CREATING AN
INDUSTRIAL
URBANITY
LOWER LEA VALLEY
Creating an Industrial Urbanity / Lower Lea Valley ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE SCHOOL PROGRAMME Housing and Urbanism 2011 - 2012 Tutors: Jorge Fiori + Alex Warnock-Smith Published in London on 18 May, 2012
Design Workshop Group: Monica Arzoz Canalizo Devika Deshmukh Nathan Foust Supriya Gandhi Pia Lambeth Felipe L贸pez Hechem Sidharth Malik Juliana Muniz Sheeba Shetty Sepehr Zhand.
CONTENTS Chapter I Prologue Chapter II
Cross-Sectional Investigations Greenway Railway Roads Summary
Chapter III Adaptive Evolutions Cultivation of the Context Urban Quarters Industrial Requalification Chapter IV Symbiotic Ambitions
1 15 16 24 32 42 45 46 62 82 103
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
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Chapter I | Prologue
Landschaftspark, Duisburg-Nord, Germany
Industrial District of Zurich West, Switzerland
Developing an industrial urbanity is crucial for the industries to survive the pressures of the everchanging context
“It’s not the strongest of the species that survive, neither the Thus an argument emerges to transform the Lower Lea Valley smartest. It is that which better adapts to change.� Charles Darwin into more than just an industrial sector near the center of London, to develop an industrial urbanity that supports and The Lower Lea Valley has the potential to sustain its industrial encourages the coexistence of various types of industries and quality if an argument is made to integrate it with the urban public integration within the industrial areas that are conducive character of the region. The aim is to investigate the industries, to such expansion. This transformation not only fosters productive to structure, develop, and re-qualify them such that they become relationships between the various industries themselves, but also more productive, not only for their individual gain but also for with the surrounding institutions and neighborhoods. A multithe surrounding communities. This requires vast amounts of scalar approach to introduce an industrial urbanity would give detailed investigations, tests and strategic theories to address the Lower Lea Valley the ability to adapt to the ever-changing context multitude of layered facets and results in interventions with local and technologies thus giving it a better chance to survive the development pressures in becoming a mono-functional suburb of and regional impact. London. 3
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity Inbound Outbound Main Road Secondary Road
The productive relationships and physical connectivity of the Lower Lea Valley industries to the center of London
As you zoom in further and examine the Lower Lea Valley region, a rather unique infrastructure system emerges. The crosshatch lines of infrastructure like roads, railways, natural and manmade canals mostly cut across the valley, creating large urban islands which are often disconnected from each other. These kinds of infrastructural lines that are keeping the Lower Lea Valley’s vitality alive regionally are ironically inhibiting it locally through its disjointed connectivity. This has led to uneven developments across the valley and has proved to be economically unproductive for its immediate context and local communities.
The approach of an industry led urbanism for the Lower Lea Valley is appropriate for multiple reasons but mainly due the fact that its existing industries have productive relationships with the city center. Due to its proximity to the city and great infrastructural connections, it holds a strong position to service London efficiently. Some of these industries have daily communication with the city, for example the Royal Mail is networking from the valley while Greencore is collecting waste material from the city and transporting it back to Lower Lea Valley. These circumstances make it imperative to re-think the intertwining of both urban and industrial environments. 4
Chapter I | Prologue
Unique infrastructure system resulting in disjointed local connectivity and uneven development 5
Chapter I | Prologue
Current development pressures in the Lower Lea Valley resulting in isolated urban islands
In 1964, the Civic Trust aimed to redevelop the 6,000 acre green belt in East London for recreational and public use and reclaim the region from its crude industrial history. The plan was not implemented due to the replacement of the central LLC with the Greater London Council which assigned the planning responsibilities to the Local Boroughs. By doing so, the valley became divided with different development interests making approval processes more complicated. Though much of the Valley became derelict, the remaining industries are now amongst the pressures of event-led redevelopment opportunities. Critics such as Edwin Heathcote1 believe that the event-led strategy and its design has led the Lea Valley’s future as a “covering-up” method and “masks the massive development…” which has not taken into account the industrial history and the surrounding communities. The Lower Lea Valley is at a critical threshold with large developments such as the Olympic Park and the Olympic Legacy Project bringing major development pressures to the region. For example, the High Street has already seen sudden growth of mono-functional high-rises and the recent entrance of major private developers such as IKEA and Tesco are creating introverted and disconnected properties. By recognizing that this type of development that poses a great threat to the small and medium sized industries, a stronger argument for an industrial urbanity emerges. The Lower Lea Valley needs an overall strategic plan for the larger region rather than the current piece-meal island developments. Similar to the Fun Palace Charitable Trust (1964) proposed by Cedric Price, the Civic Trust, and Abercrombie’s recommendation to carry out an alternative redevelopment strategy through the collaborations of the existing industries to improve the productivity of the Lower Lea Valley, the proposed strategy to implement in this area integrates similar ideas nearly 50 years later.
Urban development pressures in the Lower Lea Valley. Olympic Legacy Program (Top),Private Developments on High Street (Middle) and Ikea Mixed Use Project (Bottom)
(1) It’s a Cover-up, by Edwin Heathcote, from the Financial Times [http://www.ft.com/ cms/s/2/c84abca4-8f9b-11e1-9ab1-00144feab49a.html
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Conceptual methodology: institutions, infrastructure and industries as drivers for change
To enable the Lower Lea Valley to be successful at the regional scale and productive for its local context, smaller interventions within the valley will not be adequately effective without a strong argument and regional strategy. Institutions, Infrastructure and Industries were found to be the predominantly relevant elements. A proposed productive combination of these three elements could work as a conceptual methodology having the potential to develop into drivers for change and development in the Lower Lea Valley.
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Chapter I | Prologue
Schematic representation of the spatial methodology: points, lines and territories
Furthermore the use of a spatial methodology consisting of points, lines, and territories helped to investigate and structure the site. The Lower Lea Valley has many points of interests that have varied functionalities and unique characteristics. These are sometimes institutions, industries, parks or iconic developments. In addition, the valley has many strong lines which are often infrastructural, manmade, or natural. The combination of these points and lines produces some interesting territories within which exists a great potential to develop meaningful synergies between insitutions, infrastructure and industries, which are established under an umbrella of a conceptual approach. 9
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
A further inspection of the Lower Lea Valley reveals many disjointed pockets of natural and manmade green areas. These highlight the potential to use landscape as a navigator to alternatively connect and appropriately divide the varied territories of the Lower Lea Valley. These large territories have several functions and characteristics, therefore the landscape becomes an important methodological tool to develop a secondary infrastructure system. This is more than just a physical connection or a recreational space for the community, but a way to engage the context and cultivate specific conditions to address the many facets of the complex fabric it sits within. This system also enables new productive relationships while synthesizing the whole region of Lower Lea Valley.
Gas Works (Top), FatWalk (Middle), and the Lower Lea River Park Project (Bottom)
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Chapter I | Prologue
Methodological tool: the potential to use landscape as a navigator 11
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
To structure the investigation of Lower Lea Valley, the established concepts and methodologies were used to study the qualities, complexities, and potentials of the existing territories and to understand, question, and test the relationship between the local and regional fabric. The analysis of the Lower Lea Valley was carried out along three particular lines of infrastructure – the greenway, the railway line, and the roads. The lines were specifically chosen as tools of investigation, as they are completely different from one another in terms of the speed of movement along them, their porosity and their physical characteristics. Each of these lines reveal complexities as they traverse different conditions and circumstances along their length, thus these lines of infrastructure became interesting tools to investigate and analyze the Lower Lea Valley and gain an understanding of the whole region. 12
Chapter I | Prologue
Borough of Tower Hamlets
Borough of Newham
Greenway Railway Main Roads Lower Lea Valley Region
13
Thames River
The Greenway
The Greenway is a 6km pedestrian path that encloses a major sewer system which cuts through the urban fabric of east London from Victoria Park to the Beckton sewage treatment plant. It runs through a diverse range of land use such as housing, industry, residual space and institutions that is fractured by major road and railway infrastructural systems. The Greenway is unique as its impact on its surrounding context can be investigated at a regional, local and architectural scale especially as it passes through Lower Lea Valley.
Greenway has the ability to perform at regional, local and architectural scales
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The development of the Olympic Park and the Legacy Project in the northwest part of the valley has made the Greenway the first line around which the development pressures have intensified. This has attracted many private developers resulting in numerous high rise developments along the high street. Higher than its surroundings, the structure of the Greenway encloses sewer lines that support a gradually sloping pathway giving it physical charecteristics that remain fairly consistant along its length, maintaining an even surface for pedestrians and cyclists. However, due to its low accesibility it does not engage or interact with its immediate surroundings thus making it an underused mobility path by the locals.
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5 3
1 2 4
Recent and future urban developments near the Greenway 18
Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
Greenway Extension Vulnerable Areas to Development Pressure
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4
5
6
Mercedes Benz
GW
Children’s Playground
Small Industry
GW
Hight Street Commerce
GW
Raneleigh School
GW
Housing
Olympic Stadium
GW
Future Housing
Local Industry
GW
Fatwalk
Housing
Pumping Station
High Street Commerce and Housing
The Greenway has very low accessibility and does not engage its context 19
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The physical characteristics of the Greenway remain fairly consistant along its length. It maintains an even, elevated surface for pedestrians and cyclists.
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Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
The Greenway works as a regional connector but it is locally disconnected and often impermeable for long stretches 21
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The Greenway is fractured by major infrastructural lines
The varied land use around the Greenway
Although the Greenway has good regional connectivity, it is locally disconnected and often impermeable for long stretches. However the analysis indicated that it has the potential to create synergies by providing programmatic or physical links between the various existing functions. For example institutions to industries and residential neighborhoods to schools as well as the ability to act alternatively as a connector and a barrier enables it to cultivate a differentiated context along its length. 22
Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
Underutilized spaces of the industries along the Greenway
The various parks and landscaped areas along the Greenway can be connected such that it can be used not only for recreation but also as an alternative pedestrian mobility system. At the regional level the Greenway becomes the first line of defence to the development pressures from the north of the Lower Lea Valley and at the local level it synthesizes the territories that are currently isolated. Thus the imapct of the line of the Greenway expands to affect a much larger territory. 23
Territories vulnerable to development pressures
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The Railway
The Hammersmith and City and District railway lines cut across Lower Lea Valley between Bromley By Bow and West Ham stations. As they do so, it seperates the territories on either side of the line resulting in large areas of inaccesible residual space. Though the two stations are key transport nodes, they are disconnected from the surrounding fabric.
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Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
Experiential quality along the railway line 25
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Three Mills Film Studio
Canal
Railway Line
Industrial Park
Section through the railway line, Three Mills Studio and an Industrial Park The space along the railway has very low accessibility thus making it residual in terms of functionality that often results in neglected patches of empty fields and abandoned properties. Even the new developments do not respond to the railway line or the space along it. The line of the railway expands into a territory that encompasses the residual space. This territory behaves as a barrier which not only affects local connectivity but also hinders the economic productivity of the area.
Canal
Residual Spaces
Railways Line
Section through the railway line and the residual space along it 26
Residual Spaces
Gas Works
Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
1 School 2 Community Center 3 Housing
4 Bromley by Bow Station 5 Tesco 6 Media Training Center
7 Performing Arts Center 8 Three Mills 9 Industrial Park
10 West Ham Station 11 Open Grounds 12 Greenway 12
6 2
5
1
7
8 10
4 3
9 11
Immediate context along the railway line and its residual spaces
Derelict buildings and poor pedestrian accesses along the railway and at the stations 27
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Bromley by Bow Station
In Lower Lea Valley, the railway line has two important points which are Bromley by Bow and West Ham stations. Though the back end of the station is oriented towards the neighborhood, the Bromley by Bow station has poor circulation and does not integrate well into the surrounding residential fabric which makes it difficult to navigate to and from the station. It has poor street presence along A12 which is high-speed road flanked by some underused and derelict buildings causing a significant resistance to pedestrians.
Towards Bow Road
Railway Lines
Though the West Ham station is a new development it suffers from extreme underutilization and does not engage with the suburb of West Ham. This station regionally connects West Ham through three tube lines to the center of London but it fails to provide any sort of physical links to the adjacent territories of Lower Lea Valley. The station’s large infrastructure has the potential to integrate multi-use functions that could support the local community and make links into the residual spaces along the railway line.
Bromley by Bow Station
Bromley by Bow Station 28
Road
Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
West Ham Station
West Ham DLR Station
Road
29
West Ham Central Line Station
Housing
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Bromley by Bow Station Area
West Ham Station Area
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Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
The two railway stations perform poorly at both the architectural and urban scale. The railway line and its adjacent residual space behave as an impervious barrier. The line of the railway and the points of the stations expand into two propositional territories, the territory of Bromley by Bow and the territory of West Ham station. The locations of these territories are key in synthesizing the north and south of Lower Lea Valley.
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The Roads
The A12 and the A11 are major high speed infrastructural roads connecting the Lower Lea Valley and its industries to the center on London. These roads run along a vast range of programs which function at different scales making the experiential quality varies along their length.
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Poor accesibility to the A11 high speed road and new developments on A12
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
1
A11 / High Street
2
Commercial Housing Institutional Offices Industries
3
The A12 and A11 high street have three distinct characteristics as they progress from north to south. The high street contains clusters of various configurations that range from large-scale malls to small-scale formal and informal commercial activities. Towards the intersection of the high street with the A12 there are new developments of mono-functional high rises that have emerged due to the proximity and pressures of the Olympics Park and Legacy Project. Further south, the high speed barrier of the A12 is flanked by industry to the east and social housing to the west with an extremely weak integration of these two prominent existing typologies.
A12 / Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach
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Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
1
Mixed use activities on northern A11
Commercial Housing Institutional Offices Industries 2
Predominance of housing and new developments on southern A11
3
Social housing and industrial character on A12
Different characters of the main distribution roads of the Lower Lea Valley 35
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
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Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
The A12 and the A11 high street are major high speed infrastructural roads connecting the Lower Lea Valley and its industries to the center of London. The A12, particularly, acts as a major barrier both physically and psychologically, effectively defining a boundary between the Lower Lea Valley and Central London.
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The industries are dependant on the road network 38
Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
The line of the road led to the industrial territory of Lower Lea Valley. The A12 highway and the industries share a symbiotic relationship as the industries depend on the road network for daily transportation to the center of London. An inspection of the industrial sector reveals that there are four separate industrial parks, namely Prologis, North Crescent, South Crescent and Electra that have either public or private ownerships. Each of these parks contain a variety of industries ranging from large to smallscale which house different programmatic focus. They often have similar manifestations in the four industrial parks proving that the parks work individually rather than collaboratively.
Industrial Diversity
Recycling Office Space Distribution Vacant Plot Construction & Interior Small Scale Service Industry Food Industry Chemical
Industrial Parks
Land Ownership
Industrial Core
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
These approaches included introducing urban integration into specifically chosen industrial areas, the use of voids as drivers for requalification to maximize the efficient use of space while increasing the productivity, and developing synergies at both the local and regional scales. Lastly a concept to use landscape as a connecting tool by taking advantage of existing assets will enhance the integration of the Lower Lea Valley as a whole.
The analysis led to approaches that were specific towards the industrial core of Lower Lea Valley. These formed the basis to develop a strategy for the requalification and restructuring of the industries, not only to introduce an industrial urbanity but also to give the industries a better chance at surviving the development pressures that endanger them.
A study of the land ownership patterns in the four industrial parks of Lower Lea Valley 40
Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
Cody road as an urban integrator
Using brown voids to densify and intensify industries
Using landscape as a connector
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Summary of the Analysis The Greenway works as a regional connector but is locally ineffective and disconnected from its immediate context. The Railway is an impenetrable barrier with residual space along it, and the two stations of Bromley by Bow and West Ham do not perform effectively. The A11 and A12 high speed Roads have three distinct characters and they are crucial for the industries of the Lower Lea Valley. 42
Chapter II | Cross-Sectional Investigations
Identifying the Potentials The Greenway has the ability to behave as a porous line of defense from the development pressures of the north, alternatively connecting or separating the various institutions, housing and industries that are situated along its length. The Greenway can use landscape to expand into a network of secondary infrastructure to synthesize the various territories existing in the Lower Lea Valley. The Bromley by Bow station may behave as a hub of dispersal and can create a network to navigate from the neighborhood through a new urban quarter into the Lower Lea Valley. The West Ham station has the ability to develop into a new town center which links the north and south territories of the valley across the railway line. There is a potential to requalify the industrial territory to spark synergies between the various industries and also with the local context by developing new typologies of industries that relate to the roads and canals Developing an industrial urbanity with layers of accessibilities to integrate the industrial and urban environments to create a productive ecology for the entire region of Lower Lea Valley 43
Cultivating a Context The potential of developing the Greenway line into a territory
As part of the proposal for Lower Lea Valley, we exploited the Greenway’s potential to articulate the surrounding territories by providing physical links and setting up barriers where they are desirable. Thus cultivating a context to transform the line into a territory which is effective at both the local and regional scale.
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Investigation of the local context along the Greenway
Proposed accessibilities and the connection to the Olympic circuit on the north and to the Fatwalk in the south 48
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
Because of its location and length, the Greenway has the potential to mark the ground around it setting a direction for future developments by selectively opening up where necessary
Proposed articulation by the Greenway to respond to the context 49
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The unique quality of the Greenway is its ability to perform both as a barrier to development pressures as well as become both permeable and impervious as desired, thus providing a richer urban experience along its length. The analysis of the Greenway revealed that it worked as a connector at the regional scale but had low accessibility at the local scale making it passive and underutilized. A further inspection of the immediate context of the Greenway as it cuts across the Lower Lea Valley indicated that there were many institutions, housing neighborhoods and industries that could be connected via the Greenway to enhance their performance and to enrich the quality of life for the surrounding residents. Thus the proposal for the Greenway entailed the identification of these along its path and proposing various physical and programmatic links that could spark synergies between them.
The proposal for the Greenway has been illustrated as a layered series of strategies that together have the ability to transform the line of the Greenway into a productive and well connected territory. These three strategies are the articulation of the context through landscape, an industrial requalification and a new institutional cluster.
Industry Requalification Institutional Cluster
Intervention Collateral Requalification Existing Greenway Landscape Industry Requalification
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Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
Articulation of the Context
Industry Requalification
Institutional Cluster
Proposed layered strategies for the Greenway 51
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
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5 3
1 2 4
Strategy one: Articulation of the context big functions like small-scale commercial activities, temporary structures, seating, gathering spaces, pedestrian and cycling paths, cycle stands, stepped infrastructure, and plazas, this strategy aims to enhance the experiential quality of the Greenway as well as sustain a constant flow of pedestrian movement.
The first strategy aims to articulate the relationship of the Greenway to its surrounding context through landscape as it expands and penetrates into different territories to create a new public realm. By increasing the accessibility to the Greenway, adapting its physical morphology and with the addition of a multitude of small and 52
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
1
2
3
4
5
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Institutional Cluster
GW
Children’s Playground
Small Industry
GW
Hight Street Commerce
GW
Raneleigh School
Public Esplanade
Pumping Station
High Street Commerce and Housing
GW
Housing
Olympic Stadium
Olympic Park
GW
Future Housing
Local Industry
GW
Fatwalk
Adapting the physical morphology of the Greenway to its local context
Housing
development but also fosters synergistic relationships between the existing programs. This nature of the Greenway allows it to be used to not only create physical links but also to act as a separator of the changing context that it is situated in.
The Greenways new elastic and malleable nature does much more than create a new public realm: it starts to engage the various institutions, housing settlements and industries that are located along it and cultivates a context that not only directs future 53
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The Greenway has the potential to cultivate a context
Local level: Greenway expanding and blending an educational institution with surrounding residential areas
Regional level: Connecting the Greenway to the territories in the south of the valley via the Fatwalk 54
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
Physical Links Programmatic Links
Developing a territory by making physical and programmatic links The performance of the Greenway at the regional scale is enhanced by connecting it to the Olympic circuit on the north and to the Fatwalk in the south. This becomes a key piece of pedestrian infrastructure that along with the parks and landscaped areas creates a secondary mobility network that assimilates the Lower Lea Valley. 55
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Strategy two: Industrial requalification The second strategy for the Greenway consisted of analyzing the various industries within its territory and identifying within them the possibility of urban integration. The industries in this area are segregated from the other urban functions but a potential for them to coexist was recognized. For the industries along the A12 road, a typology that responds to the road and encourages public interaction was suggested. Furthermore, one industrial territory was identified for further research and development as it had unique charecteristics. It is isolated from the other territories by a railway line a canal and its only points of connection with the surrounding territories were a service road and the Greenway.
