Rethinking Cultural Spaces: What Institutions Can Learn from Co-Design – with Beyond the Box

Co-Designing the Future: Embedding Young Voices in the Built Environment at William Morris Gallery

Event Description

Set against the backdrop of Beyond the Box’s much-anticipated People’s Pavilion 2025, opening this summer at the William Morris Gallery, join us for a dynamic event that explores the transformative potential of co-design.

Together, we’ll explore how cultural institutions and organisations can embed co-design principles to create more inclusive, responsive, and engaging public spaces. Through live case studies and honest reflections, we’ll examine the opportunities, challenges, and real-world impact of working with young people to activate cultural spaces and shift power dynamics.

From bold design ideas to new ways of working, hear directly from cultural leaders and the young co-designers shaping our cities, museums, and civic environments.

Speakers & Panellists:

Hadrian Garrard – Director, William Morris Gallery

Philippa Simpson – Director of Buildings and Renewal, Barbican Centre

Neil Onions – Director, Beyond the Box CIC

Jeevan Chahal – Level 7 Architecture Apprentice, Mentor & Educator

Ifsah Chowdhury – Community-Focused Designer, Mentor & Educator

Carlton Fontaine-Nowell – Cultural Producer & Barbican Renewal Co-Design Participant

Zhané Phillips – Architectural Student & People’s Pavilion 2023 Designer

Jennifer Ly – Barbican Renewal Co-Design Participant & People’s Pavilion 2025 Co-Designer

This event is the first in a 3-part series curated by Beyond the Box, celebrating co-design as a powerful tool for inclusion, imagination, and systemic transformation. Together, we’ll uncover how young people, when given the tools and trust, can reimagine the environments we all share.

Spanning architecture, culture, and public space, this series brings together an intergenerational mix of young voices, industry professionals, and thought leaders. Through panels, provocations, and lived experience, we’ll ask: what does it really mean to design with, not for, and how can co-design help us build a more equitable, inspiring future?

Be part of the conversation. Be part of the change.

Speaker Bios

Hadrian Garrard is the Director of the William Morris Gallery, a role he took on in 2023 to continue championing socially engaged arts and cultural work. Prior to this, he was the Founding Director of Create London, a pioneering arts charity and National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England, where he built a reputation for commissioning bold, community-rooted projects across art, architecture, and public space.

During his time at Create, Hadrian commissioned over 40 major projects, collaborating with artists and architects to deliver work that challenged convention and empowered local communities. Notable achievements include the Turner Prize-winning Hackney Windrush Sculptures by Veronica Ryan (2022) and the Neave Brown Award-winning A House for Artists by Apparata (2023).

As an Associate Partner of the Barbican, Hadrian has consistently worked across institutions to embed creative practice into the fabric of everyday life. His leadership continues to inspire more inclusive, accessible cultural futures.

Philippa Simpson is Director for Buildings and Renewal at the Barbican, where she is leading a major programme of capital development - Barbican Renewal - to restore and revitalise the Barbican Centre, making it an inclusive and sustainable centre of creativity for today's audiences and future generations. She is also responsible for the ongoing care and maintenance of the iconic Grade II listed site.

Philippa previously worked at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) where she sat on the Executive Board as Director of Design, Estate and Public Programme, leading on major capital projects, exhibitions, heritage conservation and restoration works and design and brand initiatives.

She started her career in the cultural sector as a curator at Tate before moving to the Royal Museums Greenwich where she ran an international touring exhibition programme. During the past ten years she has delivered transformative projects at every scale, including the Exhibition Road Quarter, the new Photography Centre and most recently Young V&A in Bethnal Green.

Neil Onions FRIBA is a creative strategist, cultural leader, and Founding Director of Beyond the Box CIC, an award-winning social enterprise creating space for culture and community to connect. Based in London, Neil brings over 20 years of experience in co-design, placemaking, and youth-led engagement. His work champions equity, representation, and spatial justice, collaborating with institutions like the London Museum, V&A Museum, and the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre redevelopment.

