East India Dock Road
Cultural Masterplan
East India Dock, London
2007 - ongoing
CLIENT:First Base
PARTNERS:
CZWG Architects
CBRE
Futurecity developed a holistic cultural strategy on behalf of architects CZWG for a historically rich site spanning the old East India Perry's Dock site in Tower Hamlets.
The dock site represents one of the most profitable periods in London's history, when the East India Company was founded to trade with the Far East.
In regenerating such a significant site, it was necessary for the Futurecity cultural strategy to set out a practical model of urban regeneration led by the history and culture surrounding the docks. Artwork commissions and strategy agendas used a protected dock wall still standing on the edge of the site as their focus. The area also has a strong tradition of the street market. Drawing on East India Dock's rich trading history: Huguenot silk, Jewish cloth and Asian garment manufacturing trades once prevalent in Tower Hamlets, a new street market with an emphasis on fashion and clothes design was developed. The market draws on a diverse range of cultural outputs, including work from students at UEL, the Cordwainers College and the London College of Fashion.
A prototypical community led flexible Gallery/Café/Project Space model for a stand-alone art project room was also proposed. The space can be configured as classroom, community centre, recording/video studio or exhibition space. A rolling programme of art and community projects are generated by key education and cultural partnerships housed within the flexible structure. The 'hub' cultural centre drives the cultural offer of the scheme, creating a lively, vibrant mix of uses and creative programmes energizing the scheme and surrounding area throughout the year.
The dock site represents one of the most profitable periods in London's history, when the East India Company was founded to trade with the Far East.
In regenerating such a significant site, it was necessary for the Futurecity cultural strategy to set out a practical model of urban regeneration led by the history and culture surrounding the docks. Artwork commissions and strategy agendas used a protected dock wall still standing on the edge of the site as their focus. The area also has a strong tradition of the street market. Drawing on East India Dock's rich trading history: Huguenot silk, Jewish cloth and Asian garment manufacturing trades once prevalent in Tower Hamlets, a new street market with an emphasis on fashion and clothes design was developed. The market draws on a diverse range of cultural outputs, including work from students at UEL, the Cordwainers College and the London College of Fashion.
A prototypical community led flexible Gallery/Café/Project Space model for a stand-alone art project room was also proposed. The space can be configured as classroom, community centre, recording/video studio or exhibition space. A rolling programme of art and community projects are generated by key education and cultural partnerships housed within the flexible structure. The 'hub' cultural centre drives the cultural offer of the scheme, creating a lively, vibrant mix of uses and creative programmes energizing the scheme and surrounding area throughout the year.