Audio recording of Lawrence Revill (b. 1956)
After dealing with biographical and work history details LR talks about David Lock’s reputation and attributes and that his influence pervades the ethos of the company – that David Lock Associates is interested in large urban extensions and in making communities, not just getting planning permission. Quotes Ken Baker -‘we’re in business to do planning and urban design, not in planning and urban design to do business.’ Talks about pushing clients to go further than they would have expected to go. Mentions new Conservative policy putting onus on developers to sell their ideas to local communities in order to get permission. Most of income comes from private developers rather than public sector.
Says that his mission is ‘to make everywhere better than it is now’. He believes that planners have to be conscious of the way places are going to evolve and people are going to respond to them – so need to think about appropriate management vehicles too. Cites the Parks Trust a s a good example. Talks about their long involvement in projects and how David Lock Associates’s continuity often contrasts with that of the other organisations involved. Discusses how they engage communities in the planning of their future. David Lock Associates’s obligation is ‘to do the ordinary extraordinarily well’, to make the best contemporary contribution to the mix of development that every generation has before. Talks against pastiche.
LR talks about the influence of Milton Keynes on David Lock Associates’s work, on creating communities for people to live, on the quality of design and importance of long-term maintenance and management. Says that MK only reveals is true qualities to you as a resident.
Sustainability has always been a concern of David Lock Associates, long before it became fashionable. The challenge has been to have a fresh, innovative and deliverable approach that makes them attractive to the market. Talks about not being a fan of high rise living.
Asked who is trying to impress LR says it is the people who live in the places they create who are most important, but it’s also good to be respected by ones peers. Notable projects he mentions are Ravenswood in Ipswich, the Urban Renaissance programme in Halifax for Yorkshire Forward and the regeneration of Durham.
David Lock Associates is the smallest organisation LR has worked for and he talks about making in more technologically savvy and introducing ‘churning’ and open plan offices, how project teams are organised and how company management has had to adapt as the organisation has grown. He also looks ahead to the future of the organisation and discusses its possible future size and organisation.
Finally he talks about the social events and training days and what makes a ‘David Lock Associates person’ and what words and phrases sum up David Lock Associates – ‘inclusive’, ‘well respected’.
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