Union Place

Current Projects


RIBA Forgotten Spaces

Project: Union Green 
Location: 100-128 Union Street, SE1 0NW 
Landowner: Promote Investment Limited 

The key aim is to encourage more businesses to move into the concealed ‘Urban Interior’, to improve the public realm specifically for pedestrians and cyclists, and to ‘un-trap’ the concealed ‘Urban Interior’. It is also intended to spread the profusion of the businesses at the edges to move more southwardly to Union Street. We are promoting the strong local identity by providing a safer, cleaner and greener environment, in which the locals can meet and exchange ideas expressed through local arts. We are proposing a community green, where a simple building is acting as a ‘sculpture’ within a green park, just like the Serpentine Pavilion. 

The proposed services are: 
- Café/exhibition/meeting facilities 
- Open Green space for locals to meet. Art installation to promote local artworks and performing art. All to improve the local interactions and to exchange ideas 
- Better pedestrian and cyclist route. More bike store and to promote cycling 
- Communal gardens for local residents’ interact, and at the same time to introduce educational purpose for children, and to use the produce for the café usage. 
- Playground for children and family 
- Outdoor green roof with an observation platform 
- Outdoor cinema where the adjacent neighbouring wall can be used as performing space 
- Façade – advertising/ billboard 
- Connect to the Community Centre and other local stakeholders 

Sustainability: We are proposing the building to be orientated in East-West axis with brie-soleils to the south and west facades, ground water heat exchange for heating, passive multi-services chilled beam system for all the electrical lighting with built in light sensors and air conditioning; grey water recycle. The external hard landscape will be using the recycle concrete materials. Recycle the existing adjacent wall as a bill board/signage /screen for an outdoor cinema. Cycle racks to be provided along the outdoor sculptural green to promote green transport. There will be green roof to create thermal mass for the building insulation. The community greens will be producing produce for the cafe.