Emma Dent Coad has been a Docomomo UK member and Working Party member since the 1990s, and is now a Trustee. Emma is an architecture writer and researcher, and long-time Councillor in Kensington and Chelsea. She was MP for Kensington 2017-19, elected four days before the Grenfell Tower fire at the end of her road.

Her book, ‘One Kensington’ covers the period before, during and after the fire, covering a range of issues including the contempt held by Council leaders for social tenants. She will discuss what happened at Grenfell from a political context.

After the Grenfell fire, a resident group asked Murray John to help generate an architectural proposal to make the Lancaster West Estate “a model for social housing for the 21st century”.

Residents made it clear that they had lost confidence in the RBKCs ability to maintain and manage, leading central government to take over.  Now, over six years later, the RBKC have hijacked the project once again and even commandeered the post code W11 to badge the co-design programme.  This is an account of the 100 year lifetime of a number of social housing types and their occupants.

Murray has a general architecture and conservation practice. He studied at the AA and the London College of Furniture, trained with ecclesiastical architects Alban and Martin Caroe and modernist Rick Mather. Murray is also an inspecting architect for the Diocese of London. He lectures in interior design and is active in numerous amenity societies.

His commissions include conservation plans for London Underground, Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Wallace Collection, and branding support for companies such as Lassco & Penhaligon’s.  In recent years the City of Westminster, Lambeth and Kensington and Chelsea have employed his company directly to support community, social and townscape conservation projects with non-regeneration approach.

At The Gallery, London EC1, and streamed

Book tickets, Docomomo UK non-members, £6

Book tickets, free to Docomomo UK members only