Drapers Field has a strategic role in the Olympic Legacy. This new park in East London is the first ‘Stitching the Fringe’ project integrating new Olympic developments into the surrounding existing communities.
Creating a playful walk to school through the park to Chobham Academy was a key component of the layout, integrating the site into the adjacent public realm.
The diagonal path which facilitates ‘the playful walk to school’ provides a route which follows the key desire line between the communities of Leyton and the new Chobam Academy. The bike track provides a series of obstacles of varying difficulties allowing children on scooters and bikes to progressively build their skills and confidence. It also allows space - and has marking to help facilitate – bike ability courses which teach children core bike skills. ‘The playful walk to school’ cuts through the grass waves and has trampolines located at one end and terminates with a hill at the other. The overall layout does not territorialise play space but allows play to flow over a wide and ranging landscape, encouraging collaborative and intergenerational playfulness in the urban realm.
While maintaining a clear design language and visual identity the proposals at Drapers Field have achieved a lot in a relatively small space including: providing a focal point for new and established communities; cohesion in the public realm; addressing strategic London wide issues of such as childhood obesity by establishing opportunities for spontaneous activity and intergenerational play; and allowing space for cycling skills and cycling to school.
2011–2014
Waltham Forest, London
Client
London Borough of Waltham Forest
Value
£2m
Architect
mae
Cost Consultant
Cinns Ltd
Engineer
Webb Yates
Photographer
Adrian Taylor
Awards
2014 WAN Landscape Award Commendation
Drapers Field has a strategic role in the Olympic Legacy. This new park in East London is the first ‘Stitching the Fringe’ project integrating new Olympic developments into the surrounding existing communities.