Arup presents at 'Science Cities' on master-planning knowledge districts

Image: Sowmya Parthasarathy, courtesy of Arup

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Sowmya Parthasarathy, architect and urban designer with 30 years of global experience in the UK, US, Middle East and India, and leading Arup's Master-planning and Urban Design team in London, will be presenting at 'Science Cities' this week at Jesus College Oxford in the new Digital Hub. Her presentation is titled 'Ingredients of a knowledge district.'

She is involved in preparing award-winning masterplans, strategic plans, and urban design guides for institutions, city districts, neighbourhoods, waterfronts, brownfield sites, and public open space.

Some examples of her work include London's 2012 Olympic Legacy Masterplan; Wellcome Genome Campus master-plan in South Cambridgeshire; Battersea Power Station master-plan in London; rejuvenation strategy for Ulsoor Lake Bangalore; and a new 7 square km urban district near Muscat Oman.

The Wellcome Trust is the largest and most influential medical charity in the world. Its mission to improve global health is at the heart of its work at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridgeshire, home to two of the foremost institutions: the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the European Bioinformatics Institute. With limited space on the existing campus site, Wellcome commissioned Arup to develop a vision and masterplan for a major campus expansion.

Arup states:

'Arup developed a master-plan centred around three key principles: Community (expanding the campus into a science community with new homes, facilities and infrastructure); Convergence (developing collaboration areas and public spaces to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration); and Health and wellbeing (designing with a focus on human, as well as environmental, community and planetary, health).  

'The project team designed proposals for new social amenities, from public education to retail and a nursery, as well as an extensive 18km network of walking and cycling routes linking residential areas to labs, offices and community infrastructure. What’s more, the master-plan leaves zones open to flexible growth, meaning that the campus can grow at pace in whatever direction the community takes it.

Arup is also carrying out master-planning work for the Max Planck Society, Munich. It says:

'One of the world's most prestigious scientific and technological research institutions, Max Planck Society, is redeveloping its Munich campus to meet modern research standards and address emerging scientific questions in a collaborative, innovative and human-centred new environment. The goal is to build a new 40,000m2 flagship research campus in a development supported by the State of Bavaria.

'The Martinsried campus of Max Planck Society is a leading research hub at the centre of Munich's biotech region, home to the Institute of Biochemistry and the Institute of Biological Intelligence. The campus houses several offices and labs as well as recreational and conference areas, guest apartments, day-care centres and specialised research services. Hoping to serve as a leading asset for international life science research, the new campus will rise on the free plot next to the existing institutes.'

In 2021, Sowmya's also took on the role as Arup’s leader for the consultancy's business in India, Middle East, Africa, and for International Development, recognising the opportunity to contribute to the sustainable growth of some of world’s most dynamic and multifaceted regions.

Her aim is to bring Arup’s knowledge and design expertise, such as integrated planning, sustainability, and climate resilience to our work in these areas.

Outside of Arup, Sowmya is a UK Design Council Ambassador. She also serve as a Mayor’s Design Advocate responsible for promoting design excellence as part of the Mayor of London's Good Growth by Design programme. She sits on the London Design Review Panel and review panels for Transport for London and the Old Oak Park Royal Development Corporation.