Amandeep Kalra

Amandeep is an architect and urban designer. He is an Associate Director at Be First (LB Barking & Dagenham’s regeneration company), working at the intersection of public and private practice. He leads a team that is responsible for strategic visions, brief writing, research, design, and project management while actively engaging with residents, planners, policymakers, developers, and politicians to bring these ideas to the table. He is a trustee at the charity London Neighbourhood Scholarship, where he continues to champion equality by providing scholarships for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. He is a chair of the Croydon, Hackney, and Kingston Design Review Panels and a panel member for Bromley and Harrow. He was invited to join the Open City Accelerate advisory board and also sits on the NLA's Retrofit & Heritage expert panel. He has served as a guest reviewer at Kingston, Westminster, UCL, LSA, and Sheffield University and mentors with Future of London. Amandeep has grown up in social housing, where his passion for delivering equitable housing for all was ignited.