Designing with City Lions

Earlier this year, we welcomed a group of young creatives from City Lions to the CGL studio for an afternoon exploring architecture through design and model-making.

City Lions is a Westminster City Council programme connecting young people aged 13–16 with creative opportunities, mentors and behind-the-scenes access to cultural organisations across London. Its focus on confidence, curiosity and belonging closely reflects what I value about widening access to the built environment.

This was my second year taking part in the programme, but my first leading the workshop. Having supported the session previously, it was rewarding to shape the brief, coordinate the afternoon and guide the participants through the design process with colleagues across the practice.

We asked the group to imagine a new bakery and hospitality concept, considering not only how it might look, but how people would move through it, gather and experience the space. Their ideas were then developed through a hands-on model-making session, turning early concepts into physical proposals.

What I enjoy most about these workshops is how quickly young people begin to think spatially when given the tools and confidence to experiment. They often approach a brief without the assumptions that come with professional practice, producing ideas that are direct, imaginative and grounded in how a place might actually feel to use.

Thank you to the City Lions team, the young designers who joined us and everyone at CGL who helped mentor and support the afternoon. It was a privilege to lead the session and to play a small part in opening up the profession to a new group of creative thinkers.