1. David Partridge, Founder of Senze: King's Cross, Placemaking and Future of Sustainable Housing

In this episode of Development Diaries, host John Guest sits down with industry legend David Partridge, former senior partner and chairman of Argent and Related Argent, whose 35-year career has shaped some of the UK's most iconic developments including King's Cross, Brindley Place, and Manchester Piccadilly - spanning over 21 million square feet of transformative real estate.David shares his journey from qualified architect to development leader, offering candid insights into his early days at Cambridge, co-founding Gebler Tooth Partridge in the 1980s, and joining Argent in 1990. He reflects on navigating multiple recessions, pioneering mixed-use developments, and the evolution of placemaking from a theoretical concept to industry standard practice.Beyond his development legacy, David discusses his current mission driving the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard and founding Senze, a data-driven business helping social housing providers retrofit homes efficiently and affordably. Using smart monitoring technology, Senze is tackling one of the sector's biggest challenges: decarbonising 29 million UK homes.The conversation explores the importance of staying curious, finding creative solutions to industry challenges.