Great British Brands 2022

South Bay Palace private residential apartment in Hong Kong

PDP London is featured in the 2022 ‘We can be heroes’ edition of Great British Brands. Published by Country & Town House, Great British Brands is an annual publication dedicated to supporting British luxury and celebrating the exceptional craft, design, technology, engineering and manufacturing skills found in the UK today. This year, we are asked to reflect on our proudest moments from the past year.

In a year when the world has focused on two things - the climate crisis and the pandemic – we, as architects, can play a key role in shaping our future. We need to embrace and restore, and to produce high quality, sustainable and responsive designs which adapt to our changing world.

This year, we are incredibly proud to have worked on a number of projects with exemplary sustainability credentials; projects which will ensure the continued use of our beautiful heritage buildings. We’ve designed buildings which provide flexibility and adaptability for the future and collaborated on forward-thinking initiatives which promote climate resilience, whilst supporting communities above all else.

We are delighted to have been certified as a Carbon Neutral Plus Organisation this year (offsetting twice our carbon footprint) but we’re not stopping there. We want to be proud of our continued contribution to the efforts we all need to make for the sake of future generations and we’re focused on offering our clients advice on how to adopt a responsible approach to development.

We’ve recently completed the flagship Auriens later living development in the heart of Chelsea, where the subtle integration of functional detailing and accessibility features were key to its success. Through thoughtful design, the spaces are able to adapt and evolve with the changing needs of those living there as they grow older.

Wellness is central to the design; there is an exceptional range of wellbeing facilities and a plethora of spaces in which to socialise - placing a real emphasis on community spaces and fostering companionship. Something we’ve all come to value more as a result of the pandemic.

Auriens Chelsea, a luxury later living development

At Chelsea Barracks – recently awarded LEED Platinum certification for neighbourhood design – are 13 luxury townhouses: a 21st century evolution of the Georgian archetype. Designed for longevity and flexibility, these energy efficient, comfortable and future-proofed homes have access to incredible amenities and public spaces. Areas of green roofs and carefully integrated bird and bat boxes aim to increase biodiversity in this central London development, whilst also mitigating storm-water runoff and the urban heat island effect.

Elsewhere, on Oxford Street, we’ve been granted permission to refurbish the iconic House of Fraser department store: reimagined as a vibrant mixed use development with six floors of offices, upgraded retail space and leisure facilities, this highly sustainable building confidently looks to the future, whilst re-establishing an Art Deco landmark on Oxford Street.

Demonstrating the diversity of our project portfolio, we have picked up two New London Awards for our Low Line Commons sustainable regeneration initiative in Southwark. The project proposes a 3.5km green corridor along a Victorian railway viaduct through central London, and it will increase environmental resilience by promoting innovative greening and sustainability initiatives that mitigate climate change, whilst celebrating the diversity and heritage of each neighbourhood it passes through.

In Hong Kong, the studio is designing several luxury residential developments and a range of boutique and resort hotels across Japan, in addition to recently completing a large office development in Shanghai. Currently under construction is The Landmark on Robson in Vancouver - two residential towers atop a three-storey podium, linked by amenity spaces and a landscaped deck - and Daimyo Garden Square in Fukuoka – a 24-storey commercial tower with a retail podium, offices and the future Ritz-Carlton Hotel, the lower levels of which feature landscaped terraces that open up towards a 3,000sqm public courtyard.

You can read the full article here or download a copy here.