I recently spent time in London and visited some new mixed-use developments. I was blown away by what I saw – and there is so much that we can learn in the Toronto context, including the need for better but fewer materials, more colour, less roads and more varied site plans. 🧵

🧵🪡 Yesterday evening a balcony collapsed in onto the street in my apartment building, just 4 years after construction. The building, whose freeholder is Barking & Dagenham Council, was constructed by @BouyguesUK on behalf of @lbbdcouncil ‘s social and affordable housing company, BD Reside. All 414 properties are now considered “unsafe” and we will need to erect scaffolding in across the entire estate to keep ourselves and the public safe. #Leasehold #BuildingSafety #HousingCrisis #LBBD #BarkingAndDagenham #HousingReform

NEWS: St.Pancras station unveiled its Christmas tree today! We know, but it is a beauty. It's covered in books and there are cubby holes around the bottom where you can sit and read.

I went on crap homes safari to find out why Britain's new-build housing is so rubbish. Here's what I found theguardian.com/lifeandstyle…

Great to have @SimonPeterHunt of @EveningStandard on board with the idea of reclaiming London's many, and large, golf courses for housing, parks and wildlife. standard.co.uk/comment/londo…

Burn everything to the ground. The first season of #ThePower is now streaming on @PrimeVideo.