Westminster colleagues' cartographic work win three awards from British Cartographic Society

The submitted outputs were part of a pilot project supported by a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Proof of Concept Grant (2022-23), led by Professor Lindsay Bremner, Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange in the School of Architecture + Cities, with John Cook and Ben Pollock as Research Fellows. As a result of the grant’s success, Climate Cartographics was established as a non-profit design research studio and continues to pursue such work with academic, commercial and governmental partners.

The BCS has been promoting the art and science of mapmaking since its foundation in 1963 and hosts the Awards at their Annual Conference.

Cook and Pollock are Co-founders of Climate Cartographics, with Cook the Creative Director and Pollock the Strategy Director. Both are Visiting Lecturers in the School of Architecture + Cities and co-teach Design Studio 18 in the MArch course (RIBA Part 2). The studio investigates architecture’s role in the climate and ecological crisis through data, computational design, representation and communication.

The first Award Cook and Pollock won is The Avenza Award for Electronic Mapping for their web map for Active Travel Academy on London’s Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN) over the two-year COVID-19 recovery period in March 2020-22. This Award recognises effort and outstanding achievement in the realm of digital cartography.

About the Avenza Award, John Cook said: “A key part of the research challenge, and one of the recognised merits of the web map, is its time-based mapping feature. It allows users to browse through the LTN research period, select a window of investigation, and layer LTN with other spatial or time-based data.”

Pollock added: “It was great to share the work done in collaboration with the Active Travel Academy with our cartographic peers, and for it to receive recognition for its clarity in communicating the interconnected issues around LTN and other urban concerns.”

They also received a Highly Commended in the Garsdale Design Award for 3D Mapping for their London Climate Interface Model. This is a Computer Numerical Controlled topographic model of the Greater London area serving as a physical interface for the hosting of interchangeable augmented reality layers, displaying specific temporal, animated and climatic datasets, operated and visualised through a user's smartphone. This Award is open to everyone in any industry creating informative and creative 3D cartography, real or imagined, using any technique or medium.

The final Award that they won was a Commended in the Stanfords Award for Printed Mapping for their large format graphic multi-scalar print hung at Marylebone Station, celebrating 125 years of the Marylebone community. The map depicts its connections across the national Chiltern rail network down to the more localised context, as well as its historical development and significance amongst the diverse community. The Award honours the best printed maps.

About the Awards, Lindsay Bremner said: "I am extremely proud of what John and Ben have achieved in setting up Climate Cartographics and winning these awards. They have more than met the objectives of the Proof of Concept grant we won from the UKRI. Their maps are amazing and well-deserving of the Awards, which recognise Climate Cartographics as amongst the most original, inspiring, creative cartographers at work in the UK today. Well done, John and Ben!"

The awarded projects directly contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.

Find out more about the School of Architecture + Cities.