ABSTRACT
Dalston town centre. Their recommendations were accepted by the council and the square became part of local planning policy in 1998. A partnership was formed in 2001 including Hackney Co-operative Developments, the local Groundwork Trust, Hackney Council, the Greater London Council, Vortex Jazz Foundation, a local developer MacDonald Egan (who had purchased the adjacent Stamford Works) and Hawkins\Brown Architects. The first step was the development of ten kiosks on part of the car park, designed by Hawkins\Brown. These were to win a Design Week award as well as an RIBA Small Buildings prize. Meanwhile, Hackney Co-operative Developments were working on the Dalston Culture House, which was to form the western end of the new square. This building includes a cafe and bar on the ground floor, the Vortex Jazz Club on the first floor and studio workspaces on the upper floors. Across the square MacDonald
Egan proceeded with the refurbishment of Stamford Works and a mixed-use workspace scheme including a library. The square was designated as one of the Mayor’s 100 Public Spaces and a cocktail of funding was assembled, allowing Whitelaw Turkington to be appointed to draw up plans for the space. Work was completed in 2006 to coincide with the opening of the Culture House. Since that time the square has become a cultural hub for Dalston. In an area of London without any public spaces, it is a focus for community activities and events and is surrounded by cultural workspace along with shops, cafes and bars. The once scruffy Dalston has become fashionable, which is a good thing, isn’t it? Dave Hill writing on his London Blog in 2013, reported a piece of graffiti on a wall in Dalston that read ‘Hipsters, fuck off back to mummy’, which gives a flavour of some of the tensions that success can bring. However, the community-owned ethos of the practical radicals of the 1980s offers a degree of protection against the invading armies looking for the next bohemian quarter to hang out. For how long this will preserve the unique character of Gillett Square remains to be seen. Until then we can enjoy one of London’s great new public spaces.
