Queen’s Market Good Growth Programme

Date: 2021

Co-designing with local businesses and communities to restore the jewel in Newham’s crown

Preliminary sketches from bid submission. 

Using our expertise in architecture, art and performance, JA Projects has been working with local communities and businesses to co-design improvements to Newham’s Queens Market and Queen’s Square.

The £5.3M Queen’s Market Good Growth Programme is jointly funded by Newham Council and the Mayor of London, aiming to support the Council’s ‘Towards a Better Newham’ Covid-19 Recovery Strategy, its Community Wealth Building priorities and the Mayor of London’s Good Growth objectives. 

The Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz, said: “This investment demonstrates the importance of Queen’s Market to our borough. It will ensure that it receives all the love and attention it deserves, as for too long it had been diminished as the jewel in Newham’s crown.”

The Queen’s Market Good Growth Programme is made up of four projects, two of which are led by JA Projects, that will be co-designed with residents, traders and shoppers and implemented over the next two years.

JA Projects have been appointed to lead on the designs that improve the look, feel and function of Queen’s Market, alongside improvements that enhance opportunities for rest and recreation on Queen's Square and the surrounding public realm.

Images of Queen’s Market, past and present.

Design Stage

The market is an important retail hub for local communities. For over a century Queen's Market has served East Londoners, from the original stalls in the middle of Green Street, to those relocated onto Queen’s Road to make space for trams, to the expansive complex we see today. A beacon at the heart of  Green Street, the market is loved, valued and used by the many. Beyond its diverse product offer and competitive prices, it fosters invaluable social connections  and relationships (many spanning decades!)

Despite the market's success and popularity, the building and surrounding public realm hold a number of functional and aesthetic challenges. Through a series of improvements, JA Projects will uplift Queen's Market and Square, striving to create spatial qualities that support and reflect the site's incredible activity and people.

As part of the appraisal, several key strategic ambitions were identified to guide design development, from creating safe welcoming and inclusive spaces to strengthening Queen's Market as a landmark on Green Street.

Stage 2 Concept Designs which cover lighting and flooring to greening and seating are now being taken forward to Stage 3 Developed Design. Updates to follow soon.

Images from ‘Talking Shop’ co-design workshops with local residents and Queen’s Market traders and shoppers.

Co-design

As part of an overall engagement strategy for the Queen’s Market Good Growth Programme, JA Projects have been running ‘Talking Shop’, a series of co-design workshops with local residents and Queen’s Market traders and shoppers.

‘Talking Shop’ is a bespoke co-design programme tailored to the Queen’s Market and Queen’s Square Project. Designed to capture local knowledge, the programme combines informal conversations, workshops and events to ensure the project truly speaks of the people who enliven it. JA Projects ran multiple sessions from a market stall, gathering a detailed understanding from the market's local experts on what works and what needs work.

A series of events have allowed them to trial design elements, from seating arrangements on the square during Hamara Chowk, ideas for signage during Market Make Day to A Seat at the Table, a communal meal to share feedback and test lighting elements.