Design for London Director Appointed

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone today announced the appointment of Peter Bishop as the first ‘Design for London’ Director. He is currently Camden Council’s Director of Culture and Environment and is expected to take up the new role in December at which point Design for London - the Mayor’s new architecture and urban design unit - will be formally established.

Peter was appointed after an open recruitment process and will lead Design for London as it promotes and helps to deliver world-class architecture, sustainable and inclusive design in London’s buildings, public spaces and urban fabric.

The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said:

“Peter will bring a wealth of experience that stretches across London which means he is already familiar with the challenges that lie ahead. I am confident that under his leadership and direction Design for London will have real impact in shaping the future of our city by putting high quality and sustainable design at the heart of its projects.”

Peter Bishop said:

“This is a really exciting role.  It is a real opportunity to implement the Mayor’s vision for London and help shape the city over the next few years.  Design for London will work across the Greater London Authority group to help make London a better place to live.  It is not just about Grand Designs.  It is about making the City a better place for Londoners to live, work and move around in.  It is about mending the parts of the City that don’t work, and making the places that do work even better.”

Mayor's Chief Architectural Advisor, Lord Rogers said:

"Peter Bishop has a first class record at Camden and is a leading exponent of the value of good design in urban planning. I look forward to working with him in his role as Design for London’s Director where he will be responsible for integrating the work of the different Greater London Authority design teams to deliver the highest quality architecture and to help raise awareness of the importance of design in London."

Design for London will operate as the focus for design leadership for London government, bringing together existing teams from the Greater London Authority, the London Development Agency and Transport for London. Design for London will work with wider London communities and organisations to promote the Mayor’s vision for London as an exemplar and sustainable world city.

Design for London will be advised by a new Design for London Advisory Group, chaired by Richard Rogers, the Mayor’s chief advisor on architecture and urbanism, whose members will include suitably experienced experts from the architecture and urban design professions, academia and the development industry.
 
For media enquiries: please contact Rob Beasley at the LDA Media Team on 020 7593 8437; for public enquiries, please call 020 7593 9000.

Notes to Editors

• The London Development Agency is the Mayor's agency for sustainable economic development. The LDA prepares the Mayor's business plan for London and mobilises the support and resources of hundreds of partner organisations to help build a thriving economy for London's people, businesses and communities. The LDA is dedicated to improving sustainability, health and equality of opportunity for Londoners.
  
• Peter Bishop, currently Director of Culture and Environment at the London Borough of Camden has nearly three decades of experience working in the planning and environment departments of several London boroughs. Over the last two decades he has worked at director level managing major planning and regeneration projects including the redevelopment plans for King’s Cross. Key posts also include:
• Director of Environment, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
• Director of Environment and Technical Services, London Borough of Haringey
• Director of Planning, London Borough of Haringey
• Director of Planning, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
  
• The Director of Design for London will be a London Development Agency employee.  In addition to the new Director, there will be seven staff transferring to the LDA from the Greater London Authority’s Architecture and Urbanism Unit, and two staff from the LDA’s design service.
  
• Design for London’s objectives are to:
  
• establish effective and united corporate design advice and support across the Greater London Authority group influence all relevant bodies in the design and development sectors in London to improve the quality of urban design, architecture and sustainable development
• raise awareness and appreciation of the value of good design more widely among Londoners
• review the design of major development schemes within the Greater London
  
• Authority group
  
• lead the urban design input into Opportunity Area Planning Frameworks in London’s Thames Gateway
• establish a portfolio of exemplar projects and use these to influence and promote good design
  unite the TfL resources and remit on design with the new design service
• lever in resources from external sources to take forward the above objectives of Design for London