Tower Hamlets Roadshow

The Roadshow was a pioneering design initiative, which encouraged public participation in three London Boroughs. It was innovative in what regards public consultation on design and its format was considered as a consultation model to be used by the British Government in the "New Deal for Communities Areas". Working with the councils, 19 neglected public spaces were identified and a design team was assigned to each. Public workshops and festival days generated the brief for improvements and final schemes were presented back to the public through exhibitions. Local authorities committed to implementing all the designs.

For Tower Hamlets, five architecture practices were chosen for their work in green urban areas while maintaining high-density housing levels. The sites were: Watney Street (Shadwell), Whitechapel Road Market, Teviot Estate Community Access Centre (Poplar), Albany Works Foyer Project (Bow), and the Wellington Estate Community bridge project.

Drama as a provocative discussion tool was used by Immediate Theatre as they performed "The Architect's Big Idea" on the streets of Teviot Estate. Artist Tom Geoghagen performed "five walls" for twenty four hours, what meant bolting himself to the wall of five buildings near the design festivals' locations. It was meant to allow passers-by to talk about urban change more creatively.