A Living Room for The East Village
Former Athletes Village – ‘London 2012’

A ‘Living Room for London’ transforms the forecourt of a marketing suite. By animating the site, we created a place to enable the East Village residents to interact and grow.

The design was informed by the existing layout of the space and its suitability for a parterre style, an interpretation on the French ‘Villandry Gardens’. The planting explores the contrast between hard and soft, using trimmed hedging for structure, while the ornamental edibles and soft grasses create movement. Vibrantly painted raised planting beds, using the clients brand colours, provide a gateway to the site, and in turn, frame the entrance to the marketing suite.

Playful elements across the site draw the eye, also encouraging interaction. For the summer months of 2015, at the centre of the installation, our purpose built Olympic sized living room furniture featured, providing an unusual spot to stop, meet and chat. Dotted across the site are brightly coloured oversized plant pots planted with a mixture of Vine and Fig trees providing height and depth to the layout.

The backdrop to the space is marked by a large planted 3D graphic: #MyE20, reminding the residents, you are home, this is your neighbourhood, get living. It is also London’s first Edible & Growing postcode.