Brilliant future
Borough and Bankside
The Elephant and Castle is being transformed into a high quality, more environmentally friendly quarter worthy of its position as a Zone 1 hub.
The tired old blocks, the unfriendly pedestrian subways and the endless traffic are to be replaced with parks, 5,300 homes, a more integrated transport system and quality shops and leisure facilities in this massive £1.5 billion regeneration project.
In addition to the homes under the Elephant scheme, the London Plan will mean an extra 2,500 properties must be built in the Borough and Bankside area.
The whole area around London Bridge will benefit from the massive redevelopment in the next few years, including the construction of Europe's biggest skyscraper - the London Bridge Tower or the Shard of Glass - and the redevelopment of London Bridge station.
The new modern station will have more platforms and a new viaduct across Borough High Street. Both the station and Borough Market will be open throughout the works.
Other regeneration schemes
On top of the massive regeneration and development schemes happening in the area there are a lot of smaller neighbourhood projects.
Bankside Open Spaces Trust has leased Redcross Gardens - near Borough Market - from the Council. The garden was originally laid out by Octavia Hill, co founder of The National Trust and a social reformer. Bankside Open Spaces Trust used Heritage Lottery funding to restore the garden, including the pond, bridge, fountain, flower beds and winding paths.
The Cleaner Greener Safer (CGS) team and its partners have installed community noticeboards, carried out landscaping and tree planting on estates, created a new play space in Falmouth Road and a mosaic in Little Dorrit park. The Little Dorrit mosaic was designed by local schoolchildren and installed in a disused paddling pool.
Two striking pieces of public art have been installed. Just around the corner from Tate Modern is the Monument to the Unknown Artist. This six metre high animatronic bronze sculpture can mimic your body language. It was created by art collective Greyworld.
Turner Prize-nominated artist Ian Davenport has transformed a key public space in Bankside, making it a new London landmark. Peckham-based Davenport has created one of his signature poured lines designs for the commission. It is a rare example of painting as public art. At 48 metres long and three metres high, it is also one of the largest pieces of public art in London. The work runs along one of the walls supporting a Victorian railway bridge, connected to Blackfriars Station.
Up and coming environmental improvements include pedestrianisation of the area between St George the Martyr and the Church Yard. A further 21 schemes to improve the streetscape, worth £1.26m, are planned.
