Urban Research | niamhlenihan

Discuss Design Decant Lets make better use of land in London. Retail Parks are huge spaces with single storey buildings and tons of car parking... can we reorganise this space to work more efficiently and combine industrial and residential uses there?	Industry in the City Design project by Niamh Lenihan & Anna Mason. It provides an alternate future where housing, and industry co-exist. We question why this isn’t a model seen very often already in London; there are only a handful of residential developments
Cass Cities Cass Cities is a group of thinkers and doers at the Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University.	Cass Audit Book Cass Cities audited an Opportunity Area of South East London to document and business types in the area, prior to redevelopment plans proposed in an Area Action Plan. Our aim is to showcase the growing smaller manufacturing industry in the area and to make a case for providing suitable space in the new proposals.
Social-Life I assisted on this publication which looked at measuring social sustainability in new residential developments. It focused on Berkeley Homes developments and used a framework based on door to door surveys to calculate the levels of well being amongst people living there.	Super Diversity A short study about block of high street shops, mainly run by ethnic minority groups. Part of the study focused on the informal business arrangements that happen within the depth of the shops - like the PC repair shop that houses a money transfer business and an empanada bread maker at the rear of the premises.
Barking & Dagenham Research and field analysis for a Characterisation study of the Barking & Dagenham. This involved creating a photographic record of housing types, and researching in the local history archives.	City Industries As part of an investigation into industry in cities, I researched the wholesale baking sector in London, discovering what type of space bakeries use. Huge scale bakeries still operate in London, sometimes nestled away in quiet residential streets. Many are setting up in railway arches, as space in industrial units becomes harder to secure.
Panorama East Volunteered to research the history of buildings along the A11 as part of a project to create an online community resource. It aimed to engage local people in their area. Every building was photographed and researched from Whitechapel to Bow.	OKR A-Z An A to Z of businesses in the Old Kent Road Opportunity Area.

I enjoy working collaboratively with different disciplines and understanding how space is used by everyone. I am as interested in environmental psychology and human behavior as I am architecture. Below is some of the research I have undertaken and been part of.

Discuss Design Decant

Lets make better use of land in London. Retail Parks are huge spaces with single storey buildings and tons of car parking... can we reorganise this space to work more efficiently and combine industrial and residential uses there?

Industry in the City

Design project by Niamh Lenihan & Anna Mason. It provides an alternate future where housing, and industry co-exist. We question why this isn’t a model seen very often already in London; there are only a handful of residential developments

Cass Cities

Cass Cities is a group of thinkers and doers at the Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University.

Cass Audit Book

Social-Life

I assisted on this publication which looked at measuring social sustainability in new residential developments. It focused on Berkeley Homes developments and used a framework based on door to door surveys to calculate the levels of well being amongst people living there.

Super Diversity

Barking & Dagenham

Research and field analysis for a Characterisation study of the Barking & Dagenham. This involved creating a photographic record of housing types, and researching in the local history archives.

City Industries

Panorama East

Volunteered to research the history of buildings along the A11 as part of a project to create an online community resource. It aimed to engage local people in their area. Every building was photographed and researched from Whitechapel to Bow.

OKR A-Z

An A to Z of businesses in the Old Kent Road Opportunity Area.