Hackney Wick is one of London’s most upcoming districts. Growing out of the post-industrial landscape of east London’s Lower Lea Valley and at the edge of the Olympic Park, Hackney Wick  it is defined by workshops, factories, start-ups, shabby bars and warehouse breweries and in the next 20 years has been earmarked as a major new hub for working and living. Over the past two decades, Hackney Wick has developed into one of London’s most creative areas, with artists, designers and makers occupying what had become semi-derelict factory space.

In 2014 amongst this landscape of change we launched ’10 Estates’ - the first major exhibition of our projects conceived.  and launched for the London Festival of Architecture. Featuring 10 live projects then underway with local authorities across London, the simple temporary exhibition  and with a raw aesthetic reflecting its industrial setting explored the extent of new public housing at the city fringe and championed the role of London’s boroughs in ushering in new standards of design and ambition.

Regeneration of London’s worn out estates is a complexed process. With changing funding structures, different tenures and carefully considered decant and phasing programmes required there are significant limitations which pose enormous difficulties. It is no surprise therefore that many housing projects have historically stalled for years as residents and local politicians veto unpopular and undeliverable schemes and in the process design in the past has been given a low priority.

For Karakusevic Carson, 2014 was an exciting moment as we shared new projects that exemplified the new relationship between local residents, boroughs and a responsive architecture and client teams that we had been part of part of developing over 10 years.

Exhibition 1 – 30 June 2014