EMERGING LONDON 2018

Presumably that will mean changing some perceptions along the way. As I’ve said, it’s important to respect existing identity, but it’s also essential that wemove things on and that will involve changing some of the less positive perceptions of the area. Creating a pedestrian and bike friendly environment that is safe and stitches into the existing communities is a particularly vital part of this. Another critical element will be the success of the offices and commercial activities generally. Bringing great businesses and thousands of people to work at Brent Cross South will not only shift perceptions of this part of London, it will also deliver the daytime economy that underpins the success of the ground floor shops and restaurants that will enliven the streets and create amenity for residents. You will have a large shopping centre (Brent Cross) as your neighbour. How will that work? Brent Cross shopping centre opened in 1976 and is about to undergo a dramatic transformation that will make it one of (if not) the best shopping centres in the UK. Importantly there will be a significant pedestrian route that seamlessly connects the shopping centre with Brent Cross South allowing the whole area to work as one place. Our ambition is to complement what is on offer in the shopping centre so that our residents and workers have the best of both worlds and visitors have multiple reasons to visit Brent Cross. How do you sum up Brent Cross South to people who don’t know it? The word ‘opportunity’ comes very high on my list of descriptors. We are creating a place that will be necessarily complex and at times contradictory – like all good urban environments. Combine this with its fantastic location and transport links and you are creating opportunity on multiple levels – for local people, for homeowners, for renters, for businesses, for visitors and for a multitude of partners who may want to work with us. It’s a very exciting stage of the project when so much is still possible. The masterplan describes a new town centre, but you go further by aspiring to build a community. When we talk about a community here what we’re talking about is the fine- grained human experience of daily interactions, support networks and collective participation. Buildings, parks and squares do not create communities in themselves, but they can positively influence and facilitate how they evolve and create an environment in which they can flourish. And of course it’s an eternal circle, if the human communities flourish, the property side of things tends to be more successful and so on. What do you think people will be looking for at Brent Cross South? I think a lot of people will be looking to see if we can do another King’s Cross. Of course that experience and all the lessons we have learnt will influence our thinking. Brent Cross South is a very different place with its own specific opportunities and challenges and its own identity that needs to be respected and evolved. I think different groups of people will also have varying views on what they want it to deliver. For local people it will be better schools, improved public spaces and better amenity. For businesses it will all be about connectivity, great working environments and a place where their staff will be happy to work. Our challenge is to stitch all of this together successfully. NICK SEARL PARTNER, ARGENT Community here … is the finegrained human experience of daily interactions, support networks and collective participation. 51 50 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD  | EMERGING LONDON SPOTLIGHT ON BRENT CROSS SOUTH Brent Cross South Profile Interview Argent’s celebrated (and still on-going) transformation of King’s Cross is a tough act to follow. But at Brent Cross South, in north London, Argent Related has found a worthy successor site. Partner NICK SEARL , who is leading the project to build a 10 million sq ft new town centre, explains his ambitions for creating a genuine community, how having a major UK shopping centre as a neighbour will affect his scheme and tells us why he has a soft spot for St Pancras Old Church.