Sayes Court
In 2024 we won an invited competition run by The National Trust in partnership with London Borough of Lewisham to reimagine existing green spaces within the Sayes Court Estate in Deptford. Our intention was that the changes to these spaces should be co-designed with the communities that live with and next to these spaces.
In the 12 months after, we curated and led a series of engagement events to understand people’s aspirations for their local green spaces including identifying which spaces were most suitable for change. We’ve held workshops with specific groups that have directly informed the designs of the chosen spaces and we’ve held celebratory events sharing the final designs with residents and stakeholders.
We have varied the ways that people can give feedback from large consultation sessions open to all, to smaller more intimate workshops with specific groups who might otherwise be overlooked to capture both loud and quiet voices. There have been collaging and plaster casting workshops, exhibitions, planting days and Samba dancing. Thank you to all those that attended our events and workshops and we hope that you see your ideas and thoughts reflected in our designs. The proposals will create accessible, climate resilient and biodiverse green spaces that reflect the ambitions and thoughts of the local Sayes Court community.
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This Sayes Court Garden Network project is part of the wider ‘Greening Evelyn’ vision to create Lewisham’s first Garden Ward for the benefit of local people, nature and the environment.
This phase of the project has been funded by the @mayorofldn ‘Green and Resilient Spaces Fund’ and Lewisham Council’s Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy.It’s been an honour and a pleasure getting to know the residents of Sayes Court Estate as well as working with local groups such as @lrmnetwork and @youthfirstldn
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Along the way we have worked with an d collaborated with hornimanmuseumgardens @archibeats.cic @blak_outside @nd_landscape_architects @lhe_london @vietfp @stfllondon @deptfordfolk @mmolokic @ldn_gov
This project builds on the work we have done previously on neglected green spaces in the Becontree Estate.
