SPPARC joins our cultural destination discussions in April
London is always in competition internationally but also within the UK to attract visitors and tourists to the capital and so we are very much looking forward to Trevor Morriss, Principal at SPPARC speaking at our Future Cities Forum at The Goldsmiths' Hall, City of London, about the £1 billion project to redevelop the famous and historic exhibition halls - Olympia London - into a world leading cultural hub.
Award winning architecture practices SPPARC and Heatherwick Studio are leading on the design and implementation of the project which will create more than 3,000 new construction jobs over the next five years in addition to approximately 5,400 new jobs for the borough when it is completed.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council gave the green light to the new development, owned by YOO Capital and Deutsche Finance International, to turn the halls into a destination with leading hotels and restaurants, performance venues and state-of-the-art office space. The first tenants will move in by 2023. The site covers fourteen acres and will see an extra two and a half acres of new public space created. Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE have been appointed as leasing advisers on the project.
Trevor Morriss founded London-based architectural practice SPPARC in 2007. Known for its signature buildings, the firm delivers high quality architecture and masterplans of varying scales.
Trevor has always taken an unconventional approach to architecture. His career began at the age of 17 when he had the opportunity to design his first building in Shad Thames, London. Initially commissioned as a ‘print boy’ by the firm JPB, the director was impressed by Trevor’s drawings and ideas that he was asked to start working on the project. The firm then decided to fund his studies at London South Bank University while he worked full time.
In 1995, he was appointed senior architect at global real estate advisors Jones Lang LaSalle, whilst specialising in urbanism at the University of Greenwich. This experience provided him with an unparalleled insight into the commercial drivers of a project.
Since establishing award-winning SPPARC, Trevor has developed an impressive portfolio of projects in the UK and Europe across multiple sectors. His projects are informed by the way people interact and reflect the importance of the architectural fabric that surrounds them. Key projects include The Music Box, a contemporary mixed-use home for the London College of Creative Media; Borough Yards, a £300m redevelopment of the former Vinopolis site that will offer workspace, retail, gallery,
restaurants, cinema and creative spaces; The Golden Hinde Museum and Visitor Centre in Bankside and the extensive redevelopment of the iconic Olympia London, which aims to position it as a centre for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in the UK.
Trevor is a renowned figure in the industry and has lectured at the RIBA.