Amidst shifting living, working, leisure and retail trends, one firm is investing in leading urban design talent to drive growth in a post-pandemic world.
CallisonRTKL (CRTKL), the global architecture, planning and design practice, is underlining its confidence in mixed-use as the future of the London development landscape with the appointment of multi award-winning architect Lydia Firminger as Associate Principal.
Joining from Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), Lydia brings over 17 years of expertise in the design and delivery of prestigious residential and mixed-use projects in both central London and Europe, with a particular focus on large scale masterplans that create vibrant destinations.
This includes work with Capco on a masterplan to curate Covent Garden; the multi award-winning Floral Court and Earls Court Village for Capco; the 9-hectare mixed-use redevelopment of The Warwick Road Estate on behalf of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the expansive 600-home regeneration at Royal Arsenal Riverside in Woolwich for Berkeley Group. Other notable projects include a residential masterplan for Hines in Milan, a masterplan on the outskirts of Paris and V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
Lydia has a particular specialism in the repositioning of internationally renowned destinations. Her work with Capco on the repurposing of historic underutilised buildings across Covent Garden is particularly relevant now and aligns with CRTKL’s own ethos of ‘repurpose and reuse.’ Her expertise will be vital as clients increasingly look to revisit their existing commercial and retail assets to meet the demands of the new post-pandemic landscape, while also working closely with CRTKL’s residential lead John Badman and teams in London and Manchester to expand on its well-established BTR portfolio.
Todd Lundgren, EMEA Managing Principal, comments: “Lydia’s insight, design thinking and solutions will bring great value to clients’ schemes, particularly in the current market with the resetting of typologies. Her expertise working on some of London’s most high profile developments will help to fuel our ambitious growth pipeline as we look to make our mark on the fabric of the capital in new and innovative ways.”
Lydia Firminger, Associate Principal, comments: “CallisonRTKL’s philosophy of taking a holistic, people-led view to designing schemes positions it perfectly to seize new opportunities that require a fresh perspective. Through creative thinking that considers the bigger picture, we can create integrated mixed-use solutions that blend old and new to provide truly exciting places, delivering value for all stakeholders.”
“London is home to many historic urban blocks, which provide a prime opportunity to redevelop behind historic high street frontages to repurpose tired building stock which is sadly no longer needed for its original purpose.”