We are delighted to announce collaborators Amanda Rashid and Priscilla Fernandes as the winners of the Wembley Park Drive placemaking open call. The winning design will now be taken forward to planning before being delivered by Jan Kattein Architects in early summer 2016. This open call is part of a wider high street funded project in the area which seeks to support local independent businesses and enhance and revive the character of Wembley Park Drive. This will involve shop frontage/ building upgrades and trader engagement and was initiated to address the decline in footfall and spend in the area since the opening of the nearby London Designer Centre.
After receiving sixty expressions of interest from a variety of artists and design and architecture practises, the majority of which were of a very high standard, the judging panel then had the difficult job of narrowing them down to a shortlist of five. The panel included Alison Mayer - senior regeneration project officer at The GLA, Ellis Woodman - director of the Architecture Foundation, Emily Berwyn - director of Meanwhile Space, Gabriel Warshafsky of Jan Kattein Architects and Aktar Choudhury - operational director for planning and regeneration at Brent Council.
As well as winners Rashid and Fernandes, the shortlist included exciting emerging architecture practises The Mobile Studio, Surman Weston, The Urban Darning Project LTD and a collaboration between OHF Studios, Joseph Henry Zeal and Laura Gordon, all of whom submitted very engaging and carefully considered design proposals, and all runners up will receive an honorarium of £250 for their hard work and contribution.
You can view the proposals from all shortlisted finalists below:
Amanda Rashid and Priscilla Fernandes
OHF Studio, Joe Zeal-Henry and Laura Gordon
QUOTE FROM JUDGES:
"The judges were incredibly impressed with the quantity and quality of entries from young practices far and wide, some as far as Portugal. The five finalists showed commitment and understanding of the Wembley Park Drive area in a short space of time, bringing forward incredibly varied, proficient and visually striking proposals. The winning proposal by collaborators Amanda Rashid and Priscilla Fernandez was chosen for it's simple, yet high quality sign, which is innovative in its application of the language of Route 66 to Wembley Park Drive, and brings all the influences of the area together."
