Maria Tsiattalou

Woolwich is currently facing a large regeneration project being led by Berkley developers focused in the Royal Arsenal. Upon visiting Woolwich the divide between the social classes was uncomfortably obvious, the area having lost a sense of identity and community. One resident of a Berkley development told me ‘I don’t consider this Woolwich, I never leave the Arsenal and don’t like going to that side’ this negative attitude is reciprocated by both sides, ‘I don’t really know what is over there’. In central Woolwich the unease of the residents is due to judgment that they feel, a resident of central Woolwich said ‘They look down on us’. The gentrification has caused Woolwich to be unattainably expensive and to loose it’s identity. The social divide has been reinforced by the physical separation by the A206 (Plumstead Road) that splits the Royal Arsenal from central Woolwich.

“Fragile City” expresses the struggle of the broken town. The Royal Arsenal holds the majority of pedestrian streets and green spaces. Currently a Crossrail station is being built in the Royal Arsenal, and although beneficial, its location will ultimately divide Woolwich further and reinforce the hierarchy of the Royal Arsenal. My proposal is to redefine and recreate the public realm in the centre of Woolwich, using social and green infrastructure to stitch the town back together. The project is subterranean, creating an underpass below the A206 which holds a market, multiple green spaces with a dense biodiversity, an amphitheatre, theatre, co-working spaces, courtyard gallery, restaurants and shops. The site named “Patchwork Park” offers a truly public realm catered to neither side, it will physically bring the community together giving them back some ownership and control to their town. ‘Patchwork Park’ is designed to make Woolwich more accessible and integrate people back into the fabric of the urban city.