Reimagining Amhurst Road

A programme of engagement to support the transformation of a car-dominated road into a pedestrian, cyclist and public-transport priority green corridor

Reimagining Amhurst Road, commissioned by London Borough of Hackney Council, is a project that seeks to transform a number of spaces across Hackney Central, delivering improvements to active travel infrastructure, street greening, and placemaking features. At the heart of this is the transformation of Amhurst Road and key junctions to make the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists and significantly reduce traffic.

This included the launch of a digital survey, gaining over 1,000 responses, on-street engagement and drop-in events, and design workshops. We worked closely with Hackney Council to support wide reaching communications and promotion of the engagement process. 

We delivered a number of on-site pop-up engagement sessions, making use of a cargo bike to transport materials to and from Amhurst Road. We created a bespoke table-top surface for a standard Christiania cargo bike, transforming it into a mobile engagement vehicle, complete with inbuilt storage for display boards. The pop-up events offered the chance to engage passers-by and regular visitors to the site, and promote upcoming in-depth workshops. 

These workshops, held within a community centre on site, offered the opportunity for local residents and other stakeholders to meet with the client and project team, and take part in a series of facilitated activities designed to identify key challenges and opportunities and work collaboratively to develop ideas for change. 

A summarising engagement report provided a wealth of insights and findings developed from over a thousand engagement responses, supporting the design team in the development of outline concepts and providing the client with evidence to support the next steps in the development process.