Episode 25: Creating Places for People and Nature with Peter Rogers CBE, Co-founder of Lipton Rogers LLP

On this episode Jonathan has a conversation with Peter Rogers, co-founder of Lipton Rogers and former co-founder of Stanhope. They discuss Rogers’ long career in commercial and residential development, including insights into 22 Bishopsgate (“22B”), designed as a “vertical village” with shared amenities such as restaurants, bars, gyms, art in the lobby, and community-focused spaces to offset limited ground-level public realm. Rogers shares how he got into construction through early exposure to his grandfather’s development work in Italy, his civil engineering background, and his belief that people should find work they enjoy. The conversation covers industry challenges such as increasing bureaucracy, planning complexity, rising costs, slow innovation, and the impact of legislation like the Building Safety Act, as well as the role of AI and robotics. Rogers explains his long-standing focus on creating places for people with landscaping and greenery, critiques greenwashing (including green walls and token rooftop measures), and argues for investing in larger-scale, properly maintained parks and biodiversity projects rather than small on-building interventions. They also discuss biodiversity net gain and the value of practical, local, measurable interventions, drawing parallels with approaches like insulating homes for carbon benefits. In the recurring nature segment, Rogers recounts early alpine experiences skiing and staying in remote huts, a safari in the Kalahari Desert, and a “worst” experience at sea involving increasingly severe Mediterranean storms, which he links to warming sea temperatures and global warming.00:00 Welcome Back + Newborn Night Shift Story01:16 Meet Peter Rogers: Iconic City of London Developer & Green Building Pioneer04:22 Deep Dive: 22 Bishopsgate’s ‘Vertical Village’ Concept06:13 Inside the Building: Lobby Art, Amenities & Tenant Community08:57 Peter’s Origin Story: From Italy to Civil Engineering & Contracting11:06 Career Advice at 80: Find Work You Love + Start Early14:41 Industry Headwinds: Bureaucracy, Rising Costs & Slow Innovation17:32 Planning Reform, Building Safety Act & Unintended Consequences of Regulation18:52 Energy Efficiency vs Overheating: Futureproofing Buildings in a Warming Climate19:43 Safe Homes vs Enough Homes: Finding the Balance20:50 Designing Developments as Places: Greenery, Parks & Wellbeing22:08 Calling Out Greenwashing: Why Tiny Green Walls Don’t Move the Dial23:11 Biodiversity Net Gain Reality Check: On‑Site Rules vs Landscape‑Scale Impact26:31 Health & Safety vs Biodiversity: What Legislation Can (and Can’t) Fix28:57 First Nature Memories: Ski Touring to Alpine Huts & Wild Quiet31:44 Best Experience: Kalahari Desert Safari and Life in Harsh Landscapes33:16 Worst Experience: Mediterranean Storms, Sailing Risk & Climate Change Signals37:03 Wrapping Up: Ocean Warming, Seagrass Decline & Final TakeawaysSend us Fan Mail