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Grow Places

Grow Places

Hosted by Grow Places

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Episodes

67

Latest episode

Jul 2026

Language

EN-GB

About the show

Welcome to the Grow Places podcast where we explore the virtuous circle of people growth and place. Brought to you by Grow Places and hosted by our Founder, Tom Larsson. These short conversations with industry leaders and community figures share insights on the built environment and open up about their purpose and what drives them on a personal level. Thank you for listening. For more information please visit our website; www.growplaces.com and connect with us @WeGrowPlaces across all social channels. We cover topics such as real estate, property development, place, urban design, architecture, social value, sustainability, community, technology, diversity, philanthropy, landscape design, public realm, cities, urban development, people, neighbourhoods, anthropology, sociology, geography, culture, circular economy, whole life carbon, affordability, business models, innovation, impact, futurism, mindset, leadership, mentorship, wellbeing. See you next time!

Listen to episodes

60 recent
July 28, 20261 hr 3 min

GP 67: Live Life in the Yellow: with Nick Searl

Nick Searl spent over two decades at Argent, where he played a central role in the development of King's Cross, one of the UK's most significant regeneration projects. He now advises Urban Partners, a Copenhagen based investment business, on large scale urban regeneration across Europe.Reflecting on a Radio 4 programme about the lost art of getting lost, Nick makes the case for a different relationship with uncertainty, one where the goal isn't to eliminate risk but to become comfortable working within it. As he puts it, we live life in the yellow, not the red or the green. He carries that thinking through to how cities and developers plan for the long term, arguing that the only certainty over a fifteen or twenty year delivery period is that the social, economic and political context will change significantly.The conversation covers the King's Cross Principles, a shared manifesto written over twelve months with English Heritage and Camden Council before a single drawing was produced, the most basic finding from King's Cross community engagement, that people wanted, above all else, to feel safe and secure, and the case for co-creation over adversarial relationships between developers, cities and investors. Nick closes with a personal reflection on stepping back from a long, structured career and finding a new sense of purpose through coaching and advisory work.In this episode:Why we should get more comfortable living in the grey, or the yellow, rather than demanding certaintyThe King's Cross Principles and why the process mattered more than the planWhat a thousand people told Argent they actually wanted from King's CrossWhy the adversarial mindset between developers and cities holds regeneration backReflections on identity, purpose and reinvention after a long career

July 7, 202646 min

GP 66: Built Environment Sector is Critical to UK Growth: with Nick McKeogh of NLA

In this episode of the Grow Places Podcast, Tom Larsson is joined by Nick McKeogh, co-founder and Chief Executive of NLA, to explore two decades of building a civic institution dedicated to bringing together everyone who shapes the built environment. Nick reflects on NLA's origins around London's 2005 Olympic bid, born from a simple observation: the professionals who plan, design, fund and build the city rarely had a shared space to think together, and Londoners themselves were often left out of the conversation entirely.The discussion unpacks NLA's "three Ps" framework for successful placemaking, people, place and purpose, and why starting with people rather than form or finance leads to better outcomes. Nick shares striking research showing the built environment sector accounts for 25% of UK GVA and one in eight jobs, yet remains fragmented across professions that rarely see themselves as part of one industry. He discusses NLA's shift towards "systems leadership," the idea that no single visionary shapes a great city, but rather thousands of collaborating actors, and explores common misconceptions held by developers, architects, communities and politicians about one another.Nick also traces his personal route into this work, beginning as a child in his father's architectural model-making business during the early 1990s recession, and reflects on the enduring power of physical models to inspire young people in an increasingly screen-based world. The conversation closes with his ambition for a global network of NLA-style institutions, and a call for the industry to slow down and invest time upfront in genuine conversation, arguing that patience and trust-building ultimately deliver better places, faster.

