A Meeting of East London’s Arts, Culture & Heritage with the High-Rise Sprawl of the City, by Savini Rajapakse
Trinity Buoy Wharf and Leamouth Peninsula are located in the ‘docklands’ area of East London. Here, the River Lea meanders around two hairpin bends before meeting the Thames, forming a distinct land feature that loosely resembles a thumbs-up. The area, sometimes referred to as ‘Bog Island’ used to be known for its inaccessibility, its isolated community, and its marshy terrain that would frequently flood.
As a result, this area has often not always been heavily occupied. Historically, it has served many unusual and varied uses – a naval base for Trinity House to manufacture buoys, a venue for Michael Faraday to conduct light experiments, the processing of soap from whale blubber, iron works, glass works, various other industrial uses and now, a lively creative hub housing a variety of artists and craftspeople.
Today, this is no longer an inaccessible bog. Development of this area is well advanced – with foot-bridges creating connections to the DLR and Jubilee lines, and London’s east-ward expansion rapidly catching up. The urban renewal that is taking place now is likely to be one of the most dramatic changes in the history of this site.
Savini Rajapakse works as a designer on various town-planning projects in the UK and internationally, and is passionate about designing safe and inclusive public spaces that add vibrancy to communities of all kinds.
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