Urban Projects Bureau

Urban Projects Bureau is a leading creative agency specialising in architecture, urbanism, spatial strategy and design.

Committed to spatial practice as a transformative process, Urban Projects Bureau engages in pioneering work that expands the possibilities of design innovation, pushing the boundaries of what architecture and urbanism can do and be.

Urban Projects Bureau intervenes in processes of social, political and urban change through research, teaching, spatial strategy and design. Our approach is strategic in nature and specific in focus: we believe in constructing spaces as a way of generating change. We have a breadth of experience and knowledge in architecture and urbanism, and have undertaken projects in the UK, Europe, Asia, South America and South Africa, and have worked with leading international political agencies and cultural institutions.

Our studio is structured into three main specialism’s: UPB Projects, UPB Research, and UPB Actions, which work independently and collaboratively as part of our combined practice. We work across a range of scales and sectors, and apply our analytical thinking and design expertise to public and private projects of varying sizes and types – from social housing to exhibitions and interiors, from regional development strategies to the design of civic spaces. Key to our work is an interest in the ways in which spaces are inhabited and used, and a commitment to the public realm as a place of social exchange and political activity.

Urban Projects Bureau work with urban processes that shape the city and its institutions, and operate as a think tank to develop critical frameworks through which to re-think existing challenges and envision alternative urban models. Extending the potential of urbanism as a discipline, we collaborate with government bodies, NGO’s, social agencies, and public organisations to apply design-thinking to complex urban situations, political and institutional affairs. UPB was selected to exhibit in the British Pavilion in the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale 2012, and was included in the Guardian portrait of key players in British Architecture 2012.