Concept Culture

04/05/2026

What a week at London Experience Week!

We spent a week inside London Experience Week 2026 — sessions, safaris, workshops, conversations, immersive experiences, with some of the sharpest minds in the experience industry.

The full LXW26 field report is on the Concept Culture blog (link in bio).

And the best conversations? They may just become Talking Place podcast episodes.

Thanks to the World Experience Organisation for making it all happen.

Summit ExperienceDesign London

08/01/2026

The New Digital Landscape in 2026
Digital strategy in 2026 is no longer about visibility.

It’s about trust, legibility and long-term coherence.

As the built environment enters a more accountable digital era, platforms are becoming infrastructure, shaping how places are understood long before construction, and remembered long after delivery.

From participation-first engagement to digital calm, this piece explores the five shifts redefining how technology serves place, people and purpose.
Read the full article on our insights blog - link in comments.

Here’s to a new year shaped by clarity, intention and meaningful progress.

May 2026 bring innovative ideas, deeper collaboration and the kind of optimism that turns vision into reality.

25/12/2025

Sending joy, peace, and love to all this festive season and best wishes for 2026✨️🌟✨️

06/10/2025

Don't be afraid of bees….🐝

That's my favourite takeaway from this year's Urban Design Group Conference.

Two days in Ipswich, hanging out with LDN Collective colleagues and other place thinkers, demonstrated an accelerating hunger for urban design that feels more human, more natural (with no cars!).

Other gems I penned down:

⭐️ Creating communities is one of the most exciting jobs. Families of the future will depend on you to give them homes fit for the future.
- Lord Deben

⭐ ️Every decision you make should be in consideration of 7 generations. You are the pivot point between 7 generations before you and 7 generations after you.
- Inuit wisdom shared by Rasmus Astrup, SLA

⭐️ We need spaces to grow plants. Spaces for horticulture should be the norm, not the exception. Domestic gardens must be considered part of biodiversity net gain.
- Clare Matterson CBE , Royal Horticultural Society

To everyone I met, spoke with, challenged and learned from: thank you. Thank you to the organisers, speakers, delegates for an energising conference. The conference dinner, walking tour and tour of Christchurch Mansion were all excellent.

I’ll be weaving these learnings into my upcoming place storytelling work. If you’re exploring urban futures, place brands, narratives and identities - I’d love to continue the conversation.

06/10/2025

Don't be afraid of bees….🐝

That's our favourite takeaway from this year's Urban Design Group Conference.

Two days in Ipswich, hanging out with LDN Collective colleagues and other place thinkers, demonstrated an accelerating hunger for urban design that feels more human, more natural (with no cars!).

Other gems we penned down:

⭐️ Creating communities is one of the most exciting jobs. Families of the future will depend on you to give them homes fit for the future.
- Lord Deben

⭐ ️Every decision you make should be in consideration of 7 generations. You are the pivot point between 7 generations before you and 7 generations after you.
- Inuit wisdom shared by Rasmus Astrup, SLA

⭐️ We need spaces to grow plants. Spaces for horticulture should be the norm, not the exception. Domestic gardens must be considered part of biodiversity net gain.
- Clare Matterson CBE , Royal Horticultural Society

To everyone we met, spoke with, challenged, and learned from: thank you. Thank you to the organisers, speakers, and delegates for an energising conference. The conference dinner, walking tour, and tour of Christchurch Mansion were all excellent.

We will be weaving these learnings into my upcoming place storytelling work. If you’re exploring urban futures, place brands, narratives, and identities , I’d love to continue the conversation.

30/09/2025

Happy World Podcast Day! 🌎🎙🎧

Celebrated on 30th September each year, International Podcast Day is a global celebration of the power of podcasts to inform, inspire, and connect.

On the we’ve been curating conversations that dig beneath the surface of development to explore how storytelling shapes placemaking: the way we design, fund, and imagine our shared environments.

To mark the day, we’ve looked back at our most popular conversations that stand out for the questions they raised about how we live together, and how stories can transform space into place:

⚫ Culture as Catalyst - Tom Branton,
⚫ Designing People-Friendly Cities - Hilary Satchwell,
⚫ From Constraints to Creativity - Philip Atkinson & Llinos Hughes,
⚫ The Business Case for People-First Places - Frances Heeney, Principal AM
⚫ Co-Design in Action - & Palak Jhunjhunwala
⚫ Health Equity and the Built Environment - Clare Delmar, Listen 2 Locals
⚫ Celebrating Civic Pride Through Festivals - Rosa Rogina,
⚫ Civic Leadership in Action - .a.akinola,
⚫ The Future of Collective Practice - Max Farrell,
⚫ How to Create a Successful Place Brand - Giannina Warren, The Place Brand Academy

🎧 Explore the full Talking Place podcast on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, and Amazon, link in bio.

12/09/2025

The House Festival 2025 is back!

Organised by the cool folks at , this year’s programme opens the doors to London’s stories 🗝️

From markets and libraries to almshouses and modernist icons, our top 10 picks celebrate how communities, designers, and heritage groups are reimagining the city.

These events look at how architecture is never just about the buildings, it’s about our collective memory, identity, and belonging.

🗓️ 13-21 September 2025
📍 Across all 33 London boroughs
🎟️ Discover the 10 events we’re most excited about on our blog: link in comments/bio.

Featuring events by: and more.

Will you be exploring Open House this year?

What are you most looking forward to seeing?

21/08/2025

11/08/2025

Still buzzing from a memorable day at Expo 2025 Osaka - a place where placemaking, architecture, innovation, and imagination collide.

A heartfelt arigatou gozaimasu to Tomoko Maekawa and the team at ES Global for the warm welcome and co-ordinating priority access of the 4 Pavilions they have delivered - UK, US, Canada and Australia. 

Each country pavilion offers its own unique immersive storytelling and engaging visitor experience. These pavilions are no ordinary temporary structures - they are platforms for cultural exchange enabling our collective global futures. Visiting the Expo pavilions offers an exploration of how design and delivery can shape the stories we tell on the world stage.

Huge thanks also to the South Facing team - Sarath, Dominique - for coordinating the visit across time zones.

More reflections coming soon via the Talking Place podcast, but for now, we are soaking it all in and feeling inspired by the global imagination at play here in Osaka.

Swipe till the end from a magical finale from the Australian pavilion

1,2,3,4 - UK Pavilion
5,6,7,8 - US Pavilion
9,10,11,12 - Canada Pavilion
13,14,15,16,17 - Australia Pavilion