Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

The Fish Disco: When Infrastructure Dances

Behind the playful name “Fish Disco” lies one of the most complex marine mitigation systems ever built. This article uses Hinkley Point C to explore how environmental regulation, legal risk, and public trust are reshaping infrastructure design in the UK.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Foundations of the Future with City Lions

Architectural practice often narrows our focus to delivery: deadlines, coordination, clashes, cost. Earlier this year, mentoring students through City Lions offered a rare opportunity to step back - and reflect on what we are building, and for whom.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Site Delays and Side-Eyes: What’s Stalling the Studio?

Over the past year, UK architecture and construction have come under sustained regulatory and economic pressure. The combined effects of the Building Safety Act 2022, the introduction of Gateways 2 and 3, and wider market instability have reshaped project timelines, risk profiles, and — most acutely — job security within architectural practice.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Global Shocks, Local Impacts: What Trump’s 2025 Tariffs Mean for London’s Construction Sector

In April 2025, the reintroduction of sweeping U.S. tariffs sent fresh shockwaves through global supply chains. A blanket 10% tariff on imports, alongside significantly higher rates on goods from major trading partners, has immediate consequences beyond the U.S.

For London’s construction sector, these global shifts translate into material volatility, cost uncertainty, and renewed pressure on already fragile project economics.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

The Architectural Divide: Why Architects Love Brutalism, but the Public Prefers Poundbury

The debate between modernist and traditional architecture in the UK is often framed as a matter of taste. In reality, it reflects deeper cultural, political, and economic tensions.

While architects may admire Brutalism for its material honesty and formal ambition, the public often gravitates toward places that feel familiar, legible, and humane. This divide shapes not only what gets built, but how cities are received — and resisted.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

From Tracks to Towers: How Hong Kong’s MTR Shapes the City

Hong Kong’s MTR is more than a transport system — it is a city-making engine. Through its integration of rail, development, and public space, it has shaped not only how the city moves, but how it grows.

Returning to Hong Kong offered a reminder of what coordinated infrastructure can achieve: density without dysfunction, mobility without sprawl, and public transport as a civic asset rather than an afterthought.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Palliser Road: A Site Visit Reflection

Earlier this year, I visited Palliser Road — a Southern Housing Group project in West London — as part of a wider reflection on delivery, constraint, and community-making.

Set within a sensitive urban context, the project highlights the everyday tensions between heritage, density, and social value, and the role site visits play in shaping better decisions long before drawings are finalised.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Designing Cities for Memory: Rethinking Urban Spaces for Ageing and Alzheimer’s Care

Cities are rarely designed with memory loss in mind. Yet as populations age, the experience of dementia and Alzheimer’s increasingly intersects with public space, transport, and everyday navigation.

This piece explores how urban design can better support dignity, familiarity, and independence — and why inclusive cities must account not only for physical access, but cognitive and emotional experience.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

I am not a Robot: AI and Architecture - You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours

As artificial intelligence enters architectural workflows, the conversation often swings between enthusiasm and anxiety. In practice, its value lies somewhere quieter: as a collaborator rather than a replacement.

This project reflects on AI as a creative tool — one that reshapes authorship, speed, and representation — and what that means for how architects work, think, and communicate.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Urban Development: Comparing Building Approvals in New York and London

New York and London approach building approvals through fundamentally different systems. While both prioritise public consultation and sustainability, New York’s zoning-led model contrasts sharply with London’s more discretionary, policy-driven framework.

This comparison reveals how approval structures shape risk, timelines, and ultimately what cities are able — and willing — to build.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Design and Access Statements: Comparing London and New York’s Urban Planning Policies

Design and Access Statements play a central role in London’s planning system, shaping how proposals are justified, scrutinised, and negotiated. This stands in contrast to New York’s more codified, zoning-led approach.

Examining these differences highlights how planning tools influence not just outcomes, but the balance of power between policy, design intent, and public accountability.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

A Reintroduction

Early in my time at a new practice, I was given the opportunity to step back and reflect — not just on architecture, but on the path that led me there.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Inside/Out @ The Serpentine Pavilion

I recently had the privilege of leading the organization of the final lecture at the Serpentine Pavilion featuring this year's designer, Lina Ghotmeh.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Clapham Old Town Flat | Construction Photos (WIP)

This project has been a culmination of all the skills I have learned over the years from leadership, coordination and professional practice. The most applicable skills came from the small renovation projects at Gensler - ‘patch & match’ projects where there were so many details to capture and many odds and ends were new/re-used/relocated.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Degree Show at the Truman Brewery

Thank you so much to everyone that came (and tried to come) to the show. I am also flattered to be awarded the Head of Programme Award for my work and contributions to the college.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Inside/Out | Future Architects Front (FAF)

We invited Charlie from the Future Architect’s Front (FAF) to speak for our series, whose contact was shared through a professor of our’s. I was first introduced to Charlie’s work during the height of the pandemic when I was still residing in the US. His account on Instagram shared anecdotes about the long hours and exploitative conditions that I was all too familiar with. These serious topics were shared in the language of digestible pop culture: cynical/tongue in cheek architecture industry related memes designed to be glanced at for about a millisecond.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Clapham Old Town Flat | Existing Conditions & Initial Thoughts

I have been hired to breathe new life into a two bedroom property located in South West London. The Victorian property was subdivided into three separate flats, but a previous renovation in 2006 was poorly done, leaving the flat in desperate need of refurbishment. My task is to reimagine and revitalize this space to create a comfortable home for a young, creative professional.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Review

Before the exams, we had a review session to check our progress before the final exam in June. The review was attended by a limited audience, including Tania Lopez Winkler and guest critic Jim Eyre, who served on the panel.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Inside/Out | New Staff

One of the highlights of being a student again has been running Inside/Out. I find it inspiring from a design perspective and enjoy listening to our guests' "starting out" stories, which are often a little clumsy and unexpected. Recently, I was disappointed to learn that I didn't get a job I really wanted. I had put a lot of thought and effort into the application, but unfortunately, the position was removed before I even started due to uncertain market conditions.

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Stephanie Cheung Stephanie Cheung

Inside/Out | Carmody Groarke

We hosted an Inside/Out lecture with Carmody Groarke last night. Lukas Barry (Associate Director) centered his lecture around 3 projects. I most admire how the studio has a resourceful approach to design, and how these ideas have translated into a low impact attitude to making longer lasting architecture that looks to retain, reuse and reinvent our collective built heritage.

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