The Mayor of London has launched ‘Let’s Do London’ – a new £7m campaign to attract domestic visitors to our city and bring central London’s economy back to life. The campaign and events programme backed by industry to kick-start London’s economy will bring together the capital’s world-leading hospitality, culture, nightlife and retail venues to promote all London has to offer.
London is a ‘City of Culture’, and the arts play a vital role as the life force of London.
As London looks set to reopen its doors once again to visitors, at Futurecity we reflect on the role of culture to activate a local economy. Over the years our public art, cultural and placemaking strategies have provided significant funds and opportunities for artists in London alongside supporting an eco-system of studios, galleries, fabricators and other businesses.
Futurecity’s largest project to date has been Wembley Park, where we worked closely with developer Quintain* and the entire project team to help reimagine the 85-acres around the Wembley Stadium as a new creative neighbourhood for Brent and North West London, with ideas for new art installations, cultural events, exhibitions, pop up performances, sport and theatre shows.
The Cultural Placemaking Strategy & Public Art Strategy takes an ambitious ‘Bins to Buildings’ view that (wherever possible) investment in Wembley Park, should offer major opportunities for artists, designers and cultural organisations.
Quintain, under James Saunders leadership, has embraced the Strategies and Delivery Plans as a guide book and have been faithfully and ambitiously delivering against it–from establishing genuine cultural partnerships, providing new funding for the arts, new cultural appointments, encouraging the creative opportunities offered by landscape and infrastructure, support for emerging creative industries, investment in original cultural production and presentation, as well as structural advice and encouragement to be radical.
The Olympic Way
The route from Wembley Park Station has been transformed into a place ‘Where Big Happens’ – a ‘cultural stage’ in its own right, with audio & digital points along the revitalised boulevard, ceremonial banners, space for large scale events, programmable lighting and the great Wembley Arch framing the changes.
The new Olympic Steps will provide two new tiers of public space for art installations, buskers and open-air market stalls, providing seating and a vantage point for Wembley Park’s most exciting free events and community parades such as ‘Light Up the Night’ and The Mayor of London’s ‘International Busking Day’.
Wembley Park Art Trail
The new Wembley Park Art Trail, offers ongoing opportunities for artists and community contributors, using the boulevards, squares, infrastructure and public areas as a vast free public gallery for art and culture and enhancing the area’s global reputation for sport, music and live entertainment. This winter linked the entire Olympic Way to the Bobby Moore Bridge installation by Siân Bliss to Christmas Lights in the largest London light art installation.
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Futurecity brokered the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) move of its headquarters to Wembley Park. As the blue chip centre piece of a new cultural cluster focused on performance and live events, the RPO’s role as a key ‘arts anchor tenant’ represents further commitment to its existing relationship with Brent and musical education.
The RPO recently announced that the Prince of Wales as its new Royal Patron. Wembley Park will benefit from this patronage and the Prince of Wales’ genuine backing of art and culture as centre to the identity of the UK.
RPO Pop Up
Wembley Park and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) brought live orchestral music to an unsuspecting audience of residents, shoppers and diners with their first live appearance together since lockdown and the first collaboration. Small ensembles of string, brass, wind and percussion players appeared in the open air from the Beton Building’s balcony, on the Spanish Steps, and in London Designer Outlet’s Retail Square playing a mixture of classical favourites and pop classics associated with Wembley Park’s iconic venues. By the end of the weekend, 38 musicians from the RPO had played at Wembley Park. Conceived by Wembley Park Cultural Director, Josh McNorton, and Deputy Managing Director of the RPO, Huw Davies.
Arts Programme & Cultural Director Josh McNorton
Wembley Park has a formal dedication towards arts & culture across commissioning, co-production, cultural infrastructure support, developing local, national and international partnerships, and commissioning digital, performance and visual arts installations across the whole site.
