Thoroughfare

Croydon, a south London Borough of 350,000 inhabitants, was developed in the 70s as the second office center of London. The transformation of Wellesley Road and Park Lane, the central axis in Croydon, is one of the key projects for the regeneration. OKRA landscape architects, in association with Urhahn, Peter Brett Associates and Soundings have won the prestigious ‘International Urban Design Competition for Wellesley Road and Park Lane’. The assignment is to create a vibrant centre of the monstrous main infrastructure that nowadays divides the centre in two parts.

 

Connecting link

Our approach focuses on four elements: addressing the infrastructure and redevelopment of public space, temporary interventions to improve the livability, urban acupuncture and actions in neighbouring plots. The plan is not just about the public space, but also about the enthusiasm of stakeholders involved in the project. The approach to public space focuses on adding green and recreational places, a new vision of public transport and cycling and simplifying the infrastructure.

 

Result

The current focus of the project is in the detailing of the plan for the road. This is a long process because of the large traffic engineering implications of the project. A number of subprojects on the street is now being implemented.