Buildings don’t just appear out of thin air: They are conceived, designed, funded and built by people. And those people have lives, experiences, backstories and influences, both in their careers and in the world outside real estate, that play a huge part in impacting the buildings or schemes they create. For this series, Bisnow undertook highly personal interviews with a range of developers, famous and less well-known, to dig into those experiences and influences to find out how they shaped the people that shaped our world. Those interviews will be running over the coming weeks and months. The first 15 minutes or so of conversation with David Partridge drifts from tattoos and Eastern philosophy to yoga and raving. But here’s the thing. This isn’t the small talk before we get down to the serious business of talking about property. This is the serious business that created the outlook that spurred Partridge's involvement in developments that are among the most successful in the UK and, perhaps, the world. “It's about not being frightened to speak the language,” Partridge, senior partner at developer Argent, told Bisnow. “Because the truth is, most of us do think about these sorts of things all the time. But we act like we don't think about them at the office. Why?” 
King’s Cross Central, in particular, is renowned as an exemplar of urban regeneration. Partridge was on the team leading the central London project from its conception in 2000 to a 60-acre mixed-use scheme offering more than 4M SF of offices and 2M SF of residential, plus a university, shops, bars…  Read the full story here. | 
