New design competition for Somers Town , Vereinigtes Königreich

 

The London Festival of Architecture and the London Borough of Camden have launched a new design competition, inviting architects, landscape architects, designers, and artists to develop a creative design in Somers Town that supports the events planned in the area as part of LFA 2022.

 

This residential neighbourhood is home to a diverse and well-established community and has a unique history that has changed throughout the centuries: from initially being private estate land through to receiving refugees from the French Revolution in the late 18thCentury and being the temporary home of Charles Dickens. Located directly north of Euston Road and nestled between King’s Cross and Euston, Somers Town sits in an area that is undergoing large scale redevelopment, including HS2 construction and the British Library Extension. Whilst King’s Cross and Euston have experienced significant growth throughout the years, Somers Town and its residents have yet to see the full benefits of surrounding regeneration.

 

The competition involves developing a creative design installation along Phoenix Road, which is planned to be transformed as part of the Greening Phoenix Road project. Funded through HS2 mitigation funds, the Greening Phoenix Road project aims to create a new green link between Euston and St. Pancras Station. A weekend-long road closure is envisaged at the end of June and will concentrate most of Somers Town’s programme for the LFA 2022. The winning scheme will act as a focal point and platform for LFA 2022, bringing events, activities, and people together.

 

The design proposal should take into consideration five broad design aspirations that have emerged through community engagement undertaken in 2019:

 

- From grey to green: a colourful and biodiverse public realm

- Safe and accessible for all

- Place specific and unique: reflecting the character of Somers Town

- Sociable and playable space

- Well-connected and integrated

 

The competition also provides room to experiment with what becomes possible in the car-free environment of Phoenix Road during its weekend closure. This year’s LFA theme is ‘act’, and interested applicants are encouraged to explore what meanings this word holds for Somers Town, as well as to be bold and imaginative, and aim to create interest and debate via their design, and ideally also a legacy for the area.

 

The winning team will be announced in April 2022 and awarded £25,000 + VAT (which includes a £5,000 design fee) to develop a fully costed, feasible design that can be delivered at the end of June 2022. The delivered scheme will remain in-situ for 28 days but might stay on site for up to a year.

 

Interested applicants are invited to submit their expressions of interest by midday on Friday 25th February.