Tustin Estate

Categories Housing, Urban & Landscape
Clients London Borough of Southwark
Size 4.7ha
Project Team Deborah Saunt, David Hills, Michael O'Hanlon, Seyi Brown, Laura Virto Martinez

Residents' support for redevelopment of Tustin Estate

The Tustin Estate Renewal for the London Borough of Southwark is a leading example of the Borough’s Great Estates programme, delivered through a collaborative process. Working closely with the Residents Project Group at Tustin Estate, our proposals won the support of 86.6 per cent of residents who voted in favour of the redevelopment of the Estate at a residents' ballot in March 2021.

Co-designing a masterplan with residents

After winning the competition by public vote in October 2019, DSDHA were appointed to explore a series of strategic feasibility options ranging from modest refurbishment to improve the quality of life of residents through to a more extensive redevelopment that would provide additional council homes within the estate.

A unique approach to project governance has been adopted, which has seen the establishment of a Residents Project Group. This group has been trained to engage in the briefing and viability assessment process and were responsible for writing a constitution for the project, for selecting DSDHA as their architects, and for meeting formally with the design team on a monthly basis.

It was key to the brief that all Tustin residents are involved in deciding what they see on their estate, with DSDHA leading an inclusive and meaningful community engagement process that will culminate in a referendum to agree the preferred option.

Leading the 'Common Grounds' team

Building on previous successful collaborations, DSDHA heads a group brought together specifically for the project, ‘Common Grounds’; comprising young local design firm Kennedy Woods; interdisciplinary design collective RESOLVE; and the education architects Hayhurst & Co., with whom they have previously successfully worked at Central Somers Town in Camden. This has allowed several ongoing relationships to be forged between individual residents and businesses via outreach.

A lasting and meaningful engagement process

A structured series of engagements is promoted by newsletters and door to door visits, managed by Southwark, alongside public meetings and community events – such as an estate gardening club and games of football.

Running a weekly drop-in hub as well as outreach initiatives – like the Common Grounds Coffee Cart – the team are able to show design progress and run one-to-one engagements with residents, tenants, leaseholders and freeholders to get personal feedback on options and inform design development. As a result, the team have been able to reach residents who are otherwise unable to attend traditional consultation events.

Common Grounds team:

DSDHA

Hayhurst & Co

Kennedy Woods

RESOLVE Collective