Woolwich Town Centre, Royal Borough of Greenwich, for the Royal Borough of Greenwich, with LDA Design and Studio Weave

At Beresford Square and Powis Street, Woolwich Town Centre proposes a biodiverse, climate resilient market garden adjacent to a public square. The project will seek to construct a permanent market pavilion structure for hosting public activities and events. The project covers 1,325sqm and has secured £21m in funding from Government and Historic England.

Who is on the project team? (designer, consultants, etc)

LDA Design: Lead Public Realm Designer

Osborne: Contractor

Studio Bosk: Delivery Landscape Architect

Studio Weave: Market Pavilion Architect

Gort Scott: Gatehouse Architect

Michael Grubb Studio: Lighting

Engineering: Civic Engineers

Project management: Hadron

Cost Consultancy: Gleeds

Purcell: Heritage Consultant

Please describe your approach to this future public realm. How does it knit into, and serve the needs of the wider area?

Beresford Square and Powis Street are the heart of Woolwich’s retail and commercial centre. Our approach was to find out what local people, especially the market traders on Beresford Square, needed from these spaces. Engagement was in-person and online. The most common descriptors were unsafe, depressing and tired. We heard people wanted clearer, greener spaces, with more places to sit and more things to do, including arts space. Traders wanted dwell times increase with more for people to enjoy. We saw a fantastic opportunity to create a market experience unique to Woolwich that could bring people into the area. The market on Beresford dominates the central area, leaving little room for anything else. The Square features limited planting, and few places to sit and socialise. Its sloping topography restricts uses, and it lacks a distinctive identity. It does, however, benefit from great transport links and active frontages. Our vision will create a welcoming, flexible civic space that is better defined by planting, terraced seating and warm lighting. It is designed to support a year-round programme of community activity and celebrations. Water will animate the space, when not being used for events and installations. Well-structured and mostly car-free during the day, Powis Street needs uplift. Materials are dated, and the public realm is dominated by bollards, advertising, and under-used seating. The new plans unify materiality and encourage easy and convenient movement with bollards removed and seating increased. Extending the period of pedestrianisation to stimulate the evening economy is under consideration.

Describe the social impact of the project: How will it contribute to the economic, environmental and social wellbeing of the wider place and its community?

Investment into Woolwich Town Centre will create a strong sense of place, boost the economy, and encourage people to enjoy the town centre more. The redesign of Beresford Square will transform the setting of the Grade II listed Gatehouse, allowing people to celebrate Woolwich’s fascinating history. Re-profiling the Square provides ample seating, trees for shade and generous planting, which will encourage people to dwell in the space, support the market and bring investment to the surrounding ground floor uses that front onto the square. Pubs and restaurants overlooking the space will benefit and the sensitively designed lighting proposals by Michael Grubb Studio will create an inviting and safe space at night. The design capitalises on footfall, raises the market’s profile and frees up space for socialising and alfresco dining. The water feature brings play to the heart of the square, attracting families and teenagers and changing the dynamic of the space. The fountains will be illuminated to complement the elegant lighting of the Gatehouse and draw people in from the Elizabeth Line. The Market Pavilion and Gatehouse bring active uses into the Square, providing accessible toilet facilities, and a new community café, with more eyes on the space for passive surveillance and security. The de-cluttering of Powis Street, increase in seating areas, planting and play-on-the-way will improve circulation, infrastructure for events and outside dining will all improve the overall high street experience. The lighting will transform the street at night, making it safer and more attractive to combat anti-social behaviour.

What is the sustainability strategy for the project? How will the carbon use and material impact of the development be mitigated?

The sustainability strategy begins by determining which areas of the public realm can remain unchanged. At Beresford Square, we opted to retain 3,279m2of existing paving around the perimeter of the space, adding warmer paving to the central area. Existing granite seating blocks, lifted to re-profile the square, are earmarked for re-used on Powis Street and within the Market Pavilion site. Worn out concrete block paving from Powis Street will be crushed and re-used in the make-up of the paving construction. Across Beresford Square, the Gatehouse and the Market Pavilion, 1330m2 of herbaceous planting and 35 new trees will enrich the public realm and bring vitality to this important civic space. The planting creates permeable surfaces, absorbing rainwater and capturing particulates and pollutants from vehicles, which will improve the air quality. The central garden at Beresford Square will feature a variety of robust, drought tolerant plants, providing climate resilience, improving biodiversity and creating valuable new habitats within the urban environment that will support small insects, birds and bees. The seating terraces include planting and trees to create a comfortable place to sit in the shade overlooking the square during the warmer summer months, supplemented by new water features. A ribbon of trees and planting to the northern edge of the site unites Beresford Square with the Gatehouse and the Market Pavilion, creating a strong, green edge along Beresford Street and helping with wind mitigation. Rain gardens are provided on Powis Street and Beresford Square to harness surface water and mitigate flooding.