Q&A with Pamela Wackett, Director, Kohn Pedersen Fox

What inspired you to pursue a career in architecture, and how did your education at Universidad Nacional Andres Bello shape your professional journey?

I always had a strong curiosity about how to make places nicer. I grew up in a city on the desert of Chile, with sand dunes along a long beach, but very little green areas. I was constantly reimagining my surroundings, thinking of improvements like lush gardens, that would make me happier. I knew architecture was for me and I’m grateful that UNAB had an ambitious approach towards technology and the understanding of business. I graduated with computer skills that only very few had in those years so very quickly I was designing the most challenging projects for the best studios in Santiago.

Can you elaborate on how you approach creating a dialogue between a building’s form, façade, and plan in your projects?

I believe in creating a seamless connection between the interior and exterior design. The building massing is not just an urban gesture, it also needs to reflect the internal complexity to develop into a beautiful and efficient scheme. With a clear and strong design concept, the facades and layouts will have a fluid evolution, reinforcing the initial conceptual articulation.

With your extensive experience in high-rise, residential, mixed-use, and transportation projects, what do you find most challenging and rewarding about each type?

High-rise residential never stops being challenging, for example with the update of building regulations and the ways that covid has made us rethink a lot of the assumptions we have about how we live and work. Common areas and outdoor space design play a key role reinforcing the sense of a ‘home’ whatever scale of development you’re working on. There are so many ways to design residential buildings because there are so many cultures and lifestyles and different ways to respond to a particular site. The best part is when you walk into the construction site and feel the building fits so well in the context, as if it was always meant to be there.

Complexity is a good thing and for a mixeduse scheme, the more uses there are the more variety – there’s no recipe for the best way to combine them and that allows us to create interesting responses. Every project is different, a fun journey where we try and test different configurations in a collaborative process with the client, the community, and the team. It is a process of continuous dialog.

Transportation projects are often very large scale and require longer processes of coordination with engineers and stake holders but are tremendously impactful and can transform an area or a city! From the beginning there is intense excitement to find the right direction from a range of possibilities.

In all the projects I try to imagine myself as the user and I always ask myself - would I be happy here? Whether that’s the person that will live in an apartment, the person walking to catch a plane in an airport, or the person strolling through the park or searching for a café in street I try to think about what I would want to experience.

In your work on the Shenzhen Center, what were some of the unique challenges you faced, particularly with the façades, and how did you overcome them?

My role was to lead the team in the design development of a 350m tall office tower, the retail podium and a 200m residential tower too. All three buildings have unique curved facades, therefore a key driver of the design development was rationalisation whilst maintain the striking forms.

The rationalisation of the panel types which was particularly challenging. The organic shapes suggested that we would need a lot of different panel types – which isn’t efficient for construction. Using 3D view studies and evaluating geometrical impacts it was possible to meet the conceptual aims of the façade design and improve buildability. In meeting the compliance rules for China, we also had to factor in translation and the time difference, also changing code requirements (the biggest one being openable windows) we worked closely with the client and the finished buildings looks brilliant!

Can you discuss about The Lucan project in Chelsea?

The Lucan is a high-quality, mixed-use, residential development. The design of the scheme reflects a mix of contemporary residential design and traditional architecture of the Victorian-era mansion blocks that are a key feature of the area. The eight-storey building respects its local context through its scale, massing, and materiality, to meet a range of local needs and improve the public realm. The scheme comprises an elegant mix of 31 new homes, state-of-the-art amenities, plus social community space on the ground and lowerground floor, designed for nursery and educational use.

In addition to the architecture, the building incorporates bespoke artworks. Local artist Jodie Carey was commissioned to create contextual public art to frame the main entrances. Individually cast tiles form a patchwork effect that symbolises ‘community’ through the coming together of different people, cultures, and ideas.

How do you ensure that your projects, like The Lucan in Chelsea, resonate with the historical and cultural context of their locations while also meeting modern standards?

We always start with in depth analysis of the area, to understand its history, evolution, and character. Then we can see what is working well and what could be improved in the neighbourhood. The Lucan was designed to blend harmoniously with its local context. Externally, restrained horizontal bands refer to the neighbouring mansion blocks, whilst projecting bay windows, chamfered corners, and setbacks offer a break from the more rigid repetition of the earlier buildings. A two-story ‘civic base’ defines the human scale, contrasting with the materials and articulation of the residential elements.

The design optimises the potential of the site, to improve the immediate townscape and pedestrian experience, and to retain the residential character of the immediate context; a high-quality insertion into the area, which reflects the high standards of the residences that will be delivered internally.

Which project has been your favourite to work on, and what makes it stand out for you?

Oh! I can’t answer that question. It would feel like betraying my children by picking one favourite. I honestly love them all. Every project is unique, and I have gained tremendous experience. I plan to continue enjoying the most rewarding profession in the world!

Innovation in technology, construction, and sustainability is a hallmark of your work. What recent advancements or trends are you most excited about, and how have they influenced your projects?

At KPF we’re lucky to have specialist teams working on a broad range of subjects, from urban analysis to environmental performance and even virtual reality.

This means that we have a fantastic range of tools at hand, allowing us to balance intuitive and evidence-based design. I work on a lot of residential projects, so I’m particularly interested in the way that we can model building performance. This means that we can test and quantify the impact of various design decisions and how they will affect daylight, views, and the microclimate on the street from the earliest stages. It means that we can make sure that we’re going in the right direction early in the project. It’s win-win if you can make people’s homes more comfortable at the same time as meeting the needs to decarbonise.

Achieving planning permissions in historically sensitive areas, such as Central London, can be complex. What strategies do you use to navigate these challenges and secure approvals?

Good communication is key. Understandably, people can feel concerned when they hear about new development in their neighbourhood – whether that’s worry about the impact of construction traffic or pressure on local services. We want to reassure people about the quality of the design and to spell out the benefits of the new development. For example, at The Lucan, the new development includes nursery space on the ground floor.

At KPF we’re constantly developing tools to help with storytelling and building consensus. For example, in a recent project in North London we built detailed digital model of the proposed design and took several VR headsets to the public consultation. Not everyone can understand plans and sections, but this was clear to everyone, they could experience the space easily and even leave notes within the model of features that they particularly liked – or disliked!

As a bilingual professional registered in Chile and fluent in both English and Spanish, how has your multicultural background influenced your approach to architecture and project management on an international scale?

As a global company, KPF has the richness of a multicultural environment and there are great opportunities to collaborate on international projects. I work with multicultural teams where my background and accent demonstrate I have learned and adapted to different ways to live and therefore to do architecture. There is an intrinsic flexibility that relates closely to the way I try to collaborate with the clients; listening and trying new ideas to address challenges. Speaking Spanish has had multiple benefits facilitating understanding or enabling social interaction especially when travelling for workshops or presentations and the personal connection is reduced to a couple of days.