In this episode of the Grow Places Podcast, Tom Larsson sits down with Max Farrell, founder of LDN Collective. LDN Collective is a values-led network of independent built environment specialists who come together to work on projects in London, across the UK and beyond.
Max spent around ten years as a partner at Farrells, the practice founded by his father, Sir Terry Farrell. His work there covered communications, masterplanning and urban regeneration, and he worked on the Farrell Review of architecture and the built environment. Seven years ago he set out to test a different model. It was partly inspired by the way the film industry brings together a cast and crew for each project. LDN Collective unites SMEs and specialists around a shared set of values. Clients get senior expertise without the overheads of a large multidisciplinary firm, and members can take on work at a scale they could not reach alone.
Topics covered include:
The four values that bind the Collective (diverse, dynamic, beyond profit and, above all, collaborative), and why collaboration is easy to claim but much harder to practise
How the model works in practice, from flexible procurement routes and a member referral system to a membership fee Max compares to a gym subscription
Why bringing social impact, community engagement and sustainability into the team at the very start of a project changes every decision that follows
The Wolfson Prize entry that became a four-act play about the hospital of the future, and how it led to Max chairing the Healthy City Design Congress
Why every place already has a cultural identity, and why the industry should work to understand it rather than impose a brand
Leadership as convening and empowering rather than directing, and why trust depends on honesty, consistency and knowing when to pick up the phone
Plans to take the city collective model beyond London, with conversations under way in Newcastle and Sydney
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