June 23, 202635 min

GP 65: Communicate in Primary Colours: Plain English in Complex Institutions, with Muyiwa Oki of Mace

In this episode, Tom Larsson is joined by Muyiwa Oki, architect, former RIBA president, and now at Mace, to explore what it takes to reform a 200-year-old institution from the inside, why technical grounding matters more than ever for architects, and how the built environment can better serve the communities it shapes.Muyiwa traces a deliberate route through smaller practices, building technical foundations before moving into large-scale infrastructure delivery at Mace. He shares what drove him to stand for the RIBA presidency, a campaign rooted in the uncompensated overtime that defined his generation's experience of the profession, and how holding that role sharpened his ability to lead, communicate, and advocate under pressure.The conversation covers the barriers that continue to narrow who enters architecture: the length and cost of training, and the structural gap between education and practice. Muyiwa makes the case for level seven apprenticeships, for building regulations to be embedded in architectural education, and for architects to embrace the principal designer role as a step towards reclaiming responsibility across the full project lifecycle.Tom and Muyiwa also examine what makes public space genuinely work, the risk of hyper-financialisation in the built environment, and why leaving room for people to inhabit places as they choose may be the most honest measure of whether a place was really designed for them.Recorded at the Barbican, London.

June 2, 202635 min

GP 64: Team London: Why is London Such a Draw with Rose Wangen-Jones of London and Partners

In this episode, Tom sits down with Rose Wangen-Jones, Managing Director for Marketing, Destination and Commercial at London and Partners, the growth agency for London. They meet in Southwark to talk about what makes London genuinely distinctive, how the city manages its brand at scale, and the shared responsibility required to keep one of the world's great cities competitive, inclusive and resilient.Rose explains how London and Partners approaches its mission to create economic growth that is sustainable and inclusive, and why the city's brand rests on the combination of the iconic and the innovative. The conversation covers the London Growth Plan and its five identified growth sectors, including the experience economy, which Rose argues is the foundation everything else depends on. They discuss the concept of Team London, a coordinated effort to align messaging across partners, businesses and institutions so that more people are telling London's story consistently and well.Tom and Rose also explore the harder questions: the risks of complacency, the challenge of disinformation, the tension between growth and affordability, and what it takes to develop a city in a way that genuinely benefits the people who live there. Rose shares her perspective on placemaking, investment clusters, and the work of sister organisation Opportunity London in attracting long-term capital to the city.They close with a question about what London should build next, and what it might look like if the city expanded its footprint beyond the West End to offer more people access to the experiences that make it worth coming to, and worth staying in.

May 19, 202653 min

GP 63: Building for Society: with Simon Henley of Henley Halebrown

This episode takes its title from Henley Halebrown's recently published book, Building for Society, and we are privileged to have worked closely with Simon and the practice for over a decade, aligning elegant and economic buildings with the needs of people and place.In this episode of the Grow Places Podcast, Tom Larsson is joined by Simon Henley, Director of Henley Halebrown, at the practice's studio in Perseverance Works, East London. Simon reflects on thirty years of practice built around a deceptively simple conviction: that every building, regardless of its budget or brief, is fundamentally for people and for society. From early work in interiors and adaptive reuse through to award-winning schools, health centres, co-housing and housing, he traces a career shaped as much by accident and curiosity as by intention, and explains how writing, teaching and practice fuel one another. The conversation explores how Henley Halebrown's recurring interest in courtyards, external circulation and civic responsibility has produced buildings that are both elegant and economic, solving practical problems around efficiency, microclimate and construction while elevating the experience of everyday life.The discussion also delves into collaboration and the culture of design teams, with Simon reflecting on the value of intimate, discursive project meetings where people feel free to pose questions and challenge the status quo. Drawing on projects from the Hackney school that stayed open at 40 degrees to the Copper Lane co-housing scheme, from the Truman Brewery to the newly completed Barge Crescent on the South Bank, he demonstrates how buildings can reflect the social logic of the organisations and communities they serve. Simon also shares insights from his time chairing the RIBA awards judging panel, where he helped rewrite the criteria to ask better questions about what makes a good building. Looking ahead, he describes the practice's work in Winchester with Igloo, Peter Barber and Turner Works on what he believes will be the greatest transformation of the city in a thousand years, not through scale, but through the careful repair of streets, squares and medieval waterways. Ambitious yet grounded, his message is clear: keep your feet on the ground and your head in the clouds.

