About this project

Cathedral (now U+i) work with local people, local authorities and some of the UK’s most creative thinkers to transform overlooked scraps of the metropolis into thriving, accessible, mixed-use developments. I developed the concept for its 2014 annual review and then the text, making a virtue of Cathedral’s past frustration in describing itself and its activities. ‘Property developer’ was a misnomer and ‘agent of socio-economic change’ was a mouthful. The lack of an appropriate noun only underlined the newness and originality of the company’s approach. Inside, chapters were given headings such as ‘Call us contradictory’ and ‘Call us ambitious’. Writing to Cathedral CEO Richard Upton, Lord Herman Ouseley called the book ‘bold, brave and brilliant.’ So well-liked was it that the review gained a longer life, as Cathedral’s corporate brochure and manifesto.