Whitechapel Community Engagement and Urban Design Guidance


Arts events and engagement supported the landscape masterplan for the busy urban thoroughfare opposite the Royal London Hospital: an area poised for change.

Whitechapel Road during the day is a busy vibrant place, but at night it can feel less secure. The road itself is a very busy route with a dual carriageway layout and fenced central reservation making pedestrian activity more constrained.

The character and the history of the location is very evident, however the communities who live there identify with it as their home. KLA was involved in an extensive engagement programme with diverse ethnic communities, including arts interventions which took place in Whitechapel Market. A public exhibition was organised by the Architecture Foundation showing the KLA masterplan, along with ideas from the Swanley Secondary School’s Design Technology students.

KLA produced Urban Design Guidance that proposed revitalisation by encouraging a safer and diverse urban space for the 21st century that represents and supports the many cultures of the people in this area.

The proposal sought to use the market itself as a gateway feature from and to the City and the East end. Safer crossings were proposed in convenient locations which required the market to move. The overall appearance of the road itself would be transformed and become less divisive.

2000
Tower Hamlets, London

Client

Architecture Foundation / Cityside Regeneration

Collaborating Organisation

Architecture Foundation



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‘bright colours…’

‘let's have big sofas …’

‘we need places for spilling out…’

‘Don't design Whitechapel to fit into a certain image, its always been a place for changes…’

‘We should think about the future, keep the history…’

local residents and shoppers passing by

Arts events and engagement supported the landscape masterplan for the busy urban thoroughfare opposite the Royal London Hospital: an area poised for change.

Kinnear Landscape Architects
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