Report on the Holcim Foundation Fellowship Europe in London 2025
The Holcim Foundation Fellowship digital publication captures the ideas, people, and outcomes of an intensive two-week program that brought together Master’s students and leading practices from across the built environment. The Fellowship aims to create unique moments of shared learning through recently realised projects, while challenging established modes of practice. At its core, the Fellowship encourages a curiosity-driven and solutions-oriented mindset, fostered through open dialogue, consultation, exploration, and reflection.
The publication documents the Fellowship journey and provides detailed profiles of each Fellow, highlighting their backgrounds, motivations, and areas of expertise. It also showcases the network of distinguished mentors and experts who guided the Fellows, including Prof. José Torero Cullen, Matthew Heywood, and Dr. Michael Woodrow from UCL; Saba Carmel Meidany from the Holcim Foundation; and a wide range of practitioners from London such as Chris Wise (Expedition Engineering), Anna Wendt and Peter Goff (Buro Happold), Duncan Walters and Hugh McGilveray (Eckersley O’Callaghan), John Roycroft and Victoria Martin (BDP), Matthew Wilkinson and Paige Lee (AL_A), James Lee (Publica), Albert Williamson-Taylor (AKT II), and Mark Leitner-Murphy (Greater London Authority).
Working across disciplines, the Fellows analysed contemporary London projects and co-developed a vision for the city’s future transformation. Their collaborative manifesto set out aspirations for a safer, more resilient, and inclusive urban environment. By integrating expertise in sustainable materials, climate resilience, heritage conservation, fire safety, and inclusive design, the group advanced proposals that are both technically rigorous and socially ambitious.
The culmination of the Fellowship was a re-imagined London Plan: an alternative vision that combined technical insights, policy recommendations, and design strategies with compelling narratives intended to inspire practice and policy alike. In reflecting on this process, Fellows emphasised how emerging professionals can accelerate urban transformation through innovation and collaboration.
This publication presents their journey, capturing the dynamic feedback loops, integrated solutions, and transferable ideas that emerge. It offers inspiration for future practice in cities worldwide.
