What will the London skyline look like in the year 2145? International design practice Scott Brownrigg recently entered a charity auction competition along with some of the UK’s leading architects. Each practice contributed their unique visions of the London skyline 130 years from now through sketches which were sold in aid of education charity The Transformation Trust. 

Hosted by property and construction consultancy Gleeds as part of its 130 year anniversary celebrations, the competition inspired a wide range of visions from the great and the good of the architectural world. The sketches ranged from leaning towards the utopian - a London surrounded by new parks and vistas, where residents fly to work - to the dystopian, with only the tallest buildings remaining above a desert city. Somewhere in between these extremes is the vision expressed by Mark Goldspink of Purcell, whereby London‟s most iconic structures are raised into the air to ensure a future free of the constraints of viewing corridors, under an intriguing process known as “lollipopping”. 

Scott Brownrigg’s concept sketched by Group Board Director Neil MacOmish portrayed London's tallest buildings above a desert city. It is captioned: “Global warming causes sea levels to first rise, then fall and evaporate. Temperate climates become deserts. Only the tallest buildings survive in economic and environmental collapse. Nature wins…”

The charity auction event was held on 3 December at the home of the Royal Institute of British Architects and was chaired by author and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth. It saw an impressive £13,326 raised through the sale of a total of 14 sketches. Scott Brownrigg is delighted and proud to announce that our sketch raised £1,000 for this valuable cause. 

All proceeds will be going to support The Transformation Trust’s ‘Inspire US 2016’ programme, which will see 20 sixth-form politics students work as campaign interns for the two national parties for the closing fortnight of the US presidential elections in 2016. All from underprivileged backgrounds, the students will compete to secure their place on this opportunity of a lifetime trip, helping them stand out from their peers when applying to university, and potentially even paving the way to future political careers. 

Richard Steer, Chairman of Gleeds Worldwide, said: “I am absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity of the bidders at last night’s auction who helped us to raise such a significant amount of money for The Transformation Trust. I’m also hugely grateful to the architects who donated their time and talent, producing these exceptionally innovative drawings. Let’s hope London’s skyline is as exciting as they imagine come 2145.” 

The competition was featured in Building Online.