Workspace Match, powered by Pecha Kucha

Supporting the London Festival of Architecture’s 2015 theme ‘Work in Progress’, the Greater London Authority and New London Architecture hosted this quick-fire series of Pecha Kucha presentations on open workspaces in London. The event heard from workspace providers, developers and local authorities on the sorts of spaces that are being created around London to support the small business sector, and help provide introductions to developers and workspace providers.

The GLA and the Open Workspace Providers’ Group have been exploring ways of supporting and growing Places of Work following research into incubators, accelerators, co-working, artist workspaces and maker spaces. Workspace providers and operators can play an important role in new housing-led mixed-use developments by ensuring non-residential space is occupied and well used. They are in a position to take on non-residential space and manage it as workspace for small businesses, start-ups, and individuals. Well-managed workspace can add value to a development.

PechaKucha was devised in Tokyo in 2003 by the English architect Mark Dytham and has turned into a massive global celebration of design, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds.