This part of The Gingerbread City is an island formed many thousands of years ago – but it’s been developed over the past 100 years in a way that has a strangely reminiscent character to parts of central London! Remember, The Gingerbread City very much a vision of the future.
Once, this was the main power generating area for the whole of Gingerbread City, but now the old coal and gas fired power stations have now been decommissioned and converted to visitor friendly sustainable uses. The area includes cultural, office and residential uses too.
Want to get a train to London? Easy. We’ve got the tickets you need.
This area of The Gingerbread City’s masterplan is split up into several individual plots. Teams from architecture and design companies were asked to pick one of these plots – and then supply a bespoke gingerbread building appropriate for it. Over the past few months, the wonderful buildings below have been conceived, designed, crafted, and baked by them to fit.
The buildings of London Quarter Island
Space Lodge
Alex Cochrane Architects
In the future when Earth is overcrowded, this practice are looking to build new communities on other planets. This Regent Street store is repurposed as a ‘space lodge’ showroom. Voyagers choose their future home before boarding the spacecraft to begin the journey to their extra-terrestrial future.
About the designers: Alex Cochrane Architects are an award-winning design led practice based in West London. Their approach is about invention rather than replication achieving solutions through creative dialogue, painting, drawing and model making. Their interests lie in all related design and furniture disciplines.
Oxford Circus
Arup Architects
A busy intersection where for hundreds of years Londoners and tourists alike have bought their Christmas presents. The high street however is changing, what will the future hold as online shopping and drones become increasingly common.
About the designers: At the heart Arup are a global, design-led architecture practice.They deliver integrated solutions to today’s challenges, resulting in buildings which are simple, efficient, purposeful and beautiful.
Candy Crane Wharf
AWW UK
Candy Crane Wharf is a dense residential building located on ‘London Island’ and inspired by the city’s historic industrial wharf buildings situated along the waterfront. In order to sustainably meet London’s requirements to expand, a modern roof extension has been incorporated to the converted existing building. An increased number of ‘candy cranes’ along the residential waterfront aids accessibility of the Thames’ historic nautical infrastructure. This could increase the allowance for sugar trade following shortages due to excessive consumption from the AWW gingerbread design team meetings.
About the designers: AWW is an established practice based in London, Bristol and Plymouth, with national and international reach. They work across all sectors in architecture, masterplanning and interior design and deliver work they’re proud of through the exceptional commitment of our staff.
Lavender Gate
Glenn Howells Architects
The old brutalist classic on Lavender Gate has been repurposed by the urban gardening action group. The practice aimed to create a new self-sufficient gingerbread community of all ages in a machine for living, working and energy harvesting. The proposal is bound together by an Escher inspired maze of terraces that connect active roofs used as a windfarm, greenhouse and lavender beehive to the candy cane plantation at grade.
About the designers: Glenn Howells Architects are an award-winning design studio. Underpinning the practice is an approach rooted in the constant exploration of ideas about how buildings and cities are made, built, and how they can improve the lives of individuals and communities.
Sugarset House
Hawkins\Brown
London has declared a climate emergency and as water levels rise the River Thames has burst its banks. The partially frozen courtyard of Sugarset House provides a backdrop for a vibrant community hub, not dissimilar to the Frost Fairs of the 16th Century. A network of sugary waterways and canals has become the dominant form of transport across the city and the site’s proximity to the Thames allows the building to harness hydroelectric power. Long gone are the days when the courtyard was home to a car park; water-based transport has been reimagined to transform the London Quarter.
About the designers: Hawkins\Brown is an internationally-renowned architecture practice of over 250 architects, interior designers, urban designers and researchers. With offices in London, Manchester and Edinburgh, the award-winning firm works across a range of types and scale, bringing a collaborative approach to its projects.
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Horden Cherry Lee Architects
Powered by the River Thames, the Monorail is a light, fast-moving transport system to provide links between Heathrow to Central London (Westminster, the City, Docklands and City Airport), with the opportunity to take in key London landmarks along the way. The system occupies the ‘in-between’ zone above high tide level and run beneath the southern arches of the existing bridges. Monorail stations will each be landmark buildings housing a local tidal power generator using a combination of tidal and hydrostatic power. The system will be low-carbon, silent and non-polluting.