A strategy to develop a conceptual mix of functions ranging from small-scale industries, housing, commercial and recreational activities could generate a new urban industrial typology. This entails developing a hierarchy of movement patterns wherein the distribution of manufactured goods is carried out by road and rail and pedestrian activities from the greenway and along the canal begin to characterize a different mobility pattern on the industrial site. The stacking of commercial and small scale industries with affordable housing can create new synergies and opportunities for the development of a more economically vital area as well as propose a new typology for an urban industrial quarter. 56
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
Industrial Area along the Greenway
Accesible Pedestrian Path
Primary Vehicular Route Distribution Spaces
Shared Ammenities Commercial Areas Light Industries Medium Industry
Commercial Space Small Scale Industry Office Space Housing
A new typology for an urban industrial quarter 57
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Sport Facilities / Gym / Indoor Courts Kids’ Playground Bridge to Greenway Level Auditorium Cafeteria / Restaruant Adaptable Space Student Housing
Programmatic Bleeding
Strategy three: Institutional cluster with support infrastructure for the institutions and communities 58
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
The third strategy for the Greenway explored the possibility of making physical as well as programmatic links across the territories of the Greenway. Along the length of the Greenway there are many educational institutions such as a cluster of primary schools in the south east area of the Greenway and a series of colleges like a carpentry school, an architecture school, a technical university as well as the London East University.
Greenway penetrating into the cluster at different levels 59
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Proposed programmatic links between the institutional cluster and the other educational institutions 60
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
Using the newly proposed malleable nature of the Greenway, it begins to physically link these institutions through pedestrian pathways, staircases, ramps and landscape and programmatically to not only each other but also with relevant industries and residential neighborhoods. The proposed site for an architectural intervention along the Greenway was chosen due to its strategic location - it sits along the greenway and is flanked by the A11 High Street along which lie many of the institutions. It is also easily accessible from the Pudding Mill tube station. The proposition for this site was to create a support infrastructure as an extension for the existing and proposed educational institutions and to introduce a new student community to Lower Lea Valley by providing student housing. The program includes permanent infrastructure such as auditoriums, gyms and sports facilities; open plazas along with commercial activity towards high street and adaptable temporary infrastructure for markets, exhibitions and public events. Through this multiple programmatic intervention this site can serve as a place where the newly introduced student community interacts with the surrounding communities. 61
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Greenway: Cultivating a Context By increasing the accessibility and adapting its physical morphology, the Greenway creates a richer experience at the local scale, cultivating a context and providing physical as well as programmatic links that spark synergies between the various industries, institutions and residential neighbourhoods. The Greenway behaves as a porous line of defence towards the development pressures and can set a direction for future development. The Greenway, Olympic circuit and Fatwalk along with the parks and the landscape around it create a pedestrian infrastructure which becomes a new mobility system that synthesizes the territories of the Lower Lea Valley. 62
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Urban Quarters
Territories around the Railway line
The proposal for the railway line attempts to dilute the strength of the barrier not only by providing physical links between the north and south but also by creating territories and new nodal urban quarters whose impact crosses over the physical limitations to engage with the various institutions and industries in the valley. 64
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
Bromley by Bow station
West Ham station
West Ham Town Center
Bromley by Bow Urban Quarter
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Bromley by Bow Station as a hub of dispersal
The proposal for Bromley by Bow station stems from the idea of rethinking the layered concepts of communication through mobility and redistribution. Its poor functionality lent itself towards the requalification and development of a new urban quarter. The railway line, the residual space that flanks it and the station itself created an opportunity to enhance the new urban quarter by creating a dynamic relationship with the neighborhood. 66
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
A
B
C
D
E
F
Small scale interventions forming a network for dispersal
G (A), start up companies (B) and existing housing (c), can coincide with built interventions within existing parks (D), commercial insertions (E), community gardens (F) and the highway (G) to enhance the pedestrian movement of the existing fabric
Creating a support network to navigate from the station to the surrounding neighborhood 67
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
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6
2
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8 7
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1 Bromley by Bow Station 2 Abandoned Building 3 Open Air Theatre 4 Indoor Theatre 5 Housing 6 Library 7 Informal Market 8 Tesco
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Bromley by Bow Urban Quarter
1
The strategy emphasizes on integrating and maximizing the full potential of the existing socially productive fabric that surrounds the station. With the idea of creating a clear definition of allure towards the existing housing fabric and civic interventions, rethinking the sequence of spaces from the station as a hub of dispersal to the destinations of choice was extremely important. Simple interventions such as extending the canopy of the station to the street, a more transparent faรงade with a dominating roofline that acts as a ribbon of direction to follow, integrating exits at platform level to the neighborhood go a long way in changing the experiential quality of the station and its surroundings. 68
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
New Housing Typology Family Housing Collective Space Studio Apparments Commercial Spaces Mixed use typological inserts
The network of navigation from the station through the neighborhood uses the strategy of small interventions that create the potential for a more experiential way home. For instance, a path defined by a differentiated ground plane inserted as a guide to new or existing destinations begins to produce synergies on a small scale within the local community, potentially heightening the quality of the surrounding fabric. The path of intervention leads to the existing community center, to start-up companies south of the river, to parks and new community gardens, and to amenities inserted into the existing housing. One extension of the nodal path leads you to the derelict space across the A12 road where the new urban quarter has been proposed.
Studio Appartments Mixed Use Activities Open Art Market Road
Reused Abandoned Block
Open Air Theatre
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Indoor Theater
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
East Street Market (left) and Borough Market (right)
The test, based under the umbrella of a layered concept of communication, developed a set of sequential spaces by taking advantage of this residual space. While spatializing potential interactions within a new built environment, it called for the rethinking of the integration of big-box amenities such as Tesco, civic interventions like a library and theatres, informal markets, housing, and the re-use of existing structures. Utilizing the position of the station and a nodal path to lead into the existing fabric and into the new urban quarter was an appropriate approach for an intervention with a deep reaching impact.