April 28, 2026Episode 6234 min

GP 62: Where Severance and Opportunity Collide: with Tom Holbrook of 5th Studio

In this episode of the Grow Places Podcast, Tom Larsson is joined by Tom Holbrook, Director of 5th Studio, to explore what it means to work across the full spectrum of architecture, urban design and strategic planning. Tom describes how 5th Studio has spent over two decades navigating what he calls "border country," the complex, often neglected edges of cities where political boundaries, infrastructure, severance and opportunity collide. From the Olympic Park in Stratford to Oxford and Cambridge colleges, from railway land to heavy infrastructure, he explains how synthetic, transdisciplinary thinking and a willingness to zoom between strategy and making within the same team sets their approach apart. Drawing on the Sun Tzu maxim that strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, and tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat, he makes the case for holding both together if we want to solve the most intractable problems facing our towns and cities.The conversation also traces the arc of creative planning in London, from the early days of the Architecture and Urbanism Unit under Ken Livingstone and Richard Rogers through to the emerging potential of regional mayors and mission-led leadership. Tom reflects on the loss of medium-grain developers and the challenge of follow-on delivery, the risks and rewards of working with railway land, and why the traditional viability model may no longer be fit for purpose. With a background that began in theatre carpentry and film set design before leading to architecture, he brings an unusual perspective on the art of pulling things together and making big impressions from limited resources. Candid about the damage of the austerity mindset and optimistic about the need for fresh thinking, he argues that the problems facing us, from climate to housing to hollowed-out high streets, simply will not wait for the economy to catch up.

April 14, 2026Episode 6138 min

GP 61: Finding the Gold Dust in a Place: with Stephanie Edwards of Urban Symbiotics

In this episode of the Grow Places Podcast, Tom Larsson is joined by Stephanie Edwards, Architect, Urban Designer and Co-Founder of Urban Symbiotics, to explore what it truly means to put people at the forefront of meaningful change in the built environment. Stephanie shares how Urban Symbiotics works at the intersection of people, data and design, using demographically representative engagement to turn lived experience into evidence that shapes better places. From street conversations and stay-and-play groups to targeted social media and multilingual outreach, she explains how her team meets people where they are, building trust and gathering insights that enrich the design process rather than replacing it. Drawing on projects spanning London boroughs, rural market towns, Lebanon and South America, Stephanie makes a compelling case for why community engagement is not a nice-to-have but an essential part of delivering places that genuinely work.The conversation also explores the challenges of maintaining trust over long project timescales, the gap between consultation and genuine participation, and why the lessons of the Grenfell Tower tragedy must not be forgotten. Stephanie reflects on her own journey from architecture and master planning into participatory design, describing the moment she realised that engagement insight arrived too late to shape the outcome, and how that experience led to the founding of Urban Symbiotics. From meanwhile use strategies in Dagenham to community handbooks in Purley and an intergenerational master plan in the Lebanese mountains, she demonstrates how hyper-local understanding and genuine collaboration can unlock better outcomes for communities, clients and design teams alike.