He leads projects that centre underrepresented voices, including the People’s Pavilion, Barbican Renewal Co-Design Programme, and Festival of the Future. With a background in education, youth work, and the built environment, Neil designs participatory processes that are as impactful as the outcomes. Whether curating public programmes or advising on policy, his approach is rooted in care, creativity, and collaboration—pushing for systemic change and empowering communities, especially young people, to shape the spaces around them and feel true ownership over the places they live in.

Jeevan Chahal is an Architectural Assistant currently undertaking his Level 7 Architecture Apprenticeship while actively mentoring the next generation of designers. At JTP, he has worked on large-scale, mixed-use projects such as Beckton Gasworks Phase 1 and is a core member of the practice’s Community Planning Working Group and EDI Group. His approach to architecture is rooted in inclusive engagement and social impact.

Jeevan first volunteered for the People’s Pavilion in 2021 at Here East and has remained engaged through his role at JTP, supporting co-design initiatives that centre young people and community voices. He also mentors students through the Open City Accelerate Programme and volunteers for Blueprint for All, CV workshops, and careers talks in schools. Jeevan is passionate about creating pathways into the built environment for underrepresented groups and actively supports work experience students at JTP, helping shape a more inclusive, inspiring future for architecture.

Ifsah Chowdhery is a community-focused designer currently studying Architecture at UCL. Her work is rooted in a humanitarian approach—designing spaces that are inclusive, accessible, and shaped collaboratively with the people who use them. Ifsah has supported numerous co-design and community-led projects with Beyond the Box, including the People’s Pavilion (2023, 2024), the Barbican Renewal Co-Design Programme, the Festival of the Future workshop, and the Expressions of Resilience exhibition in Shoreditch.

She is passionate about widening access to architecture and frequently returns to her former schools and foundation course to offer mentorship, portfolio advice, and support to young people navigating design education. Ifsah is also expanding her international impact through a summer build with CAUKIN, focusing on empowering communities through architecture and construction. Her long-term goal is to work in disaster relief, using vernacular and locally informed design to create dignified, safe environments for those affected by humanitarian crises.

Carlton Fontaine-Nowell first began his career in the public sector as a Programme Coordinator for Future of London and now works as a Cultural Producer at City Hall, based in the heart of the Royal Docks. He is currently helping deliver the first-ever Royal Docks Originals Festival, set to launch this autumn. Carlton is a passionate advocate for youth-led change, having contributed to climate adaptation research with London boroughs including Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lambeth, and the GLA. He is also a member of the Young Environmental Leaders Collective, a global majority-led initiative focused on challenging environmental injustice through creative campaigning. As part of the Barbican Renewal Programme, Carlton’s group explored new ways to activate the Conservatory and event spaces, later representing their work at the RIBA Festival of the Future. His work continues to reflect a deep commitment to cultural production, environmental equity, and ensuring young voices shape the future of our cities.

Zhané Phillips is a promising emerging designer currently studying architecture at Oxford Brookes University. She was one of the winners of the People’s Pavilion 2023 design competition as part of a small and dynamic team, resulting in the construction of their winning pavilion at Lea Bridge Library Garden in Waltham Forest. Zhané approaches design with care, always considering the people and communities who will use the spaces she helps create. Her experience with the People’s Pavilion deepened her interest in socially engaged architecture and the power of co-design.

Beyond physical spaces, Zhané is also exploring how technology can shape the future of design. She recently took part in the Digital Body Festival — a programme exploring the relationship between tech, art, and human experience. This has broadened her thinking around digital narratives and their role in design, reinforcing her commitment to spaces that are inclusive, innovative, and community-driven.

Jennifer Ly is an aspiring architect and recent sixth-form graduate, actively involved in a range of innovative programmes, such as the Barbican Co-Design Renewal Programme, the People’s Pavilion 2025, and the RIBA Youth Forum. With a passion for the intersection of sustainability, community, and culture in the built environment, she is driven by the belief that architecture has the power to shape not only spaces, but also the lives of the people who use them, reflecting on how successful projects engage and reflect the diverse voices that these buildings serve. Jennifer believes in championing accessibility and inclusivity in architecture, striving to expand the growing movement that empowers young people to have their voices heard.