The TAS team is excited to have submitted a planning proposal for a new community building at King Edward Memorial Park in Tower Hamlets, London.

The new hub will provide a cafe, changing rooms and two flexible community spaces to serve the tennis courts, padel courts, a new football pitch and a large childrens park.

A design for the community

Our design is centred around three key pillars. First, community. Our goal was to create a new cafe and a series of spaces that connect and integrate the existing communities. This includes providing good access and safety for the variety of age groups and cultures. We wanted to ensure activities can continue throughout the day, all year round.

Second, sport, recreation and play. The project will connect with and encourage use of the newly landscaped facilities being provided by the wider regeneration. The cafe will visually connect to the park’s activities in four directions and act as a magnet to encourage a sense of place.

Third, sustainability and re-use. The project will be both environmentally and financially sustainable, bringing forward a community building that is efficient to run. To be sustainable, a scheme has to consider durability and life span, as well as flexibility.

The plan is to consider all opportunities to reduce carbon emissions both in construction and in use. Throughout the design process, we prioritised connecting the building to green spaces and boosting biodiversity. A roof terrace will allow people to enjoy a view over the park, while our focus on accessibility will make sure the building can be enjoyed by everyone.

The wider project

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets asked TAS to design the community building as part of its wider regeneration of the park’s landscape and recreational facilities. LUC is acting as lead consultant, landscape architect and ecologist.

The site is important to the borough, as King Edward Memorial Park is the area’s second largest park. It has been subject to considerable change in the last few years, as the park forms an access point for the new Thames Tideway Tunnel. Work began on this 25km long sewer following the course of the River Thames in 2017.

Get in touch if you’d like to learn more about the scheme.