We Made That

In combination with our area-wide improvements in Blackhorse Lane we have also produced the Blackhorse Lane Business Directory to support and celebrate the range of businesses, activities and facilities that operate in the area. You can search the directory by company name, location, service or key word.

www.blackhorselane.directory

Blackhorse Lane identity by Europa. Website by Wolfram Wiedner.

We have just completed a study on Artists’ Workspace which aims to establish an accurate picture of affordable studio provision for artists in London. Along side studies on Incubator and Workshop spaces, the study aims to make recommendations to support the future of creative production in London.

In association with our new Toolkit, the winners of the Croydon Meanwhile Use Competition were announced at an awards ceremony at Matthew’s Yard on 30th April.




The joint winners were ‘Croydon Radio’ and ‘Turf Projects’, each winning £2500. Joint runners up were ‘Mum’s the Chef Restaurant’ and ‘Igma Artisan’ each winning £1000.




More on the Meanwhile Use Toolkit here

Thanks to Jim Stephenson and Edward Bishop, we are now part of the Lightbulb Films series, a weekly series of short films talking to designers, craftspeople and artists about their processes, their inspirations and their workplaces.




See film here

On behalf of the London Legacy Development Corporation, we are researching the qualitative aspects of the local economy in the LLDC area, including Hackney Wick and Fish Island. Our work so far has revealed an amazing range of enterprises, including Algha Works, the UK’s only hand-made spectacle frame factory. We have also been researching possible future trends in employment, and seeking to understand the relationship between places of work and placemaking in the area.

We Made That are working with the London Borough of Hackney to test a range of options for the future of the former Paddling Pool at Millfields Park. A public consultation exercise will be undertaken in July to gain opinions on three possible schemes, prior to the selected option being chosen and delivered.

We Made That are currently undertaking a survey on behalf of the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority (GLA) in order to better understand the picture of affordable studio provision for artists in London. The ultimate aim is to provide a list of all London’s Artist Studios on the Mayor’s ‘London.Gov’ website in form of an interactive map and to give an accurate picture of current supply to help the GLA understand future demands around affordable space.

Shopfront improvements have been completed on Blackhorse Lane including new timber shopfronts, signage, high level painted lettering, building frontage improvements, as well as reinstatement of the fantastic locally-listed Cafe Rodi. Later this month, local artist Chris Bracey will install his commission on the gable wall facing Blackhorse Road Station.

The Streatham Street Manual presents an ambitious approach to high street renewal as the driving force for transformational change, economic uplift and renewed neighbourhood vibrancy. We Made That have been working with the local Business Improvement District (BID), inStreatham, Lambeth Council and the Greater London Authority on a publication sets out a range of potential projects that address the social, spatial and economic possibilities for Streatham High Road.




The Street Manual sets out tangible projects for implementation as well as how to raise adequate funds to realise these projects.




inStreatham BID

We are pleased to be working with the London Borough of Sutton to introduce public realm enhancements to their Station Gateway Improvement Scheme. Through the introduction of key enhancement features such as a civic clock, new signage and focused public realm interventions, the scheme will ensure that the area around Sutton Station lives up to its status as an arrival point to the town centre, and the whole borough.

FM Conway has been appointed to deliver the public realm works on South End and Selsdon Road, and progress has begun on site. The improvements are scheduled to be completed in time for Christmas 2014, with the initial phase due to be completed in time for the summer food festival.




Connected Croydon

Works are well underway at Enfield Business Centre. In collaboration with architects RCKa, we are creating a new extension and refurbishment to the business centre and providing improved public realm. Along with a new identity by Europa, the proposals will all contribute to presenting the Enfield Business Centre’s new entrepreneurial face to Hertford Road.

Our play and recreation landscape has received planning consent along side two contemporary residential buildings by Allies and Morrison, and a wider landscape by HASSELL as part of The International Quarter development by Lend Lease.




Our proposals for introducing activity and play are integrated into a framework that ties together the residential towers, their immediately surrounding landscape and the wider views towards Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Using the design structure of a typical picturesque landscape: a view, a lawn and a ‘ha-ha’ that defines the boundary between a formal garden and more natural landscape beyond we are introducing exciting natural play opportunities and generous urban areas to cater for large gatherings and community events.

In association with the recently launched Croydon Meanwhile Use Toolkit and Competition, we will be running a series of business support workshops at Matthews Yard, Croydon, every Wednesday in March.




The workshops will cover various aspects of setting up a business or Meanwhile Use, including: Property, Finance, Technology and Marketing. Join us to learn more and help support your application for the Meanwhile Use Competition’s £7,000 prize fund!




Croydon Meanwhile Use Workshops

We are pleased to be working in Knowle West, Bristol, on a creative ‘common map’ and celebratory roaming event. Our work will involve a neighbourhood strategy for wayfinding, enjoyable public realm enhancements and revealing the host of activities that take place in the area.

We are working with Knowle West Media Centre, digital arts practitioners Ludic Rooms and a number of neighbourhood groups.

Our strategic area improvements in Blackhorse Lane are on site and due for completion in the coming months. These include shop front improvements, industrial frontage improvements, new distinctive signage and public realm works.

Blackhorse Workshop has recently opened, and we’ve been running a series of sign making training sessions. Our local business directory is also under production for release soon.

More here

Our programme of shop front improvements is nearing completion ahead of the Higham Hill event on 15 February. The works include the new Craft Garden Emporium, Zan Hair, Post Office and others, as well as other streetscape enhancements.

We are pleased to be working with the London Borough of Lambeth and inStreatham Business Improvement District to prepare a range of proposals for urban interventions on Streatham High Road. The project will develop a priority document containing a range of proposals for flexible implementation by the BID into the future.

inStreatham BID

We’re pleased to report that the Wild Kingdom Playspace was highly commended at this year’s Placemaking Awards in the ‘Design Excellence’ category.