A new placemaking consultancy which aims to shake up developers’ community contributions has been launched by Allied London’s former head of brand and marketing.
Phil Dawson, whose work has included creating a pop-up retail unit for DJ James Lavelle at the Dr Marten’s Store in Camden and a placemaking consultation for events company Vibrations Group at Printworks in Canada Water, SE16, has launched This Must Be The Place.
The consultancy offers tailored creative placemaking services to help developers and local authorities “foster community, fulfil their obligations and achieve their ambitions to create and sustain places that people love”.
Dawson said: “A street food van, some deckchairs and some AstroTurf doesn’t always cut the mustard really so you have to be a little bit more innovative.”
He hopes to fill a gap in the market for a dedicated placemaking agency. “We bring a slightly different methodology to the work that we do, with our brand experience and our marketing communications background.”
A street food van, some deckchairs and some AstroTurf doesn’t always cut the mustard really so you have to be a little bit more innovative”
The consultancy implements what Dawson describes as the “science and alchemy of placemaking” which combines research with insights into future trends.
Having spent most of his recent tenure for Allied London working on the 1.2m sq ft mixed-use regeneration project Leeds Dock, Dawson is keen to spend more time working on estates in London, where the company is based.
He said: “There are so many exciting opportunities throughout the UK that we really feel that we can put all the experiences we’ve got from outside London and our experience from before which was based in marketing and brand activation, and bring all that together into one unique placemaking proposition.”
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