However, none of the cultural investment in Wembley Park would work without the new Cultural Director role, a position developed and recruited by Futurecity. Josh McNorton – in the role of its first Cultural Director – leads the establishment of Wembley Park Arts, a dedicated cultural programme resulting from Futurecity’s 3-year collaboration with Quintain to realise and develop Wembley Park’s Cultural Placemaking & Public Arts Strategies.
The appointment of a Cultural Director marks another milestone in Quintain’s growing role as an ambitious and confident cultural player, placing cultural sustainability at the heart of the regeneration of Wembley Park.
Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre
The new Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre is a flexible 1,000-2,000 seat capacity theatre, located within the former Fountain Studios, best known as the venue for X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and Pop Idol. The new theatre provides flexible space for collaboration with well-known and emerging production companies and artists to stage world-class entertainment within a state-of-the-art cultural destination. They created a new joint veture business model to ensure shared ambition and risk leads the best results for the area and offers a constant open cultural presence for the neighbourhood.
Wembley Park Market
Even with new development, Wembley Park ensured that their ground floor experience offers an affordable artisan shopping experience for the North London cultural neighbourhood. The initiative brings the community together with small businesses, encouraging local shopping from independent makers, artisans and designers, whether they are an established brand or a new local start-up. A modern indoor market space in a prime location offers sustainable, eco-friendly and original products from homewares, artisanal food, hand-crafted fashion and natural wellness products.
Second Floor Studios and Arts
SFSA opened their purpose-built artists’ studios at Wembley Park in February 2018 – the first of its kind in Wembley Park. The studio provision delivered through a partnership with Quintain and supported by Brent Council, who provided grant funding for the fit-out costs through the GLA’s New Homes Bonus funding programme.
Phase one comprises of 26 individual ground floor studios, providing long term affordable employment space for artists’, makers and designers, ensuring cultural production is central to neighbourhood success.
‘One in Four’
A new public art commission ‘One in Four’ by North-East based spray can artist Frank Styles uses the Spanish Steps (which connect the national stadium with The SSE Arena, Wembley) as a canvas for 12 portraits, which work from different viewpoints.
The artwork, commissioned in collaboration with mental health charity Mind, and installed prior to the lockdown adorns the Spanish Steps with an abstract and thought-provoking design. The artwork aims to raise awareness about the importance of mental health, a topic that has only increased in importance since the COVID-19 pandemic.
London Borough of Culture 2020
Quintain was a key supporter of Brent’s successful bid for London Borough of Culture 2020, including being the host to the ‘RISE’ launch event, which took place along Olympic Way in front of Wembley Stadium. Brent 2020 presented high profile cultural events and activities throughout the year exploring the spirit and creativity of the borough, with hundreds of residents taking a leading role in shaping the programme.
Brent 2020 defined itself as the ‘Borough of Cultures’. Grassroots creativity was at the heart of a year that included a digital music festival and visual arts programme amongst others, all of which empowered young people and invested in local artists to support the cultural eco-system of the borough. Wembley Park leveraged its iconic status to RISE the positive profile of the diversity of cultural profile of the borough to London and beyond. *Quintain’s 85-acre development Wembley Park in north west London was purchased in 2002. It has outline planning consent for 10.3million sq.-ft of mixed-use development and is set to become the largest build to rent development site in the UK, with 5,000 homes being delivered by 2024, all of them under the single management of Quintain Living.
Images: Let’s Do London: https://www.londonandpartners.com/about-us/london-recovery The Olympic Way: courtesy of Quintain, credit: Chris Winter Wembley Part Art Trail: Shadow Wall by Jason Bruges Studio. Courtesy of JSB Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: courtesy of Quintain RPO Pop Up: courtesy of Quintain, credit: Chris Winter Arts Programme & Cultural Director Josh McNorton: Light Up The Night Festival, courtesy of Quintain, credit: Chris Winter Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre: courtesy of Quintain Wembley Park Market: The Yard, courtesy of Quintain Second Floor Studios & Arts: courtesy of Quintain London Borough of Culture 2020: Brent 2020 Opening, courtesy of Quintain, credit: Chris Winter One in Four: courtesy of Quintain
