38 Case Study Creative Quarters continued

Finally, London-based Adam Khan Architects’ A3 offers a moment of architectural respite. Its subdued concrete facade uses awnings on the southern and eastern sides to add character and limit solar heat gain. B3, meanwhile, is on hold, also awaiting transportation infrastructure.

“Today, [the] Design District supports an ecosystem of 160 businesses, encompassing individual makers, ambitious start-ups, groundbreaking social enterprises, and industry leaders,” said Design District director Helen Arvanitakis.

“It’s not a template that should be rolled out everywhere,” Harper offered. “But as a playful and fully pedestrianized cluster of characterful pavilions, it is fantastic place to base the Open City team and has much to teach the po-faced bricky baldness which defines so much new London architecture.”

Jason Sayer is a writer and lecturer based in London. Previously at AN and later the London School of Architecture, he works for U.K. publication Architecture Today