“When David Kohn first told me he was designing some workspaces for North Greenwich which would have giant nude figurative statues by Damien Hirst on the facade I thought he was joking,” said Phineas Harper, chief executive of Open City, a British charitable organization dedicated to making architecture and neighborhoods more accessible and equitable.
Open City moved into the Greenwich Design District when it launched in 2021. Back then, some buildings in London’s first purpose-built creative quarter, realized on top of a former natural gas plant, were still under construction, and they’ve steadily been opening since. A master plan from Allies and Morrison protects views of the adjacent Richard Rogers–designed O2 Arena, capping building heights at four stories. Studio HNNA laid out the circulation, creating a network of mini streets and squares with an array of plots to…
