High Street 2012 Vision
2008–2010

Date
2008–2010

Name Of Project
High Street 2012 Vision

Client’s Name
DfL/GLA + LB Newham
& Tower Hamlets
EH / TFL & LTGDC

Category
Urban | Public

A vision for the six kilometer stretch of high street environments that make up the A11 route from Aldgate to the Olympic precinct in Stratford.
 
This route, which was to stage the last segment of the 2012 Olympic marathon, passes through some of London’s most ethnically diverse communities and historically resonant areas, yet these are often disadvantaged and run down.

The vision sets out a strategy for how to transform the high streets and their surrounding areas positively. The cultural and social dimension of the project called for cutting edge public engagement and socially nuanced design approach.

The project sponsors were a multi-headed group including Design for London, Transport for London, English Heritage, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation and the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham. The project demanded intense collaboration with a range of different stakeholders.

The vision was developed through building a detailed appreciation of existing social and physical assets to work with. This was rooted in historical associations, unique environments and rich and versatile cultures to build a multi-layered design, captured in seven ‘streetwide actions’ and eight area studies.

The streetwide actions defined a range of interweaving initiatives from the ‘green thread’, cycle highway and art based wayfinding strategies, to a lighting strategy and specific measures for the refurbishment and re-use of ‘heritage clusters’ along the way.

The eight area studies tested out and developed the street actions in a range locations, working together with a specially curated set of project champions on ancient street markets, new transport hubs, industrial waterway ‘backlands’, parkland crossings, new retail areas and historic cores.

The vision was adopted by Mayor Boris Johnson in the summer of 2009 and most of the eight ‘area projects’ have now been completed with detailed designs being prepared within the vision parameters by Alan Baxter Associates, East, Julian Harrap, JMP and Muf.