Associate Andrew Tam has been appointed a member of the London Borough of Haringey’s Quality Review Panel as part of Frame Projects’ panel refresh initiative. Frame Projects is a design focused, project management consultancy which manages several design review panels on behalf of planning authorities and public sector clients.

Haringey is typical of what makes London so special – a borough that includes hugely diverse communities reflected in distinct identities that shift along its three main arterial high streets. You will also find sharp contrasts in social mobility and equity, from the affluent neighbourhoods to the south and west of the borough to some of the most deprived wards in London towards the northeast. When riots erupted across the city in 2011, Tottenham was the epicentre. In response, Gort Scott created a Public Room on the site of a disused yard on the High Road as a place facilitating the exchange of skills to empower and bring the local community together.

Some of London’s greatest industries and skilled makers are based in Tottenham, with the Lea Valley a centre for technological innovation in the 20^th Century. Around the same time as the Tottenham Public Room, Gort Scott was commissioned by the GLA with Haringey Council to survey the ecosystem of local industrial estates. A staggering diversity of trades were unearthed, from craft brewers and cheesemakers to leatherworkers and pleaters, window glaziers to makers of thousand-pound shoes sold at Harrods. These businesses were mapped and compiled in a directory with samples of their products displayed at an exhibition called ‘From Around Here’, which took place on the ground floor of 639 High Road next to the Public Room, a historic building now a community-oriented centre for enterprise and creativity. It is currently being refreshed by Freehaus, who we collaborated with at Three Mills Studios.

Associate Andrew Tam said: “Having been on the other side of the table through numerous similar panels, I look forward to bringing my experience of leading a wide variety of projects at Gort Scott, ranging from public realm strategies and meanwhile affordable work/retail space to city-scale masterplans. While being both a resident of North and East London boroughs and an architect operating in these areas for more than a decade, I hope to use this opportunity to assist Haringey Council with championing the high environmental and social sustainability standards that come with good design and placemaking as part of the planning process for major development proposals that will define Haringey’s future.”