Cockpit
Placemaking
Consultation and stakeholder engagement
Gathering community support for Cockpit makers market in Deptford
Cockpit is the UK’s largest, most diverse cluster of makers. An award-winning charity, it is recognised on the NatWest SE100 index of the UK’s top-performing social enterprises.
In late 2021, we were selected to share proposals to expand and improve its Deptford studios with the local community. Cockpit has been at its Creekside location for over 20 years and its renovation plans will see the building open its doors to the local community with a new courtyard garden and a small, public cafe. A new education space on the ground floor will host workshops, exhibitions and craft events. New studio space will improve facilities for the makers’ community and create space for 20 new businesses.
Our role was to manage a programme of community involvement with consultation sessions coinciding with Open Studio events, virtual events and a series of family-orientated creative workshops.
We spent time in the local area, visiting local shops, cafes, schools and venues to help publicise our community consultation and encourage everyone from the local area to participate. We contacted hundreds of stakeholders to invite them to come along to events and lend their support to Cockpit’s funding and planning applications.
Our workshops allowed families and young people from the neighbourhood to find out more about Love Over Gold, a mural that dates back nearly 50 years and is an important part of the area’s cultural history. It speaks of social justice in Deptford and imagines a future of wealth redistribution. We think its message - valuing relationships and community above profit or wealth - is just as relevant today and for future generations.
Teaming up with Cockpit makers we curated two days of free, interactive print making activities designed to appeal to local families. Alongside this creativity, we spoke to local people to gather views on the renovation proposals, ideas for community involvement and perspectives on the mural and public art strategy.
Planning permission was granted in Spring 2022.
Project Details
Client: Cockpit
Status: Completed 2022
Team: Filigree
Find out more: cockpitstudios.org