Gillett Street before work began

The spectacular launch in November 2006 of the square featured 200 saxophonists, high profile speakers including Richard Rogers and Ken Livingstone, local arts groups and local schools.  It was organised by HCD leading a sub-group of the partnership and working closely with the East London Design Show (ELDS), Vortex Jazz Club, Hackney Council's Culture Dept and Serious Music.  Attracting over 2,500 people, the event was one of East London’s most inspiring and engaging free public events in 2006.  It was Jazzwise magazine’s event of the year.  See more details of the event.

The full story behind the creation of Gillett Square spans 25 years of the incremental development of the Bradbury and Gillett Street area of Dalston by HCD and others.  

In 1993 HCD commissioned a cooperative of builders and architects Collective Building Design to produce the first sketches of a new town square in Gillett Street.  In 1997 HCD worked with Groundwork East London and Hackney Council’s planning department on a Dalston Town Centre area feasibility study by Stock Woolstencroft.  This led, in 1998, after several local public consultations, to Hackney Council’s Regeneration Committee’s designation of the Gillett Street car park as the future town square for Dalston.

In 1999 HCD built ten market pod kiosks with Hawkins\Brown along the south side of the car park, adding substance to the idea of a new town square here. This won the Design Week Award for 2000 and a RIBA small building award.
 
HCD then formulated a project to redevelop the adjacent derelict factory premises at 11 Gillett Street to create the Dalston Culture House which was completed in February 2005.  These works and plans engaged the interest of developers Macdonald Egan, who had recently purchased the decaying Stamford Works premises occupying the north side the Gillett Street.  They appointed Hawkins\Brown to develop outline proposals for this site.

This led in January 2001 to the formation of the Gillett Square Partnership as the development agency for Gillett Square. The partnership comprised Hackney Council, Groundwork East London, The Vortex Jazz Club, LBH Planning, Leisure and Property Directorates, MacDonald Egan and Hawkins\Brown.

Over the next two years area surveys, consultation within this group and with the local community were undertaken, leading to the production of outline plans for the new square. In 2003 of Gillett Square was adopted as one of Mayor Livingstone’s new urban spaces for London.  A successful application was then made to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for further capital funding to add to Groundwork’s funding for the square.  The partnership’s tender for the detailed design was won by Whitelaw Turkington. 

Outline plans for the square were developed in the context of further public consultations and events organized by HCD and Groundwork through their local networks, membership of the Local Strategic Partnership and the Neighbourhood Forum.  The plans for the square were well publicized in articles in the local press.  The planning application for the square, in the name of the Gillett Square Partnership, was approved by LBH full planning committee in 2005, with no objections from the public.

The award of contract, managed by LBH, was made to Fitzpatricks in January 2006. The works proceeded throughout 2006, with regular meeting with Gillett Square Partnership, considering detailed design, logistics and local liaison.  To assist local traders whose businesses were adversely affected by the impact of these works, HCD brokered a package of support measures from all partnership members, including rent and rates relief as well as marketing and publicity initiatives that are being delivered by HCD.