Open City

In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Elizabeth Darling to discuss 'Palace of the Ether', her new book about BBC Broadcasting House published by Lund Humphries. The Grade II* listed Broadcasting House, iconic headquarters of the BBC, was completed in 1932, with a substantial number of architects and other designers were involved in the process of its creation, including the...

In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Graham Stirk, Senior Director at RSHP, to discuss Lloyd’s of London, the first building Stirk worked on when he joined the Richard Rogers Partnership as an architecture graduate in 1983. The Lloyd’s Building is the Grade I-listed home of the oldest continuously operating insurance market in the world. It was designed by the Richard Rogers Partne...

In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by the architect Piers Gough, co-founder of CZWG and a major figure in post-modern British architecture. They discussed Vanbrugh Castle, one of the few surviving buildings in London designed by John Vanbrugh, a hugely important English baroque architect, whose tercentenary is being celebrated this year #Vanbrugh300. The ‘Castle’ itself is a curious...

In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Samira Ahmed, journalist, broadcaster, presenter and President of C20, to discuss the BBC Television Centre. Opened in 1960 in White City, the building became one of the most recognisable homes of British broadcasting, where countless television programmes were made and transmitted for over half a century. In this episode, we explored the history...

In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Hannah Lund, Curator of Exhibitions and Displays at Leighton House and Sambourne House. Leighton House was built in Kensington by the Frederic Leighton, a painter, sculptor and president of the Royal Academy famed during the reign of Queen Victoria who vanished into relative obscurity during the 20th century. His house was an important place to c...

In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by the historian Katrina Navickas to discuss the history of Grosvenor Square in Mayfair as a site of protest and policing. From the early twentieth century the square was home to the US Embassy, and it was the site of several protests against American foreign policy, most notably the Vietnam War in 1968. The policing of the Vietnam Solidarity Campai...

In this episode Fiona Chilton is joined by Miriam, who lives in rural Devon in a home that she bought together with two other households so that they could raise their families side by side. But the dream was more challenging in reality as they tackled the practicalities of dividing land, buildings and responsibilities fairly between them. It’s a story of a dream becoming a reality, but also of th...

In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Judy Ovens, one of the authors of the new book ‘Adventurous Vents: A Journey through the Ventilation Shafts of Britain’. They discussed the Culling Road Ventilation shaft on the edge of Southwark Park, designed for the Jubilee Line by Ian Ritchie Architects. They also discussed ventilation shafts designed by Eduardo Paolozzi in Pimlico, William Wh...

In The Room at Accelerate Debates is a podcast which broadcasts the live debates from Accelerate, Open City’s free educational programme. In this episode, you’ll hear our fifth and final debate of 2025, “Heatlhy Competition", where we ask:   i s there a healthier way to run architectural competitions that makes them worth the risk?  Moderators Siraaj Mitha and Jasmin Yeo were joined...

This week on The Brief Sahiba Chadha is joined by Henrietta Billings. Henrietta is the director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, an organisation dedicated to protecting historical buildings. Since joining SAVE in 2016, she has worked on campaigns such as M&S Oxford Street, Anglia Square in Norwich and the historic Grimsby Docks. The government confirms four more locations for its new towns programm...

In this episode of the Home that Made me, Nabil Al Kinani reflects on his experience growing up on the Chalk Hill Estate in Wembley, and how his sense of self was challenged as he saw his home through the eyes of others without first hand experience of the place and its community. This experience has profoundly shaped what he wants for his future as well as the responsibility he feels he has...

This week on The Brief Fran Williams is joined by Ben Stuart. Ben is director and co-founder of architecture studio able partners, and the host of Able Diaries, a weekly show that gives a behind-the-scenes look at running an architecture practice. Government hires Google to speed up planning decisions in England using AI // Orms replaces Heatherwick Studio on the revamp of BT Tower // Restoration...

In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by John Puttick to discuss Peckham Library, one of a number of civic and community projects commissioned to mark the turn of the millenium. It was designed by Alsop & Störmer Architects with engineering by AKT II and won the Stirling Prize in 2000, and combines ebullient and eccentric design culture with a hard-wearing material palette to create...