March 31, 2026Episode 6042 min

GP 60: Copenhagen's Socio-Economic Street Where Everyone Belongs: with Christian Søndergaard of Saxogade

In this episode of the Grow Places Podcast, Tom Larsson travels to Copenhagen to meet Christian Søndergaard, Head of Saxogade, what may be the world's only socio-economic street. For over 40 years, the nine-shop operation run by an NGO has combined commercial vitality with meaningful work opportunities for people facing significant barriers to employment, from long-term illness to homelessness.Christian explains how the street functions as a real business whilst providing structured pathways back into work for around 100 people each week. Tasks are carefully broken down so that individuals can contribute genuine value rather than perform token activities. The model is deliberately not about volunteering as a resource, it is about agency, about being part of something, about creating value for others when you have spent years needing help yourself. The result is a thriving Copenhagen street that competes commercially whilst creating space for everyone.The conversation explores the stepping stone method, the three-way funding model that sustains the work, and why quality matters more than pity. Christian shares the story of a formerly homeless man who moved from intern to apartment to paid employment, and reflects on the intersection of meaning, fairness and city-making. He describes why he believes this model could work elsewhere, the daily challenge of balancing commercial and social needs, and what drives him personally to work at a place where the people you serve and the city you shape are inseparable.

March 17, 2026Episode 5938 min

GP 59: I Just Love Places: with Hilary Satchwell of Tibbalds

In this episode of the Grow Places Podcast, Tom Larsson is joined by Hilary Satchwell, Director at Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design, to explore what it really means to put people at the heart of placemaking. Hilary reflects on nearly three decades at Tibbalds, where she has worked across scales and settings, from the edges of small towns to the centre of London, always with a focus on creating people-friendly places. She describes how thinking about specific people, their journeys, their safety, their daily lives, rather than a generic "everyone," leads to fundamentally better outcomes. The conversation touches on why good planning and good design are inseparable, and how collaborative, multi-disciplinary teams that share a clear objective can navigate even the most complex projects.The discussion also explores Tibbalds' recently published research into mid-rise development and the "missing middle," the three-to-seven-storey density that characterises some of our most valued historic places but has become increasingly difficult to deliver. Hilary unpacks the barriers, from planning rules around overlooking and parking to the decline of SME developers, and makes the case for clearer prioritisation if we want to achieve the variety and richness our towns and cities need. Beyond housing numbers, she argues passionately for social and cultural life to be treated as essential, not as a bonus. Drawing on her work as a Mayor's Design Advocate and her involvement with Part W's Built Barriers campaign, Hilary calls for planning that actively considers the needs of specific groups, particularly around safety and inclusion, and imagines a future where project briefs are written around how places should make people feel. Warm, curious and optimistic, she makes a compelling case for designing with emotion, specificity and genuine human understanding.

March 3, 2026Episode 5842 min

GP 58: Passionate Delivery of Regeneration: with Gerry Hughes of Gerry Hughes Consulting

In this episode of the Grow Places Podcast, Tom Larsson is joined by Gerry Hughes, Managing Director of Gerry Hughes Consulting, to explore leadership, delivery and the realities of urban regeneration. Gerry reflects on stepping away from the corporate world to focus on projects that genuinely “make a difference,” from leading a major city-centre regeneration scheme in Belfast to delivering a cutting-edge nuclear science and clean energy campus near Bristol. Drawing on decades of experience across strategy, planning and executive leadership, he shares candid insights into why delivery in the UK is so challenging — pointing to bureaucracy, siloed thinking and a planning system he believes is fundamentally in need of reform. Throughout the conversation, Gerry returns to a central theme: the importance of strategic thinking, strong leadership and keeping a clear, shared vision to navigate complexity and turn ambitious plans into reality.The discussion also delves into housing delivery, public–private partnerships and the regeneration of cities such as Manchester and Belfast. Gerry reflects on formative experiences including the East Manchester regeneration framework and the influence of civic leadership in shaping long-term success. In Belfast, where he is now helping deliver a 1,000-home mixed-use scheme in the heart of the city, he describes a people-first approach focused on streetscape, heritage and creating lasting neighbourhoods. Passionate yet pragmatic, Gerry argues for greater risk-sharing between sectors, infrastructure-led growth and empowering cities with stronger leadership. Despite the challenges facing the UK property sector, he remains optimistic — believing that with the right vision, collaboration and courage, places can be shaped in ways that genuinely improve people’s lives.

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