The Great Estates of London: Field Trip 2015

The first year students on the BSc Real Estate Management went on a field trip to London on Friday 9 October 2015. First stop was the recently renovated Regent Street Cinema for a series of talks on the Great Estates of London. In the afternoon the students (and staff) split into 6 groups and were given a guided tour of one of the Great Estates (click on the red links for more information):

Crown Estate (led by Linda Winstanley from Regent Street Management Direct)
Pollen Estate (led by Shona Price from Deloitte)
Howard de Walden (led by Jenny Hancock from Howard de Walden)
Shaftesbury (led by Gill Smith from Shaftesbury)
Mercers Estate (led by Stuart Andrews from Deloitte)
Grosvenor Estate (led by Emilie Walker from Grosvenor)

And now for some background: the field trip is part of the first year Integrative Project which provides a background to the subjects that are taken in the first year. The module addresses the discipline-based and transferable skills that students will need during their years of study and as professionals in real estate management. These skills are explored and developed through a series of activities which involve viewing real estate from a range of perspectives. In broad terms this includes the subject areas of planning, construction, law, economics, management and valuation. Following the field trip, the students will work in teams to prepare a group presentation to address the following topic: critically discuss how the Great Estates of London (the one visited by the team on the field trip) are managed to positively enhance their value.

The students were introduced to the Great Estates of London with the following video from New London Architecture (watch out for those red-soled shoes that Peter Murray is wearing - you'll see them again a bit later):

And so, to the field trip itself. In pictures. We are hoping to collect some photos from the students, but for now we have photos of Grosvenor Estate (Rachel Dixon) and Pollen Estate (Gina Dalton)...

Early start at Oxford Brookes. Not even Starbucks was open.

Settling in and getting ready for the talks at...

...the very beautiful Regent Street Cinema.

The Great Estates by Peter Murray (New London Architecture) and the Victoria Quarter by Ben Ridgewell and David Wickens (Land Securities). Spot the red-soled shoes. 

First, to the Pollen Estate...

...and Savile Row

The Pollen Estate also includes Cork Street

Moving on to the Grosvenor Estate...

Refurbished office at 69 Grosvenor Street

Grosvenor Hill...

...and the re-clad NCP car park.

Brown Hart Gardens - home to the Garden Cafe which was designed to bring together the residents of the local area who live in the social housing that surrounds the cafe. The white building on the bottom right used to be a car park (for Selfridges) but is now a hotel - the cuboid sculpture is a room designed by Antony Gormley.

The Embassy of the United States. A Grade II listed building constructed in the 1950s. Purchased in 2009 by the Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company who plan to redevelop it into a luxury hotel. 

The streets of Mayfair.

Office refurbishment at 33 Grosvenor Street

Fire escapes, chimneys, flat roofs and air-conditioning units.
View from the top floor of 33 Grosvenor Street showing that the back is not always as attractive as the front. 

That's the end of the blog post and the end of a fantastic field trip. Now read the book.