New civic elements
Library
70
Informal markets
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
Bromley by Bow Urban Quarter 71
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The proposal for the West Ham station encapsulates the transport hub and the residual space along the railway line to create a new town center. Currently, the station behaves as a shell of monofunctional activity. In order to change this, an intensification with programmatic insertions that service the surrounding residential neighborhoods were introduced. These include important civic amenities and commercial activities within the station as well as in the proposed town square adjacent to it. These activities support the development of the proposed institutional center which is to be located in the residual space along the railway line. The West Ham station is located at the intersection of two railway lines, isolating and disconnecting the station and the West Ham neighborhoods from Lower Lea Valley regardless of its close proximity to the industrial area. As part of the proposal for West Ham station, a bridge crosses over the north-south railway line to bring pedestrians from the station to the proposed institutional center through which they have access not only to the institutions along the greenway in the north but also to the industrial area of Lower Lea Valley in the south.
Intensification of West Ham Station
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Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions
The proposed site for the intervention is located at a key position within the Lower Lea Valley; it has the Greenway to the north and the industrial core to the south. However, it is cut by the railway line and is isolated with limited accessibility thus making it residual in terms of function. This space required restructuring for it to perform well as part of the new town center of West Ham. New infrastructure was introduced to physically connect the site by Fractured urban fabric and local disconnection in the residual space along the Railway Line penetrating under the structure of the elevated railway to create a link across the railway line to the surrounding territories. The institutional center is a vocational school that forms the core of the West Ham town center. It plays the role of an important institutional link that develops long term synergies with the existing educational institutions and support infrastructure along the Greenway through its public realm and also with the industries by making appropriate vocational training available for the local communities in an attempt to create relationships at the local scale. Physical Links from Greenway across the new town center to the industrial heart of the LLV
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The new town center and vocational school physically connect to the Greenway and through it to the other educational institutions that lie along it, sparking synergies between them
Housing Workshops
Greenway Training
Service
Office
Conceptual sections through the vocational institute to the Greenway
Yard Vocational School Workshops Services
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The vocational school makes programmatic links with the industries in the south making collaborative relationships thus engaging the local communities
Workshop Industry
Yard
Training
Workshop Greenway West Ham Station Vocational School Workshop Yard
Conceptual sections through the vocational institute to the Industries
Office + Housing
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Greenway
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Configurations of training schools relative to the type of activity using training space, workshops and yard space 76
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Yar d
op rksh o W
Tra inin gS pac es
e y lin lwa i a R
An example of a training space, workshop and yard space unit The vocational school itself consists of training courses for a range of vocations such as shoe repair, plumbing, electrical works, masonry, wood work, courier services, mechanical works, bus driving and heavy machine operating. The school is structured through units that are made of training space, workshops and yards for practical training. These are configured within a flexible framework that fits the requirements for the different vocational training courses that are offered in the school. The infrastructure of the vocational school is shared by the various training courses and it is also made available to the surrounding community. 77
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The recruitment center also provides space for exhibitions, symposiums and seminars that along with the institutions and support infrastructure around the Greenway introduces a new community of students to the area. It also provides varied infrastructure for the surrounding communities making these industrial territories of the Lower Lea Valley relevant to them through institutional links. These propositional synergies between various institutions and industries, across the territories synthesize the valley, as well as create a sustainable urbanity for the region.
As an extension of the vocational school, a recruitment center is set up within two of the gas work units within the proposed park. The vocational school would create a population of skilled professionals that could use the recruitment center to obtain jobs locally within the existing industries and regionally. The newly trained professionals would also be able to set up start-up businesses to enrich the small-scale industrial character of Lower Lea Valley, which is currently under threat of expulsion from development pressures.
4 3
2
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1 Lecture Rooms 2 Exhibition Halls 3 Auditorium 4 Workshops 5 Recruiting Offices
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Recruitment Center as an extension of the vocational school
Fatwalk
Gasworks Park
Auditorium
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Recruiting Center
Workshops
Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions 1 - Greenway 2 - Service Workshop 3 - Lea Valley Park 4 - Workshop 5 - Recruiting Center 6 - Yard 7 - Vocational School 8 - Heavy Vehicule Road 9 - West Ham Stration
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An overview for the strategy for the West Ham town center 79
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Railway: Urban Quarters The Bromely by Bow station develops a series of nodal pathways to navigate from the neighborhood through the urban quarter into Lower Lea Valley. The intensification of the West Ham station along with the proposed vocational school develops into a new town center. These urban nodes play a key role in physically and synergistically connecting the institutions and industries of the Lower Lea Valley arosss the railway line and to the surrounding communities. 80
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Requalification ofTerritories thealong Industrial Core the Roads
In order to secure their position within an urban setting, industries need to adapt typologically as well as programmatically towards public integration as well as synergistically respond to both the local and regional context.
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity Separate Access Routes for Different Users
The urbanization of industrial environments relies on stimulating productive relationships between industries and diverse activities such as, amenities, institutions, commerce, and the communities themselves. As a part of the overall strategy for the future development of the Lower Lea Valley, the proposal directs that the industrial area accept urban integration where possible to create cohesive urban and industrial environments.
