From January - May 2024 people living, working and studying in Hoxton contributed to a shared vision for improvements to the local area. Six community principles were established and these in turn informed a funding bid to the Civic Partnership Programme to secure investment to deliver improvements to Hoxton's public spaces and treasured places. This image illustrates the Hoxton area, Phase 1 “Pilot Projects” and Phase 2 “Main Projects”
Architecture and Landscape Design
Connecting Hoxton: Public Realm Strategy
During February and March we hosted a number of focus group sessions with stakeholders and two co-design workshops with the community. The first of these brought together the local community, residents, and stakeholders at Hoxton Hall, where we explored together how we’d like to hear Hoxton described by others, as a way into setting priorities. The next session was held at Ivy Street Family Centre and at this we worked towards a shared vision for the future of Hoxton, this time discussing and debating specific ideas in more detail.
The outcomes from these sessions directly shaped the project proposals. These workshops were essential in hearing the voices of Hoxton and identifying key areas for improvement. Conclusions drawn were showcased at Hoxton Mini Fair, allowing the community to vote and share thoughts on proposed options.
In April 2024 we hosted the Hoxton Mini-Fair as part of the usual Saturday market on Hoxton Street, it was an opportunity for us to showcase the potential project proposals that had been co-authored by the community through previous co-design workshops. However, the Mini-Fair was mainly a celebration of all the great arts and culture organisations in Hoxton.
Also at Hoxton Mini Fair, the students of New City College worked with their lecturer to help locals screen print their own “Hoxton” tote bags to keep as a memento of the day. The bags were either pink or green, the design was drawn by Kaviyan Arivanandan, Part 1 Assistant who has been working on the project for Erect Architecture.
Following all of the input from community members, Hoxton businesses and traders and local organisations, the London Borough of Hackney have been successful with the application for funding from the Mayor of London's Civic Partnership Programme. The successful outcome of this bid is testament to the community in and around Hoxton that we have come to know so well during the process so far.
Connecting Hoxton will use the Civic Partnership Programme funding to improve local services and facilities, green spaces and public realm drawing on an extensive co-design process with local residents, community and cultural organisations and businesses. The project aims to significantly improve East-West connections across Hoxton as well as improving wellbeing, sense of belonging and reducing social isolation for local people.
The Civic Partnership Programme will contribute up to £3,000,000 towards the Connecting Hoxton project, supplementing funding already allocated by the London Borough of Hackney for improvements in the area.
A series of 'pilot projects' - small scale improvements to public spaces in and around Hoxton Street - will be delivered across the coming months. These smaller projects will help to test and trial improvements with the community to inform the development of main Connecting Hoxton projects. Based on the feedback these will include features to promote and support Hoxton Street Market, increase the biodiversity of green spaces within Hoxton's estates, plant street trees and improve the public realm adjacent to key cultural spaces in the area, including Shoreditch Library, Hoxton Hall and The Hoxton Trust.
After the summer, a new programme of community workshops and design sessions will be launched to invite Hoxton stakeholders to continue to shape the proposals for Connecting Hoxton. If you have a friend or know a business or an organisation that you know would want to be a part of this, please share our contact, Hoxton@erectarchitecture.co.uk and ask them to get in touch.