In response to the Mayor of London’s Community Hub programme, London Borough of Tower Hamlets commissioned ICA to strip out and refurbish a redundant unit within a newly completed social housing building.
Located on the ground and first floors, just off Christian Street, we were asked to create a series of welcoming spaces for community events and activities.
Spaces needed to be flexible enough to accommodate a range of activities from youth and seniors’ clubs to meetings, wellbeing classes and celebrations.
Across ground and first floors we provided two large multi-purpose spaces – for up to 80 people each – able to be subdivided for smaller events. The upper floor was designed with sprung timber floors to host exercise and dance classes.
A café and full cook kitchen were created for a not-for-profit community kitchen to operate, with a generous serving hatch that can be closed via folding doors.
For local meetings, we created a private room for up to 8 people as well as two open plan break out areas.
Finishes were kept simple and robust for ease of maintenance; a palette of warm whites and teal offset with birch-faced ply joinery and a timber laminate floor.
The Christian Street Community Centre in Shadwell has provided modern, flexible spaces for local people since completion in 2018.
The accessible and inclusive space – which overlooks a children’s play area – has become integral to the community, hosting a broad programme of events including exercise classes, knitting clubs, youth clubs and family celebrations.