Invest in Hybrid Buildings
Make the Most of Existing Assets
The industries of Lower Lea Valley have productive relationships with the center of London sustained by an effective infrastructural network. The proposal entails maintaining this productivity at the regional scale while enhancing the performance of the industries such that they synergistically integrate with the surrounding communities and institutions to create a more productive environment at the local scale. The creation of this kind of industrial urbanity aims to increase the economic vitality of the historically deprived area of Lower Lea Valley while protecting the industries from development pressures.
Minimize Disruption
The challenge to develop a successful industrial urbanity is to create a spatially productive engagement of accessible and restricted industries. In order to allow differentiated functionalities to take place in industrial areas, guidelines for spatial organization stated by Uhahn Architects in the book “Industry in the City� (2006) have been considered to generate the desired permeability within the industrial area. Using these guidelines the strategies of minimizing disruption, separating access routes for different users, making use of transitional zones between buildings and investing mixed use buildings were implemented.
Create Critical Mass
Make Active Uses of Transitional Zones and Buildings
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Spatial strategy for the redistribution of the industries 85
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity Primary Vehicular Route Secondary Vehicular Route Distribution Spaces
Pedestrian Path Accesible Space
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Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions Hybrid Industries with Public Interaction Recycling Related Industry as Community Support Distribution Industries Construction Industries Non- Accesible Industries
Requalification of the industrial area by clustering different types of industries The strategy to redevelop the Lower Lea Valley industrial core rethinks the concept of the industrial park by providing a mixed use environment where urban activities may take place. Creating a spatial hierarchy for the redistribution of roads and the locations of the industries to create a degree of accessibility while maintaining an efficient organization of vehicular and pedestrian mobility. In doing so, the development lends itself to encourage buildings with street engagement where desired, and privacy and isolation where necessary. This strategy produced three different publicly accessible environments: Hybrid industries along the road, construction related industries along the canal, and mixed use distribution industries along Cody Road.
Thus the proposed spatial strategy for the requalification of the industries in the core of Lower Lea Valley entails allowing the necessary isolation of industries such as chemical, an electricity company, bus repair and mail storage, where constant flux, noise, and life threatening activities may take place. The centrally located Cody road is given a permeable character to allow for urban integration through differential programs. This spatial strategy also allows a range of different industries to collaboratively coexist and to typologically respond to the roads and the canal. The industrial core also makes programmatic links with the existing and proposed institutions as well as responding to the public realm created by the landscape and the Fatwalk.
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Recycling Industries and Mixed Use Industries which Relate to Local Context
Pedestrian Routes and Accesible facades Urbanizing Industrial Sites
Rationalizing vehicular movement through service facades
Landscape as a connector to integrate industries with the LLV
Typology for road related industries 88
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The hybrid industries that are proposed to be relocated along the road are industrial distribution clients like Mitsubishi and Cross Rail that require to showcase their products. These industries have the potential for public engagement but are currently located in the core of the industrial area, isolated from the public. Their shift of location aims to explore the potentials of the interaction between these industries and the general public for the testing of new products and public acceptance. Spatially, the ground floors will be generous and face the road so the canal can work as a “filter” from road activities to industrial environments. In the lower levels the showroom spaces are dedicated not only for possible clients meetings, but exhibitions of products for interaction, organized talks and debates on related matters. This “hybrid” industry is composed of showroom spaces, stores, research centers, offices and proper distribution/manufacturing environments. The new typology attempts to integrate road and canal, housing and commercial activities with an industrial core in order to strengthen this relationship with the local community,
Roof
Roof
Office Space
Office Space
Material Research Center
Office Space
Office Space
Research Center Office Space
Product Display Public Testing Center Store
Distribution Industry Product Display Public Testin Center
Cafe Restaurant
Store
Road related industries: Mitsibushi and Crossrail. Hybrid industries with public interaction
Section through Mitsubishi Industry
Section through Crossrail Industry
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Craft Rooms
Workshop Space
Craft Rooms
Workshop Space
Community Center Craft Rooms
Craft Rooms
Workshop Space
The existing community recycling center that is situated on this site focuses on wood and scrap metal collection. Both of these directly engage the local Poplar community. To build on these activities a cooperative is proposed that will collect and recycle waste material. Furthermore the recycled materials will be made available to the community to craft into useful and art objects. This activity plays a key role in integrating the community into the industrial area and increase the productivity of the region.
