In this week’s Property Week, John Chapman, Principal, TODD Architects, asks whether senior living schemes can play a key role in reviving high streets.

Repurposing vacant units and elements of underperforming shopping centres to attract ‘the grey pound’ is clearly a valid option. Projects such as The Pavilions Shopping Centre in Waltham Cross, where TODD Architects recently submitted planning to redevelop an underused car park above the centre into apartments, highlights the potential of adding residential – and other – elements to shopping centres to improve their viability by creating a critical mass of people and attractions in one place.

Big news in Leicester as our client Stephen George + Partners (SGP) celebrates the completion of No1 Great Central Square, a £7.3 million, 33,000 sq ft Grade A office building on the old Stibbe factory site, a key regeneration scheme in the city. Some great coverage in the Leicester Mercury, Insider Media, East Midlands Business Link and others.

Urban Edge Architecture Director, Russell Gay, attended a gala evening at the House of Commons at the end of last month. The prestigious event was the culmination of year in which Satellite MPR helped the Stamford-based practice inform and influence Government policy as a Best Practice Representative for the Parliamentary Review. Rubbing shoulders with current and former Government ministers, policy makers and other business leaders in Westminster, Russ took the opportunity to discuss with them some of the most pressing issues facing the UK high street and retail property, as well as the pressing need for quality senior living provision in urban areas.

Dexter Moren was interviewed for Building Magazine recently where he got to chat about his career in architecture and construction, his favourite and least favourite buildings, as well as the people he most admires in the industry.

We were delighted to see James Nicholls, Managing Partner of Stephen George + Partners (SGP) featured in an excellent piece about e-commerce and logistics in The Guardian. James was interviewed by Samanth Subramanian about the enormous pressures logistics operators are under to meet customer demand.

Fresh after enjoying Bioregional’s fabulous 25th anniversary party at London’s Southbank Centre, we managed to secure a great piece in The Mirror as part of its special Climate Issue: Inside the Eco-Friendly BedZed Village in London.

It was really encouraging to see a national newspaper taking the climate crisis seriously and the Bioregional, Sue Riddlestone OBE and BedZED residents were delighted to receive The Mirror team to describe their experiences living in an eco-friendly village.

Dexter Moren Associates (DMA) has received planning permission to refurbish and extend the seventeenth century Old Ship Hotel into a boutique lifestyle hotel in sync with Brighton’s cosmopolitan and bohemian vibe. The story received some good coverage in the local press such as the Brighton Argus and, of course, in hospitality media such as Hospitality Interiors, and SPACE Magazine.