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Russell Curtis

@russellcurtis.co.uk
1.6K followers 238 following 269 posts

Director of RCKa, but everything here my own. Barnet, London & Europe. Chair of Barnet QRP & Mayor's Design Advocate. Spatial research, planning, pro-housing & Yimby. I'm a professional cynic but my heart's not in it. russellcurtis.co.uk

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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 27/09/2026
The Master Oak, Stanmore. Thought to date from the reign of Henry VIII, its heft is likely due to a clutch of acorns buried by a squirrel that grew together and fused over the centuries.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 24/09/2026
Have you ever wondered how the proposed Local Government Reorganisation correlates with the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of 5th-9th century England? Of course not! But I made a map of it anyway. Compare LGR, devolution and SDS boundaries...now with added "Heptarchy Mode". apps.curtography.uk/lgr/
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 22/09/2026
We were on Rainham Marshes on Sunday. Here are some Paper Wasps that have built their home at either end of a steel handrail. I wonder if they join up in the middle?
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 20/09/2026
I've delved into the distressing statistics around the human and financial cost of homelessness in England. It's grim. apps.curtography.uk/ta/
apps.curtography.uk
England's Homelessness Bill
What homelessness and temporary accommodation cost every council in England, and what they have left to pay for it. 296 housing authorities, 2020-21 to 2025-26.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 12/09/2026
After a year of hard work, RCKa is delighted to launch the consultation draft of the London Plan Small Sites Design Code—a potentially transformative planning policy for new homes across the city. consult.london.gov.uk/london-small...
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 11/08/2026
That’s a shame I just bought myself a brand new pair of sexpestacles.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 02/08/2026
The draft #LondonPlan introduces the concept of Broad Locations of Growth: areas of green belt expected to deliver 56,100 homes. There are ten BLGs, covering 50 stations in all. I've mapped every one—so come join me on a jaunt around the fringes of London. curtography.uk/2026/08/02/b...
curtography.uk
BLG Gazetteer - Curtography
A long journey around the ten Broad Locations of Growth established by the draft London Plan.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 28/07/2026
My first monthly column for the AJ: what if there are too many architects?
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 28/06/2026
Handsome new mansion block nearly finished close to Enfield Chase. This is the future of the suburbs, and it's dense(r).
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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Young people can't afford to live. They've done everything they were told to do, studied, went to university, they are the best "trained" generation ever, but it's not enough anymore. If you don't think this ends in a major upheaval or uprising in the next few years, you're blind
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 11/05/2026
It was my birthday yesterday, so what better way to celebrate than scraping every London borough's website to create an interactive map showing the winning candidate for every ward (apart from Newham, which has failed to publish its numbers, for some reason). Enjoy! smallsites.london/Election2026...
smallsites.london
London Local Elections 2026 – Ward Map
Interactive ward-level results for the 2026 London local elections. Click any ward to see the full candidate breakdown.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 10/05/2026
Why is it that only Brent and Newham have failed to release the number of votes cast for each candidate in Thursday’s election?
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 01/05/2026
Canal cat
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 30/04/2026
Astonishing London night. I love this city.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 24/04/2026
More golf course shenanigans, this time in this weekend’s @financialtimes.com—online now, and in print tomorrow. Looking forward to another social media pile-on this weekend! www.ft.com/content/1380...
ft.com
Is it time to pave over London’s golf courses?
Often underused green spaces are being targeted as a creative solution for sclerotic housebuilding rates in the capital. But environmentalists are calling the plan a duff
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 23/04/2026
Fairway or driveway? Coverage of my ongoing research into the potential for golf courses to make way for housing in this BBC In Depth article, published today. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Why golf courses are in the crosshairs of Britain's housing crisis
Are golf courses the right places to build housing, or are they simply a soft target?
