Network Rail commissioned Futurecity to strategise a cultural activation programme within the context of a change-of-use masterplan for a brown field site to the immediate south of London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Once a concrete processing plant, its proximity to the changing landscape and communities within and around the park led to a strategy to transform the site into space for a mixed economy use more befitting the burgeoning area.
The site, Bow East, is a prime location in east London for cultural activation with proximity to the array of world-class cultural and education initiatives being developed as part of the Olympic legacy, serving the wider surrounding communities of the four Olympic boroughs.
Through the project, Futurecity demonstrated how Network Rail could win hearts and minds by changing community perception of this industrial site, connect to local needs by funding activity that met identified need in the local community, and deliver sustainable legacy by generating coherent social, economic and environmental value that would be part of a future masterplan
Futurecity created a vision for the project where Bow East would become “an agile testing ground for the community, makers and thinkers of today to pioneer the urban life of tomorrow.”
The vision was driven by three Strategic Aims: 1) Creating East London’s largest third space – where people are able to build relationships, exchange ideas and develop social value for the local area, 2) Supporting Enterprise – clustering opportunity for SME growth and sustainability, and 3) Creating Skills and Training Opportunities – that would be a ladder for local people’s personal and economic development.
Network have integrated the cultural strategy into their masterplan programme as a 10-year ‘meanwhile’ activation programme.
