20 March 2023
London Festival of Architecture
We’re excited to be part of one of the shortlisted teams for ‘People at the Centre of Brixton’, a design competition organised by the LFA in partnership with Lambeth Council and Brixton Business Improvement District. The competition invites proposals for an intervention at two key public spaces in the centre of Brixton: Atlantic Road and Windrush Square.
Our project is a collaboration between three Brixton organisations; a youth-led team coordinated by We Rise working with support and mentoring from CarverHaggard and Tisserin Engineers.
15 March 2023
North End Road
Our work at North End Road has been featured in the GLA's City Hall blog.
"CarverHaggard have worked closely with the local community and traders to design a scheme that places the market at the heart of the community."
Since 2017 the Mayor of London has invested over £75m to support 79 innovative projects which help Londoners shape the future of their local communities. The Good Growth Fund seeks to make London fairer and more inclusive by strengthening civic networks at a local level, encouraging innovation, supporting great design and boosting local economies.
16 February 2023
RIBA London shortlist
Our project at Greenhill Place has been shortlisted for the RIBA London Awards!
RIBA West London Jury Chair Rowan Seaford, Associate Director at Carmody Groarke, said: "The shortlisted schemes represent architectural ambition and innovation at a range of scales... The quality of the shortlisted projects across the region demonstrates the value that architecture can bring to enhance many aspects of people's lives, particularly in the context of urban environments."
The project has also been featured in the RIBA Journal's Making Buildings series with an interview by Jan-Carlos Kucharek.
8 November 2022
Arts Council
Congratulations to our friends, clients and collaborators who were named on Friday as NPO organisations for the 2023-26 ACE funding round – including 198 CAL & Photofusion, Raw Material, and Turf Projects. Commiserations and solidarity to the organisations who didn’t get the news they were hoping for this time.
27 October 2022
Greenhill Place
Read about Greenhill Place in the Architect's Journal here.
"It’s great to see a place that was once so unattractive and gloomy doing everything that we hoped – it’s a busy public space with food kiosks serving local businesses and residents, and a free showcase for local artists. It hosts a market three days a week, with one third of stalls provided free to local start-ups. It has proven itself as a space for large and small events so far and will be an important part of local celebrations for Diwali and Christmas, working with the Harrow BID." Shehzad Ahmed, service manager for high streets and business support, Harrow Council
3 October 2022
Black History Month
Monocle on Culture this week includes this piece with Linton Kwesi Johnson and Ben F Jones, interviewed by Amah-Rose Abrams at 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning - listen here from 11m 30s.
"We're celebrating Black History Month with a very special interview. We're heading to the 198 Gallery in Brixton which has champoned the creativity of the African and Caribbean diaspora since its inception in 1988. Their new expanded building was finished last year and won an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects...."
29 September 2022
Autumn Festival
North End Road hosted a traffic-free Autumn Festival on Saturday. More than 15,000 residents came along on the day to take part in the first car-free day since our community-led redesign started on site last year – complete with food, music, street entertainers and a wide variety of stalls. The photos are online here.
26 June 2022
Greenhill Place opens
Greenhill Place was opened officially on Saturday; a new public space for Harrow Council that used to be a car park. “I’m very excited about this new project, and all that it will bring to Harrow. It’s also a great way of supporting local businesses.” Cllr Norman Stevenson, Cabinet Member for Business and Employment.
16 May 2022
Arts Council funding
We’ve been working with Raw Material Music & Media on some exciting changes to their home in Brixton, which have just won funding from Arts Council England.
Raw Material is a creative arts and music centre for young people and adults in South London. They have a great base with recording studios, video production facilities, and a performance space. We’ve been working with them on a plan to maximise the accessibility, functionality, and environmental performance of their building, to help them increase capacity and support more people. The Arts Council England Capital Investment Programme supports post-pandemic transformation to cultural organisations and has awarded over £22.7 million to 66 projects across the country.
5 May 2022
RIBA London Award
Exciting news! Our project with 198 CAL has won a 2022 RIBA London Award. The RIBA judges said that the refurbished and extended building “successfully accommodates a host of arts, community and health interests: genuine social value in action” and commended both the social and the environmental sustainability achievements of the project. See more here.
11 April 2022
Kingsford Square
There's a preview animation of our project for Kingsford Square in Beckton here – new markings, planting, and playable elements to enliven a public space between a library, a school, and a supermarket. The rain gardens will absorb the surface water from the square, with sustainable urban drainage and planting designed by Robert Bray Assocaites.
3 March 2022
RIBA Award shortlist
The new home for 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning has just been shortlisted for a RIBA London 2022 award. It's great news for the project and the team – we first started working with 198 CAL in 2015 on the idea to extend their building from one storey to three, and the gallery re-opened last October.
14 February 2022
Made in Erith
A wayfinding stone for the Made in Erith project is being carved. This will mark the historic route of Erith High Street through the 1980s shopping centre.
18 November 2021
Emma Cons Gardens
In Summer 2021, we carried out a public engagement project to create a brief for Emma Cons Gardens. We spoke to over 400 people to identify the shared priorities and challenges which will be key to creating a new public space here, in the heart of Waterloo. Read the full report here.
14 October 2021
Exhibition at 198
The first exhibition in the redeveloped 198 CAL opens today!
"BREAKING THE MOULD: New Signatures from the Democratic Republic of Congo" runs until 28 November 2021 and features the work of 12 emerging artists from the DRC selected by Curator Christine Eyene.
The artists are: Arlette Bashizi, Beau Disundi, Ghislain Ditshekedi, Godelive Kasangati, Anastasie Langu, Jamil Lusala, Catheris Mondombo, Arsène Mpiana, Stone Mutshikene, Chris Shongo, Ange Swana and Joycenath Tshamala. Read more here.
Image: Arsene Mpiana, Perpetual Disconnect (series), 2019-2020. Courtesy the artist.
