Commissioned by Southwark Council and funded by the Greater London Authority through the Good Growth Fund, Hayatsu Architects led a multi-disciplinary team to transform the market. Collaborators included the Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble, graphic designer StinsenSqueeze, landscape architects Jonathan Cook, high street retail specialist Retail Revival, lighting designer Studio Dekka, structural engineer Price & Myers, and quantity surveyor Gleeds. Key community partners included local councillors, stakeholders, the Blue Bermondsey Business Improvement District, Big Local Works, and Community Opportunity.
Made In Bermondsey aimed to reconnect the marketplace with its surroundings and evoke the character of a town centre. Wider interventions included new cut-through routes, way-finding signage, and community murals. The market space itself was overhauled with improved electrical infrastructure, storage, and visibility of existing civic assets like the local library. A new ‘village green’ area was created to provide a space for relaxation and community events.
A reinstated & reimagined central clock tower, adorned with hand-embossed tin cladding tiles featuring community-drawn ‘Bermondsey lions,’ now serves as the centrepiece of the marketplace. This monument aims to embody and foster local pride, with a new material language drawing on Bermondsey’s history as the first place to produce tin cans in the 19th century.
Local knowledge and involvement were crucial components of the project and many of the built elements were produced by local manufacturers, including these tin can lids. The community was heavily engaged throughout the process while ourselves, Assemble and StinsenSqueeze were each based in the nearby Sugarhouse Studios only a five minute walk from the site.
The project’s sustainability shows through in the use of natural and recycled materials. Brick, stone aggregates and concrete bollards were taken from the existing site and crafted by Assemble’s Granby Workshop to create terrazzo for a new drinking fountain and seating. New planting, oak frame market canopies, timber bollards, and curved oak benches introduce a soft, natural tone to the urban environment.
Made In Bermondsey has transformed The Blue Market into a community-centric space that honours its historic roots while fostering future congregation.
