Yesterday’s Observer newspaper ran a great article on the aspirations of the new cultural strategy being developed by Adrian Marques, the new Head of Cultural Strategy for Thamesmead at Peabody. Bow Arts (who we’ve worked alongside on the Aberfeldy Estate amongst other projects) have taken on the running of a small yet iconic building, The Waterside Centre, on the north edge of Southmere Lake. The aim is to introduce affordable space for artists to start galvanising positive change and a cultural lead on placemaking efforts.

At the end of June we will re-start work on the delivery of the first phase of £9m public realm improvements, likely focusing on Parkview community, with the possibility of also implementing a further three phases. Peabody have pledged £1.5bn of investment in the area and have high aspirations for the transformation of this community… expect to be hearing a lot more about Thamesmead as the momentum grows!