Powering Collaboration Across 100+ Organisations

April 11, 2026

Overview

The Knowledge Quarter (KQ) is a unique membership organisation bringing together over 100 world-leading institutions across a one-mile radius of King’s Cross, Bloomsbury and Euston.

From heritage organisations like the British Museum to global innovators like Google, KQ exists to connect people, ideas and institutions to drive collaboration and innovation.

Bravand was appointed as discovery and scoping partner to help KQ rethink how digital could better support its mission - and reduce the operational burden on its small team.

The challenge

KQ’s website sat at the heart of its ecosystem - but it wasn’t delivering on its potential.

Key challenges included:

Disconnected systems and manual processes
Events, content and member data were spread across multiple tools (Eventbrite, email, spreadsheets), requiring repetitive manual effort.
High admin overhead for a small team
With just 4–5 staff, time was being spent curating content and managing workflows instead of enabling collaboration.‍
Underperforming member experience
The existing “Knowledge Bank” (member directory) was difficult to use and failed to deliver meaningful connections between members.
A website that didn’t reflect KQ’s value
The site acted more like a signposting tool than a destination - users often left quickly rather than engaging with content or the community.
Missed opportunity for growth and advocacy
KQ needed a stronger digital “shop window” to attract new members, showcase impact, and support policy and investment conversations.

Our approach

We began with a discovery and scoping phase, working closely with stakeholders to understand the needs of:

KQ staff
Member organisations
Prospective members
Researchers, students and the wider public

Through workshops, interviews and analysis, we:

Mapped user groups, journeys and goals
Audited existing content, systems and workflows
Identified pain points and inefficiencies
Defined what success looks like - both operationally and strategically

This insight-led approach ensured every recommendation was grounded in real user and organisational needs.

What we uncovered

Our discovery phase surfaced several critical insights:

1. KQ’s true value is connection

At its core, KQ exists to facilitate collaboration between organisations and individuals - but its digital tools weren’t enabling this effectively.

2. Content was powerful, but hard to manage

KQ produces and curates valuable content (events, news, opportunities), but publishing and distributing it was time-consuming and fragmented.

3. The member experience needed rethinking

The existing member area required users to manually tag and manage profiles, creating friction and limiting adoption.

4. Data wasn’t flowing

User data wasn’t seamlessly connected across platforms, leading to duplication, missed opportunities and inefficiencies.

5. The website needed to work harder

Rather than simply informing, the website needed to:

Showcase KQ’s impact
Drive engagement
Enable collaboration
Reduce internal workload

Our solution

We defined a clear roadmap for a new, integrated digital platform that would transform how KQ operates.

1. A new website as a central hub

A fully redesigned WordPress site to act as a:

Shop window for KQ’s work and members
Content hub for events, news and projects
Engagement platform for multiple audiences

2. A reimagined “Knowledge Bank”

A smarter, more intuitive member network designed to:

Help users find people by expertise, role or interest
Enable direct connections between members
Reduce reliance on staff to facilitate introductions

3. Integrated systems and automation

Connecting key tools (Eventbrite, CRM, email platforms) to:

Automate data capture and flows
Reduce manual duplication
Create a single source of truth for user data

4. Streamlined content workflows

Making it easier to:

Publish events, news and opportunities once
Distribute content across channels automatically
Encourage member-generated content

5. Designed for growth and accessibility

Fully responsive, accessible (WCAG 2.1 AA) design
SEO-optimised to increase visibility
Scalable architecture to support future needs

The impact

While this phase focused on discovery and planning, it laid the foundation for significant transformation:

Reduced operational burden
Clear opportunities to automate processes and free up team capacity
Stronger member engagement
A platform designed to actively facilitate connections and collaboration
Improved visibility and storytelling
A website built to showcase KQ’s impact and attract new audiences
Future-ready digital ecosystem
Scalable, integrated infrastructure to support long-term growth