More Edgware, Less Anywhere

Location: Edgware

Date: 2023

Status: Temporary

Project Types: Installation | Street furniture | Urban greening | Wayfinding

Client: London Borough of Barnet, Transport for London, Ballymore

In January 2023 we launched a competition with London Borough of Barnet, Transport for London and Ballymore entitled ‘More Edgware, Less Anywhere’. The open call was for a new public realm intervention that would test ideas for re-greening Edgware town centre and help to inform long-term improvements to the area. Drawing on Edgware’s history as a gateway from the city to open countryside, the competition invited designers to propose a creative solution for improving the visibility and permeability of Edgware’s green spaces from Station Road, as well as re-introducing greening on the high street.

The winning design Let’s Meet on the Edge by locally-based ‘Edgy Collective’ – Adrienne Lau, Daniella Levene and Leila Taheri – was chosen in March 2023 by an expert judging panel, and installed in its three locations across Edgware town centre in June 2023 for a month-long period, along with a wayfinding map for visitors to navigate the three installations.

Winning Design

Let’s Meet on the Edge by Edgy Collective

Let’s Meet on the Edge (Garden City) © Luke O’Donovan

Let’s Meet on the Edge comprised three nature-based installations that linked disconnected green spaces and highlighted local histories which had been lost in urban development. Spread around three locations in Edgware town centre, Let’s Meet on the Edge provided engaging wayfinding for members of the public that introduced new routes around the area and encouraged local residents to experience their local area in new ways.

Let’s Meet on the Edge (Edgware Station) © Luke O’Donovan

Buzz Station greeted visitors to Edgware with a wayfinding totem and home for invertebrates, located just outside the entrance of Edgware tube station. This brought life and colour to the station’s entrance and a neighbouring leaflet stand provided interactive maps with directions and information about navigating Edgware on foot.

Edgware Station wayfinding totem © Luke O’Donovan

Located in a heavily-trodden but somewhat neglected narrow pathway, Bakery Path celebrated Edgware’s agricultural past, provided a portal to a secret green space, and a herb garden for local residents to pick from. Garden City introduced new public seating and planting to the High Street.

Bakery Path installation © Luke O’Donovan

All of the spaces were activated throughout the month of June and July with a series of events, walks and workshops led by Edgy Collective. Events included guided nature walks in the local area, design workshops with local community groups, and clean-up initiatives.

The winning design team, Edgy Collective © Luke O’Donovan

Sustainability and Afterlife

The project saw Victorian Douglas Fir beams and pine joists reclaimed from century-old army barracks and repurposed to form outdoor furniture in Garden City and a timber frame structure for the Bakery Path portal arch. Used plywood hoarding boards, salvaged from a local construction site, are incorporated into an insect totem that will stand proudly in the centre of Edgware station arrival roundabout. Overall, the project utilised an estimated 60% reclaimed materials, with aims to re-home all structures to the local community, targeting 0% project waste.

Press

Why I live in Colindale: architect Adrienne Lau on her up-and-coming northwest London area

In pictures: New sculptures arrive in Edgware