Hackney Bridge Landscape and Wayfinding

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London 2019

Transforming a corner of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into a vibrant cultural hub, Hackney Bridge is a meanwhile development near the Copper Box Arena featuring a comprehensive landscape and wayfinding design by Studio Hatcham, creating a seamless connection between the place and its new buildings and ensuring an open and accessible site for all.

Hackney Bridge is the third project from Makeshift, following on from Pop Brixton and Peckham Levels. It is located in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park near the Copper Box Arena. Studio Hatcham designed a comprehensive landscape proposal for the entire site, providing a cohesive scheme to create a connection between the place and the new buildings. It orientates people around the site and establishes a clear, inclusive mobility concept, ensuring the site is open and accessible to all.

The patterned flooring, influenced by the triangular site, weaves between the buildings. It merges to create a focal point in the central yard of the scheme. Colors, echoing the wider scheme by Turner Works, bring further relevance and subtle wayfinding to the different buildings. 

The pattern dynamically weaves and breaks into familiar floor patterns where necessary, accommodating elements such as loading bays, crossings, market stool positions, and a playground. These patterns encourage movement and connect the five buildings, fostering collaboration and strengthening the identity of the place to establish Hackney Bridge as a vibrant cultural hub of workspaces, events, and local retailers. On the fringes of the site, the pattern transitions into more functional layouts for loading bays, pedestrian crossings, and parking spaces.

The external furniture and vegetation are simple, low-tech, and appropriate for their location and temporary use. The furniture is constructed of softwood timber that is low cost and robust enough for its meanwhile purpose, ensuring durability and ease of maintenance for the temporary site. Planters are integrated into and around the furniture to incorporate the two elements into a singular element, and to cleverly obscure the large volume of soil required for above-ground planting. This integrated approach enhances the visual appeal and functionality of the temporary landscape.

Lead Architect: Turner Works
Contractor: Glencar Construction
Structural Engineer: Structure Workshop
Civil Engineer: Genever & Partners
External Furniture production: Studio Jutta Goessl
Thermoplastic Install: Thermmark