This is a modest settlement in the London Borough of Sutton. However this is the home of the award winning building and community of BedZed, where one of the occupants are Bioregional, the ‘One Planet Living’ charity advising government and big business on how to use our planet’s resources more responsibly.

With an active and vocal neighbourhood group supported by BioRegional and promoted and substantially funded by the Greater London Authority the local authority commissioned our team led by architects Adams and Sutherland to rethink how the neighbourhood was structured, ensuring that any proposals took better advantage of the local character. Following a year of design development and extensive consultation a scheme for the central space, referred to as the Heart of Hackbridge started on site in November 2013. The scheme radically reallocates the public realm in favour of those not in vehicles and changes the look and feel of the space to encourage people to visit and spend more time there.

Time-lapse footage courtesy of Steven Silverwood.