This week on The Brief Sahiba Chada is joined by architect Jeremy Walker. Jeremy is the Head of Design at Human Nature, a property developer currently working on the construction of the UK’s largest timber-structure neighbourhood: the Phoenix development in East Sussex. Together they discuss: Retail giant John Lewis winds up its housebuilding arm amid economic woes // The London Assembly argu...

In The Room at Accelerate Debates is a podcast which broadcasts the live debates from Accelerate, Open City’s free educational programme. In this episode, you’ll hear our fourth debate of the year, “Designing With, Designing For", where we ask: how often do communities truly get to shape the spaces they live in? This was a special debate held as part of our Open House Festival programme in Septemb...

This week on The Brief Fran Williams is joined by Christopher Martin. Christopher is the managing director and head of urban design at Urban Movement. Together they discuss: Massive pedestrianisation plans for London’s West End move forward // The Brutalist Southbank Centre is listed after three decades of uncertainty // Controversial plans to overhaul London’s Liverpool Street are approved /...

In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Sam Elbahja to discuss a vanished building with a complicated history. Robin Hood Gardens was a housing estate in Poplar, designed by Alison and Peter Smithson for the LCC, completed in 1972. It was the first opportunity that the Smithsons had to enact their long-developed ideas about modern residential planning, including 'streets in the sky',...

This week on The Brief Sahiba Chadha is joined by Caroline Harper. Caroline is the Managing Director of BeFirst, the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham’s urban regeneration agency. Together they discuss: Government reveals its latest housing design and placemaking guidance // London house prices need to fall, says the housing minister // Níall McLaughlin wins RIBA Royal Gold Medal ...

Introducing a brand new show from Open City: The Home That Made Me. In this episode Fiona Chilton is joined by Clare who after years of renting managed to buy her dream flat in London. But, within a matter of months, everything changed and her sanctuary became a place of despair. This experience has profoundly changed how she sees the balance of power in the built environment, and has forever chan...

This week on The Brief Fran Williams is joined by Tom Dollard. Tom is an architect and partner for sustainability at Pollard Thomas Edwards. He was recently appointed Mayor’s Design Advocate and is Chair of the Good Homes Alliance . Together they discuss: Government launches ‘biggest home upgrade plan in UK history’// Westminster Council puts Retrofit at the heart of the city // New plans to prote...

In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Christian Dimbleby to discuss Tate Modern, the former power station converted into a gallery for modern art by Herzog & de Meuron at the turn of the millennium. Originally built as Bankside Power Station from 1947 to designs by Giles Gilbert Scott, the discussion ranged from the challenges in transforming infrastructure into cultural spaces an...

Description: This week on The Brief, Merlin Fulcher is joined by Giles Smith, a founding member of the Turner Prize winning art, architecture and design collective Assemble, to discuss: Milton Keynes’ original planners call for more social homes in the latest new towns // New plans are set out for a world-leading cultural hub in the remote Scottish Highlands // A discovery in Shropshire offer...

In The Room at Accelerate Debates is a podcast which broadcasts the live debates from Accelerate, Open City’s free educational programme. In this episode, you’ll hear our third debate of the year, “Rethinking Recruitment”, where we ask:  just how transparent is the recruitment process in the field of architecture and design?  Moderators Siraaj Mitha and Jasmin Yeo are joined by six guest...

This week on The Brief Merlin Fulcher is joined by curator of Digital Design at the V&A Natalie Kane to discuss: The president of the Royal Institute of British Architects tears up his accreditation in a bid for greater protection // Nnena Kalu wins the 2025 Turner Prize in a breakthrough for neurodiverse artists // London architecture grandee Peter Murray announces a mayoral bid //...

Deconstructed. Matilda House - Co-operative Council Housing. In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Dr Holly Smith to discuss Matilda House, the home of a radical experiment in co-operative housing which was welcomed by politicians of all stripes as a solution to the crises of the late 1970s. Matilda House is one of several projects discussed in Smith's new book, 'Up in the Air: A His...