‘The doughnut effect’ – a familiar occurrence in Austrian communities. It slowly draws traffic away from town centres via local suppliers on the periphery, leaving the centre to die out. This new community centre, however, is fighting back against this doughnut effect.

Cagbalete Sand Clusters creates a new sustainable typology for eco-tourism, one that uplifts the local culture and revolves around farming and fishery.

Updating heritage buildings to create a legacy for the future is about much more than protecting our history and the aesthetics of traditional architecture. Heritage refurbishment also delivers sustainability goals for reducing waste and extending the service life of existing property assets.

Ben McKenna started out studying interior architecture at Brighton. From there, he joined a small practice that worked in sensitive locations in rural Kent and Sussex. Ben’s work here was focused on listed building alterations and rural housing. With a desire to expand on what he’d learnt working at a small practice, Ben joined Conran and Partners to work largely on estate regeneration and residential projects in London and the South East. Having recently joined DMWR Architects, Ben talks to us about his time at Conran and Partners and runs through a few of his favourite designs.