We Made That – The Open Office

London-based architects We Made That will be taking up residence in The AF Project Space to run The Open Office, a new and lively practice for urbanism. Operating on a walk-in basis, The Open Office will be part ‘Citizens Urban Advice Bureau’, and part functioning practice and will offer an approachable and dynamic forum for public discussions about cities, planning, architecture and communities, in the particular context of the 2011 Localism Act in England.

There will be no closed cabinets, files or notebooks, and the process of working with the built environment will be on display for all to see. Daily activities and research projects conducted by specially recruited members of The Open Office will be punctuated by an evolving events programme of talks, design reviews, debates and film screenings. 

The Open Office was selected through the AF Project Space Open Call. 

Weekly Daytime Events

The Open Office will be running weekly research projects that will culminate in Friday lunch-time presentations hosted in The AF Project Space. 

All Friday Pin Up events are free and open to all (no need to RSVP). Space is limited however and the events will operate on a first come first serve basis.

Week 1 (20 - 23 February)
Study area: Chatsworth Road neighbourhood
Key question: What does Localism mean for London?
Friday Pin Up: Friday 22 February, 12.30 - 1.30pm

Week 2 (26 February - 2 March)
Study area: Croydon urban centre
Key question: What does straight-talking planning policy look like?
Friday Pin Up: Friday 1 March, 12.30 - 1.30pm

Week 3 (5 - 9 March)
Study area: Bankside business area
Key question: What role can businesses play in neighbourhood planning?
Friday Pin Up: Friday 8 March, 12.30 - 1.30pm

Week 4 (12 - 16 March)
Study area: Somerstown neighbourhood
Key question: Given its reliance on volunteers, how can neighbourhood planning be truly representative?
Friday Pin Up: Friday 15 March, 12.30 - 1.30pm

Week 5 (19 - 22 March)
Study area: Southall industrial area
Key question: How can neighbourhood planning support diverse economies?
Friday Pin Up: Friday 22 March, 12.30 - 1.30pm

Established in 2006, We Made That is an architecture and design studio concerned with a broad range of different disciplinary and cultural contexts – predominantly delivering work in the public realm. Drawing on wide experience from architectural practice, they approach projects through a process of discovery and invention, seeking to produce considered, pragmatic and charming designs. We Made That are committed to conversation and collaboration throughout the design process as a method of developing unique spaces and delicious objects. The practice relishes opportunities to develop creatively diverse solutions to everyday problems and to bring these proposals to fruition.