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 13/04/2026
I’ve been asked to deliver the annual lecture for the Planning Officers’ Society in a couple of days’ time, so if you want to learn more about our research into suburban intensification and the strategic potential of small site housing, see here 👇🏻 www.planningofficers.org.uk/events/pos-a...
planningofficers.org.uk
POS
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
www.thetimes.com/travel/inspi... How about "valuable new development unlocked" as a better characterisation?
thetimes.com
One in five golf clubs at risk as developers eye lucrative land
Rising land values, mounting costs and weak finances are forcing golf course owners to consider redevelopment, with closures expected to accelerate
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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Why do local campaign groups always turn out to be NIMBYs? Why not campaign for improvements to local infrastructure that will help the local community, rather than against every-fucking-thing?!
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Matthew Pennycook MP @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
"With several other European nations reeling from the fresh surge in oil and gas costs, ​the UK's wind-heavy power system may act as a blueprint for other countries also seeking to reduce fossil fuel exposure". www.reuters.com/business/ene...
reuters.com
Record wind output helps shield the UK from worst of Iran war fallout
Record output from wind farms has helped boost total clean power supplies in the United Kingdom to new highs so far in 2026, and allowed power firms to pare use of fossil fuels to multi-year lows.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 21/03/2026
After 40% of the city was destroyed by allied bombing, Terni built back some really extraordinary buildings—many by Roman architect Mario Ridolfi, whose fountain in Tacito Square preceded the war.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 02/03/2026
Micropenis sufferers are easily identifiable by the four interlocking circles found on the front and rear of their cars. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
US man issues challenge to disprove his claim of having world’s smallest penis to raise micropenis awareness
North Carolina’s Michael Phillips revealed that he had a 0.38in member in bid to reduce stigma of the condition
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Maurice Lange @mauricelange.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
I've learned everything I can about this chart and what it means for planning for more houses in cities. The report is out tomorrow! You can watch me talk about the chart and more at the launch event tomorrow, 2pm. Sign up here: www.centreforcities.org/event/what-b...
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 23/01/2026
Is this where Trump tears a youngster from his family and drags him thousands of miles away to an unfamiliar, foreign land?
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 13/01/2026
"It looks like you're a bit of a racist. Would you like me to suggest some clip art?"
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 06/01/2026
Homelessness is increasing, and the financial and human costs are climbing. We have all the tools we need to solve it...so why aren't we using them? I've written an article for @news.architectsjournal.co.uk on the collective action we now need to take. www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/fast-ho...
architectsjournal.co.uk
Fast homes at scale: ‘We’ve all the tools we need to solve homelessness’
The solution to the UK’s homelessness crisis already exists. It just needs political will, planning nous and determination to bring it about
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 31/12/2025
Assassin's Creed: Buon Anno edition
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 29/12/2025
Lovely Todi backstreets
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 09/12/2025
Absolutely amazing chart from @peterkellner.bsky.social's piece in @thenewworldmag.bsky.social today: www.thenewworld.co.uk/peter-kellne...
A flow chart shows 17.4 million leave voters in 2016, vs 16.1m remain. In 2025, 5 million of those people have died, and 3 million new voters have come of age.

The result (plus some people changing their mind) is 19.8 million voters now back rejoin, versus just 11.7 million wanting to stay out.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 07/12/2025
Lisbon is such a feast for the eyes
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 03/12/2025
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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
If divorced dads whose kids don't see them could go back to dressing up in superhero outfits and climbing up buildings instead of ushering in fascism I think we'd all be better off quite frankly.
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Architects' Journal @news.architectsjournal.co.uk · 19/11/2025
Architects have reacted with cautious optimism to the government’s plan to automatically approve housing applications near train stations
architectsjournal.co.uk
Architects welcome default ‘yes’ for housing near transport hubs
Architects welcome default ‘yes’ for housing near transport hubs
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 18/11/2025
How do you like them apples?
