In the next talk in the series, architect Marcus Lee will talk about how he finds affordable sites, what he’s learned since building his first house in Highbury in the 1980s and why he is leaving London to repurpose disused farm buildings into holiday homes.

His most recent development is three houses in  Sprowston Mews, Newham where a former colleague has developed a plot and further up the mews, Matheson Whitley has redeveloped a former workshop into apartments.

“I have built houses in Islington, Hackney and now Newham in tandem with London's move east. Each time l have taken advantage of being on the poorer edge of prime development but keeping close to transport links and these days connections to Shoreditch, Hackney and Peckham matter more than to the West End, “ he says.

After two decades at the Richard Rogers Partnership, Marcus co-founded FLACQ, which later merged with Arup Associates and from 2019 to 2021 he was UK Director of Nordic Office of Architecture before reforming LEEP in 2021.

The series is aimed at architects who would like to know more about the opportunities and challenges around being an independent developer, including spotting creative solutions that a non-architect developer will often miss.

Amanda Baillieu and Gus Zogolovitch set up Developer Collective in 2018 to teach professionals how to become design-led property developers and give them the contacts and resources to deliver their projects. Their book How to be an Architect Developer was published in September '23.

The talk will be followed by networking drinks and nibbles.

This event is supported The Building Society