What if?

A London Design Festival installation this September sparking ideas about how we shape the place we live in.

From 13 September, Kingston Society will be encouraging residents to engage with the borough’s challenges, reflect on its past and present, and contribute to what comes next.

As part of both the London Design Festival’s annual series of city-wide events and Kingston 2025 celebrations, What If? invites those most affected by change to join the creative conversation and feel empowered to influence their community.

Over a thought-provoking programme that includes a series of free talks and walks, visitors will be able to journey through Kingston’s past, reflect on present development challenges, and discover their potential to influence the borough’s future.

Installation

In collaboration with local designers, artists, architects and innovators all asking What If? to explore place and possibilities, the week-long installation will be organised into five creative zones.

Kingston is home to around 6,500 creative professionals – one of the highest concentrations in south London – and hosts Kingston University’s School of Art: an internationally-respected hub of creativity and innovation. Despite its rich history and character, Kingston has long sat on the edges of the capital’s cultural dialogue. And too often its residents have felt powerless to co-create the future of Kingston. What If? hopes to change that.

  • The Future Urban Room: A place for connecting the dots and empowering residents to be part of placemaking

  • Kingston Heritage: Stories from our past and how they continue to shape us

  • Kingston Art and Design: Drawings and reflections on Kingston’s urban fabric

  • Kingston Architects: Selection of projects from local architects, big and small

  • Kingston University: Work from students shaping the borough’s identity

Official partner of London Design Festival 2025
Where + when

13 to 20 September 2025 (excl. 14 September)

What If exhibition opening times

Penny School Gallery, Central Kingston

Kingston College Creative Industries Centre, 55 Richmond Road, KT2 5BP

Programme

To highlight the link between good design and local pride, and encourage people to connect with their surroundings, What If? also includes free themed talks and guided walks:

  • TALK: Kings-Town discussion exploring the role of public art in urban spaces Thurs 18 Sept (12.30-2pm)

    • Join the lunchtime debate as key creative voices explore the connection between public art, heritage and communities, followed by a Q&A session where the audience can contribute their thoughts and questions around the social function of creative works in the public realm

  • WALK: Public Trail – Art In The Open Tues 16 Sept (10.30am-12.30pm) from Penny School Gallery

    • With the town centre home to a wide range of outdoor art, the tour reflects on around 20; each portraying a different side of Kingston’s character and revealing how past and present are connected. Finishing at the Stanley Picker Gallery, discover the evolution of local art, from the newest additions to historic landmarks, including some that have been lost along the way.

  • WALK: Historic Kingston – Footsteps Through Time Thurs 18 Sept (2.30-5pm) from Coronation Stone

    • 2025 marks the 1100th anniversary of King Athelstan’s coronation – a perfect moment to reflect on legacy, identity and change on a walk where every stop has a story to tell. This journey through the town’s colourful past takes in medieval bridges, coaching inns, and places once at the heart of local justice, from former prisons and correction houses to militia barracks and stocks.

  • WALK: Coombe Conduit – The Palace Pipeline Sat 20 Sept (10am-3pm) from Coombe Conduit

    • Follow the flow of history on this 3.5-mile walk tracing the ingenious Tudor route that channelled fresh water from Coombe to Court for 350 years; a route whose influence ensures it remains marked on Ordnance Survey maps today. The tour includes rare access to the hidden chambers of Coombe Conduit (where the walk starts), an hour’s break for lunch (not provided) at All Saints Church, and free entry to Hampton Court Palace Gardens (where it ends).

ENQUIRIES: urbanroomkingston@kts.org.uk 

Join the Kingston Urban Room Community and be part of shaping Kingston's future!

Kingston Urban Room is a creative space for conversation, ideas, and action on the future of our town. At a time of great change across the borough, Kingston Society believes a permanent, visible space in Kingston would be a catalyst for greater local involvement, empowering residents to shape where they live and work.

Keen to get involved and help influence our borough’s future? Complete the form below to be kept informed on Urban Room activity and:

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  • get involved in community-led planning and placemaking
  • join a growing network of engaged local residents

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How can an Urban Room help?

Many public and voluntary organisations across the UK have found Urban Rooms to be a useful mechanism to engage people in current issues about their local area. Public sector funding is increasingly linked to expectations around public engagement, with funders requiring robust evidence of diverse community involvement to inform funding applications and project delivery.

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Public engagement

The Urban Room model offers a situated approach to public engagement. If done creatively and sensitively, it can encourage marginalised and under-represented groups to contribute their knowledge, ideas and experiences. Urban Rooms come in all shapes, sizes and timescales, and this flexibility brings a level of responsiveness to location, audience and context that encourages meaningful and productive collaboration.

Creative level of participation

Rather than expecting people to seek out opportunities to participate, the Urban Room is on their high street, in their park or has popped up at their local market. It can also be accompanied by an online space, with an archive of maps, plans and discussions. In this way the Urban Room breaks down the traditional barriers for public involvement in placemaking, offering a space for a more inclusive level of participation.

Kingston Urban Room

Helping to make the borough better for all

Solar Panels

The right development
The right sustainable Transport

Homes and places that reflect our needs
What kind of developments serve a living community—not just a financial model? The Urban Room invites residents to look at live planning issues, learn how decisions are made, and share their views on what ‘the right development’ really means

The right utilities and services

Infrastructure that meets the moment
Good design doesn’t stop at bricks and mortar. Our Urban Room highlights the essential role of public utilities—water, power, broadband, waste—in shaping quality of life, and how planning for these is part of planning for people.

Facilities and e=resource
Culture and Heritage

The right approach to Heritage and Culture

Kingston’s history is not a backdrop—it’s a living resource. We explore how new design can complement old buildings, how local stories shape identity, and why heritage isn’t about freezing the past, but enriching the present.

The Value of Proper consultation

A town and borough fit for future generations

Passing on more than just property
Legacy is more than real estate—it’s resilience, beauty, opportunity. The Urban Room promotes design that nurtures not just our needs today, but the wellbeing of generations to come.

Future generations
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Only by working together can we demonstrate our commitment to better development

The Urban Room is open to everyone—residents, students, designers, and curious citizens alike. Whether you come to listen, contribute, or challenge, your presence helps shape a more thoughtful, more inclusive Kingston.

Our goals

  • Encourage sustainable, people-first development

  • Create an open, trusted space for civic engagement.

  • Promote design excellence rooted in heritage and identity

  • Support inclusive dialogue between planners, designers, and residents

  • Strengthen community understanding of how planning shapes daily life

  • Inspire future generations to care about the places they inherit