Research, strategical design and engagement for an improved public space.
Client Design for London, the London Borough of Hackney
Budget £1 million
2009 – ongoing
muf and J+L Gibbons developed a strategy to support the engagement of local creative businesses and community organisations in the regeneration of public space.
The study began with the identification and celebration of existing assets, social, cultural and physical. It then proposed strategies, design moves and a programme of cultural activity to inform and enhance the public realm as shared spaces for both residents and visitors. The study placed equal importance in both the promotion of a process of engagement, and the delivery of an enhanced urban setting in seeking to nurture Dalston’s inherent creativity and diversity.
Under the headings: 1 Value what is there, 2 Nurture the possible and 3 Define what is missing, 10 themes were created to encompass over a hundred smaller projects, proposing that improvement does not always have to come from big moves but also from specific detailed interventions.
The research phase resulted in a number of live projects including the brokering of the site which became the Dalston Mill by Exyzt – part of the Barbican Radical Nature exhibition – and a community greening workshop at Somerford Grove Estate.
This strategy has attracted funding from the LDA and is connecting up other external funding.
