Thank you to everyone we met in MIPIM last week. It felt like the place to be this year and good to hear so much discussion on the importance of high quality design.

There were too many stimulating events to mention but three in particular stood out. The first was adeptly chaired by Peter Murray, with Julian Bell, Ealing Council leader, Sean Ellis, Chairman of St James and Tom Titherington, Director of Business Development & Market Intelligence at Catalyst, discussing large scale development and the complex issues of land assembly and placemaking. Secondly, the panel session co-hosted by Barton Willmore and Argent on the challenges of long term regeneration projects and the impact of PRS. David Partridge, Managing Partner at Argent, summarised their approach at Kings Cross beautifully when describing the importance of curating spaces: ‘it’s about intensity, not density’. The final highlight was Mike Ingall, Allied London, launching our scheme: ‘The Skirt’ at ‘Investing in Manchester: place design and architecture’ on Thursday morning.

Phew – what a week!