The concrete gulley of the high-speed rail line and the A13 flyover sever Rainham village from the marshes and the Thames.
Design for London lobbied to improve the connection between the village and its wild hinterland, creating the opportunity for locals – as well as Londoners who take the 25 minute train ride – to experience the marshes properly by installing decent paths, a café and somewhere to hire a bike.
The Rainham to the River project will reconnect Rainham Village with the Thames and the unique landscapes of Rainham Marshes as part of the East London Green Grid.
Peter Beard has designed an elegant collection of pathways, bridges and wayfinding posts that together reduce the walking distance to the river by a kilometre and Design for London is working with LB Havering to restore the historic grazing marshes.
Closer to the Thames, Design for London has been involved in a series of new industrial developments, ensuring the buildings have a bold and positive presence in the landscape through their layout, cladding and detailing.
These interventions are funded through the HCA and LTGDC, Heritage Lottery and the Veolia Landfill Trust and European Union programmes – each of which have their own deadlines and criteria.
Taken together they are a strategy for change that is firmly embedded in the nature of the place and that will stitch it back together and reconnect severed communities, making more enjoyable places to live, work and visit.
