With the blues and oranges of a new coalition finding its feet in power it is perhaps fitting that, along with the onset of summer and the World Cup, this issue has more than a hint of bright, verdant hues about it. First, there's our cover star Central St Giles, a major mixed-use project bringing vibrancy and life to a full city block in an otherwise dreary and drab corner of Midtown. Its equally colourful architect, Renzo Piano talks about the kinds of design inspirations and quests for transparency and lightness which lay behind his choices - such as the Denmark Street context.

And if Central St Giles encapsulates a little of the optimism returning to the offices market in central London, our interview with Land Securities' Robert Noel epitomises the go-ahead attitude of a number of developers pressing the green button on their development programmes. British Land is another rumoured to be looking to restart its 'Cheesegrater' project at Leadenhall. The developer's property management wing, Broadgate Estates - which manages Central St Giles - is in focus with the interview of Barry Winfield, retiring after 16 years.

South of the river, More London is another office location in the spotlight, both in our piece on workplace – Clients, clusters and clouds – and our new building review feature on the estate's latest finished building on Tooley Street. This is another attractive, colourful project, with a Red Bull inside as its tenant. Our On Location study travels to Westminster, while we go further out west with an analysis on west London's place in London's future. Elsewhere there are in-depth sectoral studies on retail and waste.

Finally, as that new coalition gets going on some of the tough love Britain must endure to curb the deficit, we look at the future via planning as a major issue. First, there's an interview with London planning doyen Sir Peter Hall. Next there's Kensington and Chelsea councillor Daniel Moylan's plea for a better setting for Sloane Square. We have an interview with Moylan's fellow mayoral design panel member Eric Parry, bemoaning London's current lack of adequate 'threshold spaces' plus a few ideas for how they could be, and, lastly an assessment of the planning strategies of the Lib/Con coalition so far.

The future looks bright. The future looks orange - and blue, and red, and green and...

David Taylor, Editor