Dating from 1901 – one of Peabody’s early ‘garden city’ social housing experiments – and designated as a Conservation Area, this 20 acre estate had fallen into disrepair and was in need of updating to modern standards. Extensive consultation with the existing community shaped the final proposals, which include streetscape design, provision of communal growing facilities, replacement of the water mains/drainage, safer roads, better lighting and improved play facilities.
The scheme responds sensitively to the character of the estate, with its echoes of the arts and crafts and garden city movements. Ornamental ironwork arches were commissioned for the estate entrance, and the setting of an historic war memorial has been improved through new tree planting and fencing. Narrowed roads with raised table crossing points, coupled with widened granite–edged pavements punctuated with street trees create a more pedestrian-friendly environment. A new linear space at the heart of the estate incorporates play and food-growing opportunities.
Enhancing the landscape and public realm of one of London's first housing estates.