About the designers: HCL Architects, an awardwinning practice, works across a full range of typologies and scales. Recognising each client and project uniqueness, our approach is perceptive, flexible and without preconceptions. Investing time to fully assess client objectives and site context, they deliver informed responses to the brief, townscape and local conditions.
Tri-fle Towers
Manser Practice
In Tri-fle Towers, one is greeted with sweet surprises at every angle. Dark treacly gingerbread will form the hotel structure with colourful boiled sweet windows that bathe the interior in honeyed light. Guests get the best view from the top while skating around a glazed icing ice-rink. A liquorice rope walkway linking the towers will create ‘all-sorts’ of excitement on windy days for candy guests. Finally a slippery slope of desiccated coconut snow will glide the candy guests out into their Gingerbread City
About the designers: The Manser Practice is an architecture and interior design studio with a reputation for quality. They work on all types of projects – big, small and everything in-between – from concept to completion. And the practice loves a challenge.
Battersea Sugar Powered Station
Michaelis Boyd Associates
In 2013 Michaelis Boyd was appointed as the Interior Architect for 254 new apartments inside Battersea Power Station. They worked as part of the design team to reimagine the existing Switch Houses into homes, and to bring the vision of the existing fabric of the building into new build apartments on top of the Switch Houses and Boiler House. With construction of this well under way, they were thrilled to have the opportunity to completely reimagine the Power Station, a building they love, in Gingerbread!
About the designers: Michaelis Boyd produces simple, elegant architecture and interiors with an emphasis on sustainable, environmentally sound solutions. The practice is passionate about playful design and creativity, always pushing the boundaries to achieve visionary results.
The Embankment
Penoyre & Prasad
Following Gingerbread City’s exit from the CU (Confectionary Union) and faced with the challenge of continued global oven-warming, ingredients to make new biscuit buildings are scarce and community sugar levels are low. In an effort to reduce sherbet emissions and minimise sugar consumption, it is important that the designers of Gingerbread City re-use and retrofit existing gingerbread structures wherever possible. Somerfruits House, a sixteenth century palace, will be re-purposed to provide chewy, flexible space for sustainable and creative bakers and a modern strawberry filling insertion will provide arts and play space for the wholenut community.
About the designers: Driven by imagination, integrity and intelligence, the practice has designed over 300 buildings and interiors in the UK and internationally: inspiring school environments, distinguished cultural and commercial buildings, pioneering health buildings, convivial housing and urban masterplans.
The Gingerbread Modern
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
The Gingerbread Modern perches on the banks of the London Quarter Island as a celebration of the transformative power of art. Art is the sprinkling of magic that transforms Henry Tate’s humble sugar into the beautiful edible delights of the gingerbread wonderland. And it is Art that transforms the chimney and great halls of the power station of yesterday into vibrant public space that bring us together today to imagine the sugary possibilities of tomorrow. The Gingerbread Modern is the perfect place for all your sweetest dreams to come alive. Please come along and celebrate!
About the designers: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an influential collective of architects, designers, engineers and planners, responsible for some of the world’s most technically and environmentally advanced buildings, and significant public spaces.
Gingerbread Automobile Club
TateHindle
The historic Gingerbread Automobile Club has been rejuvenated to integrate it into the community and breathe new life into a historic landmark. The public facing rooftop extension constructed with 100% sustainable baking techniques and fully solar powered provides a new exhibition space for ‘Automobiles of the Future’ showcasing some of the world’s soon to be sweetest rides. The new public terrace provides views across the skyline of Gingerbread City.
About the designers: TateHindle is an award-winning architecture and design practice. Their portfolio includes innovative new builds and the sensitive restoration of listed buildings. The practice creates spaces that inspire people to work, learn and create; they establish sustainable communities and design beautiful buildings for everyone to enjoy.
Pick-n-Mix Circus
Universal Design Studio
This honeycomb structure, inspired by the geometry of the famous Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, houses an apiary to encourage the growth of our endangered pollinators - without which this sugar coated gingerbread city would crumble. Unlike it’s real life counterpart, the ‘Pick-n-mix Circus’ has been designed with modern, ecological transport modes in mind, so the people of Gingerbread City will never be stuck in a jam!
About the designers: Universal Design Studio is an award-winning architecture and interior design practice based in London. Driven by a deeply held belief in the transformative power of well designed, finely crafted spaces, it creates boutique hotels and restaurants, retail environments, workspaces, galleries and cultural institutions all over the world.