Tendestream members feature on discussion panels at London Build 2024

Last week, Tenderstream managing director Annalisa Hammond and head of research Lucy Nordberg visited London Build at Olympia, joining 35,000 attendees at the UK’s largest construction show. With over 700 speakers across 12 stages, experts from Tenderstream member companies were well represented, giving insights on various panels covering topics from redefining sustainability to exploring the future of AI in construction.

The panel discussion, A Circular Future in Construction: Redefining Sustainability in the UK highlighted the need to collect and assess data effectively in order to plan sustainable measures efficiently for future projects. Michela Ravaglia, sustainability business partner at Wates, noted that from the client’s perspective, the ideas behind ‘circularity’ tend to be mentioned more than those related to ‘economy’, but it is equally important to understand value incentives so as to make proposals for re-using materials more attractive. Tim den Dekker, associate at Tenderstream member Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, stated that the wider implementation of better circular economy practices in property development is hindered by the absence of consensus on a metric for clients to use in project briefs. He is currently seeking feedback on his opinion piece that presents just such a single metric, which is available on the LETI sustainability network website.

Similar challenges with regard to data and knowledge-gathering were identified during the panel Creating a Resilient Future through Architecture & Design. Kat Scott, head of sustainability & regenerative design and associate at dRMM, cautioned against waiting too long for data before taking action, and stressed that beyond carbon, post-occupancy evaluation of buildings must be carried out to assess how they are performing right now to evaluate impacts of future change. Nuno Correia, head of sustainability at Tenderstream member WilkinsonEyre, highlighted the need to develop nature-based solutions, given that natural systems show greater resilience than the built environment. Sarah Ennis, architect at AECOM, noted that with the world's population set to grow to 10 billion by 2050, the use of modular buildings could provide the means for a quick response, with the possibility of reuse should populations later decrease. Overall, the consensus was that it might well be best to build with uncertainty in mind, rather than trying to predict a definite future.

The discussion Envisioning Smart Cities: Exploring the Power of Digital Design and Construction looked to the future of design tools themselves. Mairéad Gallagher Morgan, Europe & Middle East BIM lead at Tendestream member Grimshaw, emphasised the importance of open source data to help everyone, alongside the need to be aware of intellectual copyright issues. Shahram Sabery, senior architectural designer at Tenderstream member Populous, observed that the firm’s clients for large stadium projects tend to be looking to legacy and to push boundaries, and that talking directly to machines creates ambitious possibilities such as creating 20,000 individual components for a façade. Ron Bakker, founding partner at PLP Architecture, stated it was imperative to avoid the design process becoming swamped by machines, as in the case of building a city, the purpose is not to use tech but to create a place for humans to live, and that city-level questions of culture and justice, for example, add up to more than what can be understood by AI.

Across these discussions, it was clear that while aiming to meet challenges and take advantage of opportunities in a changing world, decisions have to be made based on data that may be incomplete, with designs created on new tools. It was enlightening to hear the panelists reveal the many different approaches to architectural design in such unpredictable times.

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

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