06/07/21

Local artist honours nature at placemaking development, Barking Riverside London

Branding

In an inspiring initiative, Barking Riverside Ltd (BRL) has commissioned a local artist, Emmanuel Oreyeni, to create original artwork for The Wilds, the new ecological centre and community space opening up this month on-site. The artwork responds to Barking Riverside and its location on the banks of the river Thames in East London. It is a direct discourse on our human relationship with nature.

Barking Riverside is one of Europe’s most ambitious and exciting recent development projects, anchored on the principle of ‘placemaking’ to mean designing spaces for people, places and nature. It aims to provide a platform where existing and new residents can develop an authentic and inclusive place, which encourages opportunity for all. Spinach Branding has been working closely with BRL to help realise the project.

The mixed-use scheme is seeing the construction of over 10,000 new homes, as well as commercial spaces open for businesses and retail from the Barking area and the wider London communities. There are plans for new schools, healthcare and leisure facilities, civic spaces and public parks, as well as a Thames riverside nature walkway. What’s more, the new Barking Riverside overground railway and Uber Boat by Thames Clippers link the area to central London in a matter of minutes.

Placemaking has been fundamental to the brand strategy for Barking Riverside. It has informed everything – from the development masterplan to residential and commercial design, communication with residents and the wider public, and with every touchpoint, signage and messaging reinforcing the value.

‘Central to the brand development was the need to collectively create a new placemaking brand model that made sense of the complicated relationship between place and the corporate entity,’ says Leigh Banks, branding director at Spinach Branding. ‘Resolving this unique challenge ensured the team’s success in delivering a brand fit for the scale and ambition of Barking Riverside.’

The Wilds, where Oreyeni’s work is on exhibit, is the latest project to be unveiled. Officially opening this month, the dynamic centre is designed to be a community space, with workshops and events, co-working areas and a café run by Coffee:Works – a co-operative business created by local residents.

Oreyeni writes of the concept behind the project: ‘Take care of nature and nature will take care of you. We know who Mother Nature is, but we don’t recognise her despite the fact that she is talking to us every day. We’re just too busy cutting down trees, less oxygen, more contribution to climate change… When designing the pieces of artwork, I didn’t want to overcomplicate the design because as simple as nature is, it’s also very complicated. Throughout the design, you will see her footprint. Black and white is the most powerful message of all but when primary and secondary colour is introduced, the true character is revealed.’

Images © Jimmy Lee Photography for BRL

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