London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) appoint Studio Gil to lead team including landscape architects Untitled Practice to deliver teenage girl-centred public space in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
A new report has been published by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) and Elevate Youth Voice on an innovative co-client approach that include the voices of local girls and young women. The project, Waterden Green Space for Teenage Girls in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will be led by architects Studio Gil, with support from landscape architects and registered practice Untitled Practice, among others.
The project is part of an LLDC commitment to gender-inclusive public spaces, while also being an insightful case study for participatory-led engagement, such as that featured in their handbook on ‘Creating Places that Work for Women and Girls’. The East London group, Elevate Youth Voice, represent youth voices from across LLDC’s home boroughs and are key to the development of the project. Also involved in the project was the not-for-profit, Make Space for Girls, who helped identify the need to address how we design for teenage girls while also being commissioned to produce the report and methodology.
Girls and young women are empowered through this groundbreaking initiative with their perspectives core to the design process. This co-clienting approach has allowed the design brief to be shaped by teenage girls and young women from Elevate Youth Voice, focusing on flexibility, inclusivity, and female-centred design. The project outcome is to create a safe and inviting environment for teenage girls while setting a new standard for any future public space projects. Through positioning teenage girls at the centre of decision-making, this initiative shows a pioneering model for inclusive urban design.
The report contains details on the formation of the co-client team while providing insights and reflections from all parties involved, establishing a clear methodology for community-led projects. LLDC’s innovative co-clienting approach broadens traditional engagement methods by bringing young women into the core client team, allowing them to have a central role in shaping the brief, deciding the design team, and working with project architects throughout the co-design process. The design team is mostly led by women, bringing an abundance of diverse perspectives to the design process. It includes LI Registered Practice, Untitled Practice (Landscape Architects), as well as Studio Gil (Architects), Black Females in Architecture (Engagement Lead), Simple Works (Structural Engineers), and Light Follows Behaviour (Lighting Designers).
Lamisa, 19, co-client and Tower Hamlets resident, said: “At first, I thought it was kind of just they [LLDC] do everything. And I just give like, a little input here and there […] But, when we were actually doing the sessions, it kind of just felt like we were all equal. […] We weren’t just like a consultation body. We were active participants.”
Fulgis, 18, co-client and Hackney resident, said: “I think the biggest thing with us being co-clients is just the amount our voices were heard and how much what we said impacted the design brief itself; because essentially, it was our thoughts and ideas which created this design brief, which would then be fed to the architectural team.”
Fenella Griffin CMLI, Partner, Untitled Practice, said: “As landscape architect, Untitled Practice have helped to shape an integrated design proposal that responds directly to the values, ideas and thoughtful insights contributed by the young women and girls involved in the project. Developed via close collaboration and iterative testing – the resulting spatial arrangement foregrounds climate-sensitive, multi-use social spaces, woven with biodiverse, low-allergy planting zones that form part of the setting for the architecture with a shared design language. The approach is aligned with QEOP policy/design guidance and relates to the specific qualities of Waterden Green.”
Ruth Lin Wong Holmes FLI, Head of Landscape and Public Realm, London Legacy Development Corporation said: “I am pleased that LLDC has been able to create this project with the co-clienting approach with local young women and girls to create something special in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The young women involved have carefully considered the possibilities and understood the constraints – speaking eloquently about this on many public stages to share as an exemplar landscape scheme. I am looking forward to seeing this realised.”
Pedro Gil, Founder and Director, Studio Gil, said: “We are thrilled to lead such an impactful project, with an amazing team at every level. It is rare to be given such an opportunity to help shape public space in a way that will prioritise the voices of teenage girls. The ambition is clear, we must address their needs and set a new standard for female-centred design that could affect communities around the country and perhaps the world.’’
