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CLIENT FILE
Matt Dearlove explains what the new Design District on the Greenwich Peninsula is, and how it can help regenerate the area and invigorate the London design landscape
BY PAMELA BUXTON
What does your role as head of design for the Design District encompass?
I helped develop the brief at the outset of the project, getting the right design team on board and making sure the concept and vision are in place throughout the design process. Ten, as the project gets planning and comes on stream, my role switches to safeguarding the design through the construction process, all the way to completion.
What is your ambition for the Design District?
Te ambition is for it to become one of the real design centres of London. If you ask an architect or designer where the hub of London design is they’ll probably say Clerkenwell, or maybe Shoreditch. It would be fantastic if the Design District became one of the recognised design centres in London, one that attracts creative talent – a place where things happen.
Tere will be 15,000ft2
of studio space
Matt Dearlove, head of design for Greenwich Peninsula’s Design District
at the Design District, which will provide work space for some 1,800 people. Tis district was part of the 2015 master plan for the site [to regenerate the former industrial area], and we decided to bring its development forward as a way of making a major change to the feel of the Greenwich Peninsula as a whole. When it’s finished, it will bring a real vibrancy to daily life.
Did you visit similar developments elsewhere as part of your research for the Design District brief?
We looked at workshop providers and artists’ studios, and tried to find spaces with a scale that we could learn lessons from, such as Perseverance Works in Hackney, Neal’s Yard in Covent Garden and Ham Yard in Soho. We like the idea of places where you can meander through, places where you can get lost but quickly find yourself again, and where there is a sense of surprise and intrigue. We also looked at some small creative districts in Tokyo, and were quite inspired by Moroccan souks. One of the key drivers was the rent – we want to make it affordable, so we have set a blended rent of £25/ft2 £50/ft2
(compared with about
in Shoreditch). Some of the more established companies will pay more to cross- subsidise the less established. Te idea is that the Design District will give students leaving Ravensbourne University on the peninsula the option of staying in the borough, rather than going elsewhere in the capital to find affordable studios.
Left Greenwich Peninsula’s Design District will have 16 buildings built by eight architects
Right Inside SelgasCano’s Food Hall. The district aims to provide workshops, ofices and creative leisure spaces
How will the master plan shape the Design District once opened?
HNNA had supported Allies and Morrison on the 2015 master plan, and we asked it to do a design study to test ideas. Tis naturally evolved into a revised master plan for the Design District. Te peninsula has such a big scale, and we wanted to use the new
ABOVE: TARAN WILKHU
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