Stratford is the largest local centre in the Lower Lea Valley, one of London's best-connected transport interchanges and an important link between the Stratford City development, the Olympic site and the existing surrounding communities. As part of the Olympic Fringe Programme, Design for London’s Olympic Legacy Team is working with partners to make the most of these strategic advantages.

A series of studies have been carried out which have identified many opportunities for strengthening the existing town centre, including the redevelopment of the existing shopping mall into a mixed-use town centre environment. These include a public realm strategy and conservation area appraisal by Urban Practitioners in 2007 and a detailed project scoping and delivery plan for public realm improvements in December 2008, carried out by Fluid.

Design for London are currently funding a series of projects including public realm works at Meridian Square. This project is part of a larger project led by a design team headed by Studio Egret West and co funded by the London Borough of Newham. The project, called ‘Stratford Island’ allows includes the ‘wrapping’ of the shopping centre with a ‘Shoal ‘ structure, a kinetic sculpture of coloured titanium ‘leaves’ that move in the wind, co-designed by structural engineers, Packman Lucas.

The square has been redesigned as a simple, relatively calm space of arrival and interchange; London Borough of Newham and TfL have worked in partnership to rationalise the bus station which will result in a substantial gain of public realm. Major changes to the ground plane in terms of resurfacing, widening of crossings and improving accessibility are also taking place. The works started on site in December 2010.

This scheme sits on the edge of both the Olympic Park and the new Westfield shopping centre and Stratford City development. At Meridian square, the transport hub is about to be joined by the new London Underground mezzanine building by Hawkins\Brown architects and a grand staircase (‘Town centre Link Steps’) by Knight Architects leading to Westfield’s Stratford City. This development will add a significant number of visitors to the already busy area.

Design for London’s Olympic Legacy team is supporting the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC) and the London Borough of Newham on all design aspects in Stratford Town Centre, as well as providing design advice on all development proposals in Stratford to the GLA Planning Decisions Unit and local authorities.

Partners: London Borough of Newham, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, Stratford Renaissance Partnership

Download:
Stratford_Town_Centre_-_Part_1.pdf
Stratford_Town_Centre_-_Part_2.pdf
Stratford_Town_Centre_-_Part_3.pdf
Stratford_Town_Centre_-_Part_4.pdf
22