The Mayor of London has selected Ken Okonkwo, Associate Director at Haworth Tompkins and Mayor’s Design Advocate to the role of Town Architect for the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham. The programme is part of Khan’s wider plans to support local growth and improve design in London through the £1.25 million Local Growth Capacity Support Programme. The two-year pilot scheme will utilise built environment expert knowledge from ten architects in ten locations to ensure that new buildings and public spaces in their respective area ‘benefit all Londoners by promoting quality and inclusion in the built environment’.
Ken will be supporting BeFirst and the borough on projects within the Thames Road Factory District and strategic projects in the southern part of Barking and Dagenham. In 2020, Haworth Tompkins developed strategic masterplan proposals for the Thames Road Area, providing a framework for its transformation over the next 30 years. Key objectives were to create a vibrant, cohesive and sustainable mixed-use district, incorporating a mix of industrial, residential and community uses. Forming part of the intensification strategy for the area, Haworth Tompkins designed Industria, an innovative multistorey ramped building, developed for BeFirst as a catalyst development for the district. Completed in 2023, it provides 11,500sqm of flexible, modern industrial floorspace and represents a groundbreaking new typology for UK industrial buildings.
Ken has been a Mayor’s Design Advocate since 2022, is vice chair for the Royal Borough of Greenwich design review panel and sits on design review panels for Ebbsfleet Development Corporation and the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/mayor-picks-top-names-for-londons-new-town-architects
‘I'm delighted to have been selected by the Mayor of London as Town Architect for Thames Road Factory District and South Barking and Dagenham as part of the GLA’s Town Architect pilot scheme. Along with the fellow MDAs working in different neighbourhoods across London, I will be promoting the 6 pillars of the Good Growth by Design programme, ensuring that new buildings and public spaces ‘benefit all Londoners by promoting quality and inclusion in the built environment’.
Building on Haworth Tompkins’ previous masterplanning work in the area, I am especially thrilled to be supporting BeFirst and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in making its first steps to realising the vision for Thames Road as a vibrant, sustainable and inclusive, mixed-use district, co-locating residential and industrial uses for the existing and future diverse communities within Barking.’ Ken Okonkwo, Associate Director Haworth Tompkins
Haworth Tompkins has three projects shortlisted at this year’s Pineapple Awards: The Developer and Festival of Place, which celebrate excellence in placemaking. The shortlists demonstrate the strength of our approach to placemaking and collaborative design.
Unanimous planning permission has been granted for Troubadour Greenwich Peninsula, a new 3,000-capacity performance venue designed by Haworth Tompkins.
Haworth Tompkins Associate Director Ken Okonkwo has been reappointed as a Mayor’s Design Advocate (MDA) for the 2025–2028 term, marking his second appointment to the role.
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Theatr Clwyd has been shortlisted for Theatre Building of the Year at this year’s Stage Awards.
Pembroke Mill Lane, Cambridge and The Warburg Renaissance have been selected as Regional Finalists in the 2026 Civic Trust Awards and will now be considered for National Awards with the winners announced January 2026.
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