Communications & Engagement

Our programme of community engagement was conceived to inclusively engage as many different people as possible using different creative activities. As the site was a former hospital, there were no residents on site, however the local community – residential, business and community were all invited to review the scheme proposals and participate in creative activities whilst doing so. Alongside usual consultation activities – exhibition, models, walkabouts and opportunities to contribute to the design through themed workshops, we created a programme of themed activities to help us understand heritage, memories, things that are important to the local community, and aspirations for the future development.

Events included a coffee morning for older people to tell us about their memories of the site. These were then interpreted into a piece of public art along the building elevation by a local artist – Jo Peel. We also ran bookbinding workshops, illustration sessions and a pop up market stall, plus a tour de France style cycle route with refreshments in exchange for comments about the scheme.

At one engagement event, we worked with artist Amy Pennington and used a Robot Drawing Machine to draw portraits of participants whilst we discussed the development proposals with them. We received feedback from the GLA that the engagement and subsequent Statement of Community Engagement were the benchmark examples for this type of Central London regeneration project.