Sheppard Robson's Anna Shapiro to talk at Future Cities Forum's February 'New Districts'

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Anna Shapiro will be describing Sheppard Robson's project at Earl's Court, London, at 'New Districts' this February.

The forum will look at developing districts in London and across the UK, as well as best practice in achieving authenticity, connected housing and transport.

The project to transform the famous Earl's Court exhibition and event spaces which opened in 1887, aims to put the centre back on the international map. A proposed new masterplan has the key benefits of 4,000 homes, 2.5m sq ft of workspace and the potential of 12,000 new jobs. It will also be a home for creative talent and a showcase for one of the fastest growing industries of the world, clean and climate tech.

Sheppard Robson is working on the first phase of the redevelopment of the Earls Court Exhibition Centres site, leading the Hammersmith & Fulham part of phase 1 that will create a strong relationship with the neighbouring West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates.

Its work involves close collaboration with Serie Architects and dRMM as well as the masterplanners for the wider development. The site includes a series of residential buildings, creating homes for sale, for rent and for students. These new homes will sit above a podium which will house a mix of workspaces, retail, amenities and community centre.

The designs will sit close to the new park at the heart of site and next to a new tree-lined boulevard that helps stitch the mix of uses together and fulfils one of the development’s key aims – to prioritise people and nature.

Anna sits on Sheppard Robson's Design Review Panel, lending her expertise and long-standing fascination with cities to the group that promotes design quality and innovation. She is responsible for strategic urban projects, from housing and regeneration to bio-medical and educational clusters. Anna often works on large-scale developments that explore new ways of living, combining sensitivity with bold thinking, to create neighbourhoods that unlock the civic and cultural potential of towns and cities.

Drawing on her academic and professional experience, Anna works alongside clients, stakeholders and the project team to engage with the wider community. She believes that every project has the potential to be greater than the sum of its parts.

She is a course master and design tutor at the Housing and Urbanism Graduate programme, Architectural Association School, London, and has lectured and served on juries internationally. She is an initiator and an active member of Collective Formations—an international design research group, focusing on the challenges of new spatial models emerging globally and shaping the contemporary city. Anna uses drawing and painting as an exploratory tool to drive and formulate the communication process.