Designing beyond the default – Stephen O’Malley chats to ‘Truth about Local Government’
Stephen joined Truth About Local Government to discuss why blending risk, creativity and collaboration is key to designing human-centred infrastructure that goes beyond default thinking and technical compliance.
Our CEO Stephen O’Malley recently joined the team behind Truth About Local Government, a podcast popular with local authority leaders and public-sector decision makers, to explore an unusual but important mix – risk, creativity and collaboration, and why bringing them together is essential if we want infrastructure that genuinely works for people.
The conversation dug into what it really means to rethink urban infrastructure beyond silos as Stephen shared his long-held view that great engineering isn’t just technically sound – it’s human. When empathy for place, landscape and community sits alongside engineering rigour, projects stop being exercises in compliance and start becoming catalysts for better living.
That thinking comes to life in our work, as Stephen referenced, in Southend-on-Sea, where Stephen highlighted how the Better Queensway project is helping create a safer, greener and more vibrant neighbourhood in the heart of the city. By improving infrastructure the scheme is also delivering higher-quality homes and a neighbourhood that better reflects the needs of local residents. It’s a clear example of what happens when teams stop guarding their turf and start designing as one team of system thinkers.
The discussion also touched on leadership in the design professions. Stephen’s view is simple – the future belongs to people who listen well, collaborate openly and aren’t afraid to challenge default thinking.
Reflecting on the conversation, Stephen summed up why it mattered: “It’s not every day you get to talk about risk, trust, housing, climate and highways in the same sentence without someone reaching for a compliance manual.
“If we can move past over-loved defaults, infrastructure has enormous room to be more human and deliver more for society. Conversations like this matter because they give space to ask ‘what if?’ and that’s where real progress starts.”
Lucy you might know better than me - I have no idea what he means here! I love the turn of phrase but wonder about starting with ‘move past etc’