The Power of Norwood High Street Landscape Webinar

The focus of this webinar ‘High Streets, lowlands by Ed Wall’ will be to show how landscape tactics can be applied in an urban context. The purpose of the webinar is to give some ‘food for thought’ on a given theme.

The British high street has been in gradual decline for the past 20 years. The number of empty shops in 2020 is at a record high of 12% nationally. However, the COVOID-19 lockdown might lead to a re-emergence of the high street because during lockdown, residents have turned to their corner shops for their convenience and proximity to home. We think there is untapped potential in Norwood High Street, which is currently an area with limited commerce but with a wealth of industry, artists and makers working around its edges.

Working with the local community and in collaboration with Station to Station, the Business Improvement District for Tulse Hill and West Norwood, A Small Studio proposes a radical re-think of the use of this high street, as a month-long digital consultation on The Power of Norwood High Street. Through a series of online talks and web-based interactive workshops, we will work with different local demographics to get a wider (and more exciting!) series of proposals to revitalise and redefine the role of Norwood High Street. We will concentrate on: the existing high street buildings (currently mainly commercial); a future high street square; and the mixed-use fringe (mainly artists & makers workspaces). The programme culminates in an online exhibition to showcase the community results. These results will also inform the ongoing Neighbourhood Plan that is currently being written by a cohesive committee made up of local community representatives, residents and a number of built environment professionals including A Small Studio and Station to Station (BID).