising the industry with their emphasis on sustainable design and planning policy.”

Sign up to the Zettler Newsletter HERE

SUSTAINABILITY TALK ON TIMES RADIO

In the round-up of COP26, director Tara Gbolade spoke on the Carole Walker show about sustainability in the construction industry for Times Radio. For Tara’ s insights , Click the link below .

We're hiring for an Architect!

News alert! - As we continue to attract work on some pretty brilliant projects, we are excited to be hiring for an experienced Architect within our studio. If you're a well-rounded, technically gifted and experienced Archicad user, looking for a dynamic, entrepreneurial practice culture and hands on-role, we'd be delighted to hear from you!

If you’re interested in joining our awesome practice and studio culture , please take a read of the Job Description below to download and apply. Alternatively feel free to re-share and tell a friend to tell a friend!

Please note - At this time, we’re only recruiting an architect with exemplary Archicad knowledge and demonstrable experience, so applications failing to meet this criteria will not be considered.

JOB DESCRIPTION AND DETAILS TO APPLY: DOWNLOAD

Thank you,

Gbolade Design Studio

#architect #hiring #sustainabledesign #archicad #collaborativeworking #archipreneurs

DfMA PLAN OF WORK OVERLAY

The launch of the new Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work 2020, includes key tasks that architects and construction professionals need to do to enable Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). In his role as Client Lead, our Co-Founding Director Lanre was part of the Steering Group of industry experts that contributed to its update.

“The update to the RIBA DfMA Overlay comes at a critical time for the industry as we tackle the impacts of Covid and Brexit. To fully capture all the benefits of innovation in construction and deliver truly high quality sustainable buildings through use of MMC, Offsite production and delivery and digital technology, then clear guiding principles in designing for production led manufacture and assembly is needed for Clients and project teams. With experience as architect and Client Innovation Lead, I’m proud to have contributed to this updated guide and encourage its adoption, especially by Clients, to drive forward the change we know is imperative.” - Lanre Gbolade

Watch the Webinar HERE

Access the DfMA Overlay here - https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resources/resources-landing-page/dfma-overlay-to-the-riba-plan-of-work

GDS AT RIAI CONFERENCE 2021

Our Founders and Directors Lanre Gbolade and Tara Gbolade were speakers at the RIAI 2021 conference in Dublin. During the talk, titled “Challenging conventions: practice and projects” they discussed innovation, housing design and delivery, and their work as part of the Paradigm Network.

This year’s conference was themed #Solutions and was held at the Royal Dublin Societ (RDS) in partnership with the Architecture + Building Expo, with 400 delegates in attendance. It was live-streamed for increased accessibility with over 1000 people tuning in online.

Meet all the RIAI speakers HERE

ARCHITECTS DECLARE PRACTICE GUIDE

The Architects Declare steering group have launched their Practice guide to help signatory architectural practices convert their declaration of Climate and Biodiversity Emergency into action. Reviewed by leading industry experts, it features more than sixty projects from practices in the UK and abroad.

Our Director Tara Gbolade (a member of the steering committee), launched the guide at the Built Environment Summit, organised by the RIBA in association with Architects Declare.

Find the full guide HERE

CLIMATE EMERGENCY RETROFIT GUIDE

To support the UK’s Net Zero targets, the LETI retrofit guides gives practical guidance on how to retrofit homes in order to reduce energy usage and waste.  

The guide is useful in many sectors including architecture, engineering, local authorities, social landlords, energy professions, contracting and built environment clients. Our director, Tara Gbolade, contributed to the guide.

Get the full guide HERE.

FINALIST : URBAN DESIGN AWARDS

The Urban Design Group has announce that the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Sustainability Guidance and Checklist ( a detailed guidance with quantified, objective standards for technical design) has been nominated as a Finalist for the National Urban Design Awards in the category for Policy, Strategy and Design Guidance. The Sustainability Strategy was lead by our Director, Tara Gbolade.

See all the full list of Finalists HERE

SOUTHWARK'S NEW FRAMEWORK

Gbolade Design Studio has been selected as one of the “very best established and emerging architect practices with diverse leadership and employees” to be a part of Southwark Council’s ADS1.1 Framework. This is a huge achievement and we’re extremely proud to be able to be a part of the pledge to deliver 11,000 new environmentally friendly council homes by 2043.

Read the full Architects Journal article HERE

PRESIDENT’S FACT-FINDING MISSION

Gbolade Design Studio’s own Tara Gbolade contributed to the “guiding star” for the RIBA in the future. A re-evaluation of architecture’s role and relationship to society in light of the climate emergency and other socio-economic changes, the PFFM shows the potential for enormous growth and change through better understanding of the interdependency of issues.

Read the architecture.com article HERE, and Download the full PDF HERE

FINALIST IN YOUNG ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR

Gbolade Design Studio has been shortlisted for the Building Design Young Architect of the Year 2021. The winners of this, and other Architects of the year, including Office, Education and Public Realm Architects of the year will be announced at an Awards ceremony on Thursday, 14th October, 2021. Congratulations to all the other finalists!

View the full shortlist HERE

NMDC tested in Southwark

Gbolade Design Studio, Farrells and PRP have been appointed to prepare the design code for Southwark; one of 14 councils participating in the National Model Design Code (NMDC) pilot. Each council will receive a grant of £50,000 to apply the code over six months. Community engagement and local-led design are principles of the Southwark design code which considered street character, building type and façade, and environmental, heritage and wellbeing factors.

See the final Document Here.

Read the AJ article HERE