dpu London summerLab: Heritage in Transformation

Limited places remain for the sixth year of the Development Planning Unit's summerLab series - a unique platform for one-week design workshops in contested spaces, with sessions geared toward professionals and students with an interest in studying the built environment and its contested narratives of transformation.

Organised in collaboration with Stephen Kenney (The Baring Trust), this year's London workshop focuses on Convoys Wharf in Deptford, Lewisham. Buried beneath the Wharf lies the original site of John Evelyn's once celebrated Sayes Court (and an inspiration for the founding of The National Trust). It was also the location of Charles II's Lenox, a warship that was built there at the height of the site's prominence as one of the most important Royal dockyards in the nation, which originally dates back to the reign of Henry VIII in 1500s. The site now lies derelict, a wasteland waiting for an opportunity to revive it into a prominent riverside destination. In 2014 the go ahead was given to transform the site into a luxury mix-use residential and office development.

Participants of the summerLab will have a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in processes of urban analysis and design research, navigating the relevance of local narratives and sense-making in the context of urban renewal. They will delve into processes of community participation gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and complexities involved in the development of contested urban spaces. Along with the local partners, they will work towards developing place-based strategies, rooted in principles of socio-spatial justice.

Further links:

• Apply for the London summerLab