Client: Canning Town Council

Partners: Jestico + Whiles, Buro Happold.

Status: Ongoing

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Image by Jestico + Whiles

The goal of this regeneration project is to deliver a mixed use masterplan of 1,750 homes on a 10-hectare site at the heart of Canning Town. Together with architecture firm Jestico + Whiles, Buro Happold, and a large multidisciplinary team, we developed a scheme that prioritises the health and social connection of the area’s existing and new residents by improving housing quality, creating new public green spaces, and incorporating safe and effective pedestrian and cycle links.

The Challenge

The estate is home to many families of diverse cultural backgrounds and tenure profiles, from secure council tenants and people in temporary accommodation to freeholders, leaseholders, and private renters. Our brief was to create a resident-led masterplan co-designed with these residents, giving them meaningful influence over the future of their neighbourhood.

Image by Jestico + Whiles

Our response and placemaking

With the residents, we have developed a vision for the Estate:

“A place to be proud of, with new homes where people can lead full lives, in a safe, connected, and healthy place, where community thrives.”

From this initial collaboration, we have created a masterplan that responds to these aspirations through seven core principles:

• New Safe Connections. Creating new, safe routes through the area and across the borough — a place people want to walk through, with visible sightlines, clear well-lit streets, and improved connection across the A13.
• A Green Place. A new neighbourhood with better access to nature, providing green spaces with trees and plants specially chosen for resilience, biodiversity, and beauty.
• A Variety Of Streets & Places. A network of welcoming routes, connecting a variety of accessible and inclusive places for people to come together.
• Stitching Old & New. A number of existing structures and trees will be carefully integrated into new buildings and open spaces to create a neighbourhood that celebrates the evolving stories of its residents.
• A Healthier Place. Carefully planned new homes that combat the noise and air pollution from the A13, creating a better, safer, and healthier environment for residents to enjoy.
• Enhancing Local Heritage. Designing new spaces around historical assets such as the New River Church, celebrating the rich history of the area and its people in the names of streets and buildings, and with new public art.
• Quality Homes. Providing 50% genuinely affordable homes ranging from one-bedroom flats to five-bedroom homes that are fit for the future, will allow people to stay in the area, and let them flourish and grow.

Co-production & Social Value

Co-production and co-design are the ‘golden threads’ running through this project, from procurement to design and delivery. As lead engagement consultant, AR Urbanism is:

• leading the co-production work;
• building on existing resident and community engagement activity initiated by the Council;
• expanding and strengthening local networks;
• further developing local capacity and innovation to co-design a scheme that acknowledges the views, concerns, and ambitions of both the Council and local residents. 

Image by Jestico + Whiles

Delivery

We have delivered a two-year programme of co-designed activities with creative input and support from all members of the masterplanning team. The program reflects and involves local demographics and people, and ensures that historically under-represented groups are able to participate in decision-making processes. We have tailored events for children, outreach engagements like door-to-door sessions with vulnerable residents, surveys, and organised activities in schools and with religious groups.

We have also established a regular, visible physical presence on the Estate over the engagement period, building trust, establishing rapport, and allowing us to overcome existing barriers by addressing the negative connotations of development. Our local hub has made the design team accessible and the design process more inclusive.  

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Public links:

• https://newhamco-create.co.uk/en/folders/cter