East of England

The East of England has one of the fastest growing populations and economies in the UK.

House and tree

Abode, Harlow
Photo by Housing Design Awards/Richard Learoyd

With no one single major town or city as its heart, maintaining its rich and unique character while its built environment develops is set against the  threat of climate change.

Regional representatives

  • Anthony Hudson is an architect and director of Hudson Architects, an award-winning practice working in the housing, cultural and education sectors.
  • Peter Studdert is director for sustainable communities at Cambridgeshire Horizons, and has over 28 years’ experience in local authority planning.
  • Trisha Gupta is director and group chief architect at Countryside Properties PLC, and a member of the board of governors of Anglia Ruskin University.

Regional partners

Architecture centres

We fund the following architecture centres:

  • Shape East
    Engages the public in issues affecting the local built environment, through workshops, interactive events, exhibitions, talks, training and online resources
  • Milton Keynes-South Midlands Architecture Centre
    Champions better design of buildings, spaces and places by giving advice to all those involved in development in the local growth area.

We also fund the Architecture Centre Network, a development and advocacy organisation for the architecture centres.

Regional design action manager

This role focuses on issues related to growth and housing expansion, and is jointly funded by the East of England Development Agency. The work concentrates on five urban settlements which will be affected by the region’s growth agenda, with the aim of promoting good quality design.

Training events and seminars run through the programme for design champions and local authorities have included the Station Hill Design Clinic, which took place in March 2005 in Bury St Edmunds. This involved local authority officers and representatives of local businesses, and focused on how to develop the site.