26 futuristic London regeneration projects

Check out the designers dreaming up amazing new ways to make London even better

Too often we are obsessed about building up, out and creating something out of nothing that we forget to think about the things we already have but could make much better,

That is why the annual Forgotten Spaces competition by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), this year done in conjunction with Mayor Boris Johnson and developer Qatari Diar, is quite so exciting. The 2013 crop showcases 26 possible projects including; a fish farm and zoo, made out of a disused gas holders in Bromley; public baths in the disused Aldwych tube station; reclaiming the decommissioned aerial platforms of the BT tower.

The entries will all be displayed at Somerset House from 4 October to 10 November.

Forgotten Spaces 2013 – London Shortlist

1.    A Lost World (Bromley by Bow Gasworks, London Borough of Newham, E3 3JQ)

By David Wakefield and Robert Nimmo

A zoo complex in a decommissioned gas holder whose by-products, through anaerobic digestion, cyclically support the site and surroundings.

2.    A Regents Ribbon (5 Corbrige Crescent, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, E29DS)

By Philip Dugdale

An urban landscape designed to enhance and celebrate a stretch of the Regents Canal with a new boardwalk that focus recalls the industrial heritage of the local area. 

3.    Adapt, Re-use (138-141 Whitechapel High Street, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, E1)

By Claire Dale-Lace

An event space on Whitechapel High Street built almost entirely out of reusable and recyclable materials.

4.    Albert Island (Woolwich Manor Way, London Borough of Newham, E16 2QY)

By Gunton Works (Mike Taylor and Daniel Marmot)

Three built additions act as landscape observatories for a forgotten landscape next to London City Airport; a bound gravel perimeter walk unifies them and encourages visitors to enjoy the historic dock edge and watery setting.

5.    Aldwych Baths (Aldwych Station, London Borough of Westminster, WC2R 2LS)

By Charlotte Tamplin, Charlotte Marshall, Kate Stevens

A public baths facility situated in the disused Aldwych tube station with a connection to the Thames at Victoria Embankment.

6.    An Aerial View (BT Tower, London borough of Camden, W1T 4JZ)

By OMMX

Reclaiming the decommissioned aerial platforms of the BT tower, the proposal circumscribes the space in a curtain forcing the viewer to question the building’s familiarity; it transforms the platforms from a defunct piece of public infrastructure into a civic space.

7.    Aquadocks (Silvertown Way Underpath, London  Borough of Newham E16 1AF)

By Heather Lyons, Dara Huang, Soohyun Chang, Ryan Day, Remo de Angelis, Federica Russo and Lisa Hinderdael.

A swimming pool and spa proposal for the Royal Docks area provides a memorable sensory and spatial experience.

8.    Bikebox (K6 Telephone Boxes across London)

By Sam Rose and Hoi Kei Lo

Bikebox is a charity cycle safety scheme to adopt and convert redundant​ K6 telephone boxes in​to ​bicycle repair kiosks, to ​create a safe​r cycle ​network across the capital.​

9.    Centre For Forgotten Beer (Wandsworth High Street, London Borough of Wandsworth, SE18 4TT)

By John Thompson

Located on Wandsworth High Street, opposite the disused Ram Brewery, the Centre for Forgotten Beer is dedicated to lost London beers, bringing forgotten flavours back to the city once famous for them.  At the heart of the scheme is an outdoor classroom, where the School of Brewing teaches beer making to the local community.

10.  Connected Places (Dock edge Tidal Basin – Royal Victoria Dock, London Borough of Newham, E16 1AF)

By cube_design

An urban landscaping scheme comprises a floating promenade along the banks of the Thames; rapids for water-sports and turbine power; a linear park comprising an environmental ecology park, a picturesque Romantic Garden and floating allotment, extending water themes into local neighbourhoods.

11.  Fleeting Memories (St Pancras Gardens, London Borough of Camden, NW1 1UL)

By 4orm; Richard Gooden, Stephen Coleman, Claire Priest

The proposal resurrects the buried Fleet River as it flows near St. Pancras Station.  The new riverside park will be a destination for visitors, a route for pedestrians and cyclists, and a unique addition to the local network of open spaces.

12.  Hidden Light (90 White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, E9 5EU)

By Threefold Architects

A series of urban flares that act as a flaming manifestation of the latent energy and lost Victorian technology that runs beneath our feet.

