Building communities at the scale needed to meet the challenges of the UK’s housing shortage.

In 2018, Fiona Fletcher-Smith left City Hall (where she was Executive Director of Development, Enterprise and Environment) to join L&Q where she is Group Director of Development and Sales, responsible for delivering the Registered Provider’s stated aim of constructing 100,000 new homes in the next decade.

One of L&Q’s flagship projects is Barking Riverside, an 443 acre site where the vision is to create a brand-new riverfront town in East London and deliver a thriving, new eco-district comprising: 10,800 homes, new schools, commercial and cultural offerings, along 2km of Thames river frontage.

In this podcast:

• What are the growth plans for London largest property owner?
• How does L&Q role as a long-term owner of assets influence planning and design?
• What is the approach for designing new urban settlements, as at Barking Riverside?
• How can you help create communities within development projects?
• How do you manage meanwhile uses in long-term projects?
• How can residents be brought into the discussion about future plans and continual shaping of the project and the masterplan?

Fiona is a huge fan of tall buildings (in the right context) and her choice of favourite building is the Shard for its design and positive impact on the regeneration of the locality. Fiona’s hot pick for innovation in the sector offsite construction. 

The recommended addition to the Building Our Future reading list tackles collaboration in problem-solving, which is:

• Matthew Syed, Black Box Thinking:  Marginal Gains and the Secrets of High Performance: The Surprising Truth About Success