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 09/11/2025
Quite the restoration job 👇🏻2018 2025👇🏻
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 30/10/2025
Slight detour while in Croydon for a client meeting yesterday to swing by @anfurman.bsky.social’s exquisite tiled facade at Croydon Colonnade. You just want to rub your hands all over them. Delicious.
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Mary Elkington 💙💛🇺🇦 @maryindevon.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Great post from @russellcurtis.com I've been banging on about this 1 - Para 84 comes from gummers modern mansions - retained in NPPF. Result: only self builds going are > 200m2 monsters with super big budgets. 1/n russellcurtis.com/2025/10/18/g...
russellcurtis.com
Going Solo - Russell Curtis
"Micro" development: the case for a new category of planning application to remove the planning barriers for single family homes.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 26/10/2025
Someone paid a lot of money for this
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 08/10/2025
"Despite numerous difficulties including securing Planning Consent, consents from the Environment Agency and United Utilities, as well as other statutory bodies, a scheme was agreed in 2019 and the footbridge laid in place in 2020." Here's the infrastructure project that required these permissions:
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
"There are other questions the CPRE does not ask. Chief among them: if there is so much brownfield land available in the middle of a housing crisis, then why on Earth aren’t we already building on it?" Everything continues to be awful so I've returned to my comfort zone.
newstatesman.com
No, brownfield land won’t solve the housing crisis
Brownfield building sounds too good to be true – and it is
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 27/09/2025
Difficult to believe my suggestion didn’t make the cut, but here it is anyway: a recommendation for a series of new settlements on the train line between London and Cambridge, including Ashwell & Morden…the most isolated—but well-connected—station in England. russellcurtis.com/2024/11/10/g...
russellcurtis.com
Get on board - Russell Curtis
A submission to the New Towns Taskforce proposing how 100,000 people could be housed around south Cambridgeshire's rural train stations.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 22/08/2025
Our Highgate Newtown Community Centre for Camden Council—including 41 beautiful homes for refugee families and a 2,000 sqm community facility—is shortlisted for the New London Awards. nla.london/projects/hig...
nla.london
Highgate Newtown Community Centre
HNCP transforms a former drill hall in Camden into 41 affordable homes for refugees and over 2,000sqm of flexible community space. The scheme delivers an inclus
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 21/08/2025
We’ve been here before, right? The halfwits’ moral panic seems to work on a 25 year cycle.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 20/08/2025
I’m not sure we’re in for a good night’s sleep.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 20/08/2025
We really enjoyed being part of this fantastic collaboration between design team, contractor and manufacturer. Full integration, from strategic planning policy to turnkey installation. www.bdonline.co.uk/home/rcka-in...
bdonline.co.uk
RCKa installs prototype modular solution to housing crisis outside City Hall
The home can be installed in under two hours and a prototype scheme is planned for Havering later this year
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 20/08/2025
The alabaster windows at Orvieto cathedral really are something.
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 09/08/2025
Allotments have been in the news this week, so I've done a bit of mapping work to understand whether building homes on them might help solve the housing crisis. (Spoiler alert: it won't). russellcurtis.com/2025/08/09/g...
russellcurtis.com
Growing Pains - Russell Curtis
Building homes on London's allotments won't solve the housing crisis. The capital's comedic carrots and amusing marrows are safe, for now.
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Jim Gleeson @geographyjim.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Very useful analysis from Seattle of the prices charged when one home is replaced with one or more new homes. A 1-for-1 replacement results in a home nearly three times as expensive, but replacing one home with 9+ new ones involves average prices that are around half the original.
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Architects' Journal @news.architectsjournal.co.uk · 30/07/2025
RCKa has submitted an application for a new ‘kit of parts’ 2,200m² adult education college on Sutton High Street, south London
architectsjournal.co.uk
RCKa reveals proposals for new college on south London high street
RCKa reveals proposals for new college on south London high street
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Russell Curtis @russellcurtis.co.uk · 23/07/2025
Aah, this is lovely—well done wonderful RCKa team.
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