13.  In The Canopy (Queen’s Park Estate, London Borough of Westminster, W9 + W10)

By Studio McLeod: Duncan McLeod, Sarah Edwards, Annikki Mair

Inspired by traditional cherry picking ladders, these elevated chairs within London’s trees offer an escape from street level to the forgotten spaces of the tree canopy, to enjoy a different view of the city and reconnect with the child within.

14.  Kentish Town Square (Kentish Town Road & Leighton Road Junctions, London Borough of Camden, NW5 2AA)

By BBUK Studio and Urban Projects Bureau

A new urban square and hub for the local community transforms a corner of Kentish Town with an extension over the rail lines. 

15.  Lepidopterium (York Way, Camden, N7 9AX)

By Liddicoat & Goldhill

A butterfly house for both exotic and native species, this is a radical response to Camden’s desire to expand the enjoyment and educational potential of nature.

16.  Museum of Memories (121 Westminster Bridge Road, London Borough of Lambeth, SE1 7HR)

By Claire Moody

Situated on the London Necropolis Railway terminus, the Museum of Memories provides a place to share the past through experiential exhibits and an archival library of artifacts to preserve memories.

17.  Posters of Society (Silverton Parkway, London Borough of Newham, E16 1AF)

By Gary Nash and Barry Walsh

The structural concrete columns of the flyover are used to display 1000+ posters chronicling the history of the poster from original advertisements to 21st Century political propaganda.

18.  Reclaiming the canalside… (Regent’s Canal, Bethnal Green, E8)

By Bethany Gale

Celebrating the canal’s industrial past the proposal transforms the former gas works into an urban ‘park’.

19.  ScaletheBloc (Beneath Silvertown Way, London Borough of Newham, E16 1AF)

By Fiona McQuaid, Landlayers Design Ltd

On a site under the flyover that is all about the act of travel from A to B, ScaletheBloc is an urban climbing centre and natural play area where all routes are
a game.

20.  Sculpture & Sons (33-37 The Oval, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, E2 9DT)

By David Hunter-Wade, Alex Chinneck

Sculpture & Sons is a 5 storey sculpture park, constructed from telescopic metal cubes within an existing concrete structure.  The components can be arranged to suit the artworks they contain, with views from within The Oval and along Regent’s Canal.

21.  Shed ZED (The Croydon Adopted Highway, Croydon, CR0 3RL)

By Colour Urban Design Ltd.

A proposal to transform the scattering of metal sheds that comprise Valley Park retail centre on Purley Way into a responsive, energy harnessing, industrious, innovative place with a permeable public realm, at the centre of which is a new watershed.

22.  Silvertown Brewery (Silvertown Way Flyover, London borough of Newham, E16 1AF)

By Chris Allen, Marcus Andren, Michael Gyi

The project creates a destination out of Silvertown rather than being a place of transit.  A microbrewery and bowling venue are introduced, extending London’s rapid resurgence into brewing and the world’s beer scene.

23.  The Gasworks (Greenwich Gas Holder, Boord Street, Greenwich, SE10 0PF)

By Patrick Judd & Ash Bonham

The Gasworks gives new purpose to a redundant but historically significant structure, providing a social and cultural heart to future communities with the provision of new parklands, a public square and venue space.

24.  The Royal Pavilion (Pier Road, London Borough of Newham, E16 2JJ)

By Gunton Works – Mike Taylor and Daniel Marmot

A disused platform in North Woolwich is reimagined as the plinth for a new pavilion, which takes the name of the Royal Pavilion pub formerly on the site. A riverside terrace creates a new destination, with flexible community space below.

25.  Urban Agri-Aqua Culture (Lower Marsh Lane, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 3BW)

By Ian Wale, Peter Wale

Inhabiting a decommissioned sewage treatment site, a new urban farm is created for the production of fish, fruit and vegetables. It aims to increase the amount of locally produced, bought and consumed food.

26.  Urban Boardwalk (Collier’s Wood High Street, London Borough of Merton, SW19)

By Shanka Mesa-Siverio, Walter Mesa-Siverio

The Urban Boardwalk is a small urban park inhabiting a left over strip of land that creates a place to ponder, sit and socialize.