Client - Landsec

Sector - Real estate, Community engagement

Responsibilities - Research & strategy, service design, information architecture, UX/UI and visual design, business operation design.

Objective - Generate service design concepts that support the redevelopment of Lewisham, engaging communities to build a sense of ownership and belonging over the creation of the development, creating a location where people live, work, play, eat, and enjoy.

Project duration - 6 months

Project Overview

About Lewisham

#Diversity

Home to residents of more than
nationalities

75

#Cultural

Lewisham is the Mayor's London Borough of Culture 2022

#Young

Lewisham has a young population.

About Lewisham Shopping Center

Also serves residents from nearby areas

Central Location

Historical Landmark

Outdated Facilities

Poor Security Environment

Inconvenient Transpotation

Serious Gentrification Around

About the Rennovation

#An Experiential City

Lewisham Council has long held ambitions to create a vibrant future for Lewisham Town Centre which we share, and the fundamental reinvention of the shopping centre is major step to achieving this. There are a number of potential opportunities that could be delivered by the redevelopment of the shopping centre:

Improving access to, and quality of public and green spaces
Bringing new leisure, arts and culture to the town centre
Creating a location where people want to live, work and play
Supporting sustainable forms of transport

Given the context of evolving demographics, shifting patterns of commuting and working, pervasive technology impacting shopping and socialising habits, the challenge is to create a place that thrives into the long term for citizens and businesses.

The timeline for the redevelopment of the Lewisham Shopping Centre starts in 2023, with completion expected in 2037.

On-site Research

During our conversation with Lewisham residents, we received both positive and negative opinions. We also learned that many people were unaware of Landsec’s plan to redevelop Lewisham. Those that did know of the plans, expressed fear of gentrification and resulting increases in prices.

"I really like the community, I think it's a very nice community area. I like how much local business there is."

"I'm a bit worried about being gentrified in the next few years. I'm worried that we are gonna lose a lot of independent stores, the rent will go up."

"It's not the ideal place in my opinion. It's basically all about assetizing something that isn't much of an asset already."

"It's not racist, you got the Black people, the White people, the Chinese, and all of them."

When you think of Lewisham, what comes to mind? Like what's the vibe here?

--“I don't know, I don’t know how to explain it.”

Problem Analysis

" Residents feel that there is a lack of sustainable and long-term dialogue between them and other players involved in the redevelopment process."

Mission Statement

Our Concept - FwdLab

To improve communication channels between Lewisham community and Landsec.

A Landsec-run innovation center, where the company provides career opportunities in the summer to local students on creating new ideas, and transforming innovative concepts into community assets.

Early Career Opportunity

Student-Generated Ideas

Community Involvement

Why Students?

Students interact with other demographics and members of the community on a daily basis. Because of this they serve as a bridge to the wider lewisham community.

We surveyed many students to learn if they had or would have liked to have an internship during college. Those who held college internships noted that it helped to positively shape their careers and professional networks. Among most of those who didn't have this opportunity said they would be very likely to have a college internship if given the chance.

Through our survey we learned that these are aspects that students think an internship should consist of. We built these insights into the structure and development of fwdlab.

A meaningful internship will consist of...

(Online Survey : 131 people)

Persona

Programatic Structure & Details

60%

Active Engagement

Collaborate with team on assigned brief

Receive continual feedback from Landsec team

40%

Learning & Development

Weekly mentor check-ins

Practitioner talks

Workshops

Topics

#1

Better

Communication

inform the residents what is going on and gain feedbacks.

#2

Preserving

Memories

use new transformative approaches to link the past of Lewisham to the future.

#3

New

Lewisham

students can discover lewisham's culture identity and co-create with residents and organisations in the area.

User Journey

Service Blueprint

Business Model Map

Let's see how FwdLab benefits the community, each of them will gain...

Landsec

Improved communication channels with Lewisham community

New & fresh perspectives from local students

Trust from community

Residents

more activated town center
community-centered commercial complex
communication channel with Landsec
career opportunities for their teens

Students

Workplace readiness

Mentorship

Chance to have "say" in how their community rebuilds & redevelops

Prototype Testing

Creative Engagement

Through conversation and interactive surveys we tested many engagement strategies. Among strategies tested were use of memes and funny tiktok trends too cringey and comes across as trying too hard and raffled items for applying -lacked the sort of mass appeal we thought landsec needed to strive for.

In the end, we learned that, the seemingly less creative, method of having teacher-led info sessions with candy would be the most effective. Lewisham college students, at least the ones we spoke and trust their teacher's advice when it comes to thinking about future careers.

Students Needs

We interviewed Lewisham college students about what they would like to get from an internship experience.

As a young person who is about to enter the workforce, students want advice from career professionals that can point them in the right direction. They also want to work with like-minded young people at the same time.

Therefore FWDLab runs in a teamwork structure and incorporates mentorship.

Concept Feasibility

We tested the feasibility of exploring these 3 topics, by using potential community engagement methods that students can apply.

These included gleaning public approval for an idea via tear-off posters on a bus station, collecting community memories via a large-sized communal fill in map and, collecting public opinion via the placement of vote boxes in public places.

We saw that these strategies are effective and are easy for students to replicate.