Futurecity developed a meanwhile cultural strategy for Network Rail to support the transformation of Bow East, a former concrete processing plant located to the south of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London. The strategy was conceived alongside a change-of-use masterplan for the brownfield site, identifying how cultural activation could play a meaningful role ahead of long-term redevelopment.

The site’s proximity to the Olympic Park and to emerging cultural, education and employment initiatives across the four Olympic boroughs positioned Bow East as an opportunity to connect with surrounding communities while testing new approaches to mixed-use urban life. Futurecity’s strategy set out how meanwhile use could shift perceptions of the site, respond to local needs and generate social, economic and environmental value that would inform the future masterplan.

At the core of the strategy was a vision for Bow East as an agile testing ground - supporting experimentation by communities, makers and small organisations, and allowing activity to evolve over time. This vision was structured around three strategic aims: creating a large-scale “third space” for social exchange and civic life; supporting enterprise by clustering opportunities for SMEs and independent practitioners; and delivering skills and training pathways linked to local employment and personal development.

The strategy proposed a ten-year programme of phased cultural activation, integrated into Network Rail’s wider masterplanning process. By embedding meanwhile use within long-term planning, Bow East demonstrated how temporary cultural activity can support trust-building, learning and legacy - bridging the gap between industrial past and future development.

Images from Network Rail