Craft Corner

Location: Tower Bridge, London
Completed: 2023
Size: 150 m2

Streetlife Design Competition Honourable Mention 

Craft Corner is a small centre for arts & crafts. A shelter for people, nature and urban wildlife that acts as a community space and garden. This is a new green garden structure for the area hosting a tourist information centre and a retail and event space to showcase local foods, crafts and culture on the ground floor with generous, productive and biodiverse gardens above. It acts as a gateway and local landmark encouraging cohabitation between the local community and nature. Having visited Tower Bridge, tourists and locals can now rest and understand the rich variety of trades present in the area before embarking on their next journey throughout Southwark and Bermondsey.

 



We see this structure as a model for developing awkward, lost sites around London, and other cities worldwide. Craft Corner could be a tool to help community space and nature develop in the contemporary metropolis.

︎︎︎ Snowdon Aviary construction 1960

This new garden structure is a platform that evolves over time on multiple levels. It’s a multi-functional space managed by and for the local community. On the ground floor, a large flexible cafe allows the retail area to give space to temporary events during the day and in the evening. Visitors are greeted by a generous counter where they can grab a coffee, ask questions about the area or buy local produce showcased on the shelves behind.

Above, we imagine two green spaces. Depending on local needs, these could be productive kitchen gardens/ allotments, biodiverse planting beds, or a mixture of both. These two levels could also be rented temporarily to local businesses as additional space and house yoga classes, painting workshops or simply become spill-out spaces the bar/cafe on the ground floor