Community Center Store
Community recycling center
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Recycling related industries and institutions
The Bywaters recycling company is currently located in the Prologis industrial park and is the most economically productive industry in the Lower Lea Valley. It is the main recycling center for paper, wood, glass and metal. Bywaters also recycles construction materials at a different location in the north of the Valley. The proposal brings both the Bywaters recycling industries onto the Prologis site along with an environmental research center. It would serve as a recycling center not only London but also the surrounding industries and neighborhoods. This could result in technical, logistical, and even manufacturing research collaborations. Bywaters Sustainability Bywaters Bywaters Wood and Paper Research Center Metal Construction Material
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity Canal related industries - Construction Industries
Construction industries workshop spaces which strengthen synergies and intensify canal basins
Pedestrian routes and accesible facades which help urbanize industrial sites and densify activities
Vehicular movement and service facades to rationalize vehicular movement
Landscape as a connector and canal for industrial transportation integrating LLV and rationalizing industrial distribution
Typology for canal related industries 92
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The proposal for industries located along the canal is mainly construction based with proposed public engagement on the waterfront. This proposal of clustering the existing types of industries is based upon the need to take advantage of the canal in order to minimize disruption to the surrounding environment – the movement of construction material by water. In order to allow public engagement along the canal since this location is a part of the existing “Lower Lea River Park Project” stores and office spaces will be introduced on the canal facades, providing not only alternative workshop areas, but also to create a meaningful local context along the pedestrian pathway of the ‘Fatwalk’
Office Space Office Space Manufacturing and Store
Construction industries using the canal
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity Distribution industries and non accesible industries intensifying synergies along Cody Road
Distribution Industries - Cody Road
Typology for distribution industries along Cody road
Pedestrian routes and accesible facades which help urbanize and densify activities
1
Works Spaces
Vehicular movement and service facades to rationalize vehicular movement
2 Road distribution which helps create spatial hyerarchies to establish accesibility restrictions
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Design offices and Printing industry
Office space and Distribution industry
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The proposed central spine for the industrial core in Lower Lea Valley is Cody Road as it has the potential to connect the industrial area to the surrounding neighborhoods and also to the major transport networks. Collaborations are encouraged between existing small-scale distribution and manufacturing industries and related urban activities that engage in creating a more productive urban environment. This proposal adopts the open-block system of organization in order to create permeable spaces along the road, thus encouraging differentiated uses by the industries and the surrounding community.
Three sections along Cody Road
Day care Housing Wholesale
Offices and Housing
Offices and Distribution Industry
Food distribution
Sewing cooperative textile industry
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The insertion of alternative peripheral vehicular movement routes aims to minimize disruption and generate integration and diversity along Cody Road. All non-polluting industrial activities (printing, textile, small scale distribution and manufacturing, etc.) that can be assembled together along with housing and commerce are located along this road with the aim to generate an urban industrial mass that will survive against the pressures of mono-functional development.
Spatial organization of a block in Cody Road Exhibition Offices Cafes Space
Building allowing Public Accesibility
Showrooms Permeable Office Space
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Chapter III | Adaptive Evolutions Layered Character of Cody Road: 1st Layer: Spaces with Public Interaction 2nd Layer: Work Facilities, Retail, Office Spaces 3rd Layer: Small Manufacturing, Wholesale and Dist. Industries
Public realm along Cody Road Meeting Space Start up Space
Worker Facility
Offices
Cafe
Retail
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Research Facility Institution
Library
London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
Synergies between different types of industries within the Industrial Core Waste from different types of Industries and where it relates with Bywaters
Small Industries
Industries
Urban Center
Waste from Small Scale Industry, to be recycled and reused
Waste Recycling from Construction Industry
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Industries
Construction Industries
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Cody Road
Startup Spaces
Worker Facility
Waste from Distribution and Printing Industry
Library
Retail
Cafe
Meeting Space
Offices
Research Facility
Institution
Space for Pedestrian movement
Waste from Construction Industry Canal used for Distributing Construction Material
Waste Recycling from Distribution and Printing Industry
Sale of Recycled Material Research Unit
Waste Recycling of City
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Neighborhood Wood Recycling
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Requalification of the Industrial Core: Territories along the Road Typological investigations to create structues for industrial activity such that it responds to roads and canals and the secondary infrastructure system of the Fatwalk Requalification of the industrial core of Lower Lea Valley and the introduction of an industrial urbanity to produce a productive ecology at both the regionl and local scales An attempt to create collaborative synergies between the different industries as well as with existing and proposed institutions and the surrounding community to enable the growth of Lower Lea Valley as an urban industrial centre of London 100
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London Lower Lea Valley : Creating an Industrial Urbanity
The propositional strategy aims to transform the Lower Lea Valley into more than just an industrial zone. The larger framework sets up a sustainable industrial region by requalifying existing industries and developing new typologies to facilitate synergies between industries and with the surrounding neighborhoods making it more productive at the local scale. This proposal is supported by urbanizing the industrial area and introducing institutions and support infrastructure to service the neighboring communities as well as create meaningful collaborations with the industries. In addition the institutional clusters at the proposed town centers behave as nodes of transition from the residential to the industrial character of Lower Lea Valley. The existing mobility systems in Lower Lea Valley are high speed infrastructure which function regionally but create a landscape of isolated zones at the local level. The proposed secondary infrastructure system consist of enhancing a few locally relevant vehicular roads and a pedestrian network linked together with landscape allowing for the blurring of boundaries between what used to be rigid land uses. This secondary system synthesizes the various territories of the Lower Lea Valley. 104
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Thus the proposed transformation of Lower Lea Valley becomes relevant to the neighboring communities on either side of it as the secondary mobility system’s public realm makes the various institutions and support infrastructure accessible. Thus Lower Lea Valley develops into a new type of neighborhood which is characterized by a productive industrial urbanity. The aim is to to create a spatial strategic plan for the entire region of Lower Lea Valley, which details out the larger concepts to setup the entire proposal. The development of a master strategy rather than a master plan, which allows for flexibility and has the ability to adapt to a changing context, is a more sustainable approach when dealing with a large peripheral urban region like the Lower Lea Valley. Even if the specific programs and ownerships of the proposed interventions alter to adapt to a changing context, the larger framework of the master strategy of retaining the industries by introducing urban integration, creating institutional collaborations and developing a secondary infrastructure system through landscape to synthesize the valley would still remain relevant. 105
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