Bow Arts, Lakeside Centre, Bexley – Peabody with Bow Arts, Sails & Sons and Architecture 00

The Lakeside Centre saw initial success as a community hub in the late 1990s but quickly fell into disrepair and was closed by the early-2000s. This retrofit creates 40 artists studios, a nursery, cafe, community kitchen and gardens. Refurbishment of the iconic sports court The Cage alongside and other immediate spaces seek to upgrade health, wellbeing and the arts in Thamesmead.

Who is on the project team?

Bow Arts, Sails & Sons, and Architecture 00.

Describe the context of this project?

The Lakeside Centre in Thamesmead has a history of turnover. The area of Thamesmead has struggled from its beginning. Initially, the community largely consisted of tightly knit working communities that were splintered and transplanted to the area. The lack of cohesion and minimal rail access combined put the community at a disadvantage early on. The Lakeside Centre, situated on the north shore of Southmere Lake, exists on what once was as a factory which provided the building materials that built the area. After the completion of Thamesmead the factory was converted into the Lakeside Centre which was a community hub which had various interactions from a bar, event hall, and club. Films such as Misfits and Clockwork Orange were even filmed at the site. This success, however, did not last as it was by the 2000s it had fell into misuse and disrepair due to lack of upkeep and funding which resulted in the Lakeside Centre being closed. It sat unused, degrading until it was bought by Peabody.

Bow Arts’ renovation turned the Lakeside Centre into a new Arts Centre supporting artists, emerging businesses, and families in the area and is now a part of one of the largest regeneration projects in the country, worth about £1.5 billion.

Bow Arts worked with Peabody to design the £3.5 million revitalization of the Lakeside Centre. Given that the north shore of the lake is relatively separated from the rest of the community, they knew that they needed to prioritize community use and interests. Thus, the Lakeside Centre was converted into forty permanent affordable studios for artists, a sixty-place community nursery, a café and training kitchen, and community gardens. Overall, this project converted the Lakeside Centre from a failing building suffering due to poor use and lack of upkeep into a thriving hub providing opportunities for artists, families, and emerging businesses in Thamesmead. 

Tell us what you did and how the project enlivened the place?  

By converting the space into affordable creative workspaces, artist housing, a training kitchen, an early years nursery, as well as facilitating arts education in schools, Bow Arts supports the talent in the area. Previously, artists moved out of Thamesmead seeking opportunity in other parts of London, but the revived Lakeside Centre and the infrastructure built up around other aspects of the community encourages artists to thrive where they are, in Thamesmead. In addition to the arts scene, the space creates jobs, supports working families, and encourages the growth of small businesses creating more opportunities for the community to succeed.

The community garden, for example, was introduced two years into the project, in response to the need for more community growing space, emphasized during the pandemic. Both artists and the community could use the garden, and it now provides the nursery with a resource for educating the children about food and gardening.

Did the project make a positive social and environmental contribution? 

The Lakeside Centre engages with artists, tenants, and young people alike, and each area of the center supports the other areas in turn. The nursery provides affordable childcare for families, and the families that use the nursery provide business to the café. The café is supported by the enterprise kitchen, which also provides training and support for young food entrepreneurs in the area. The café, nursery, and community gardens provide a space for families and community to gather in the same space where the artists work. Additionally, Bow Arts brings the local studio artists into schools to deliver an innovative programme of workshops, projects and training, providing workshops to almost 2000 students in the area. Creating impactful learning experiences that improve attainment, confidence and wellbeing. Another example of the social and environmental impact is The Cage, a an iconic sports court and a shrine for the local community in Thamesmead that was falling in to disrepair. Local studio artists, based at the Lakeside Centre, are working with local young people to revitalize the space. This has resulted in a £15,000 commission in partnership with Peabody, as well as additional funding to repaint the play area and upgrade the equipment. The Lakeside Centre encourages community building, cultural and economic growth in Thamesmead and generates about £80,000 per year in sustainable revenue for education and creative projects in the area.