The winning design team has been revealed for the ‘Welcome to Warren Street’ competition, the temporary placemaking intervention, delivered by the London Festival of Architecture with The Fitzrovia Partnership.

Team ‘Able and Elliott Wood’ is a collaboration between Able Partners, an architecture practice, and Elliott Wood a structural engineering firm, who share a workspace in Fitzrovia.

Their bold proposal – which takes the idea of a ‘rabbit warren’ as an approach to navigation – demonstrated a strength of vision, playfulness and a deep understanding of the local context. Seeking to transform the area around Warren Street to improve the experience of the public realm and invite passers-by to ‘dive into’ Fitzrovia, eye-catching wayfinding will be threaded throughout the scheme utilising non-functional spaces throughout June 2024.

Local community and businesses will also be invited to contribute to a conceptual map of Warren Street to aid visitors and locals alike to understand the ‘warren’.

This competition forms the first part of a four-year partnership between The Fitzrovia Partnership and the London Festival of Architecture, which will focus on improving gateways into Fitzrovia and testing and implementing successful public realm schemes to improve navigation and the overall experience around the area.

The winning team will be awarded £37,000 to develop and deliver their design, which will be installed in June 2024 and remain in situ for one month.

The winners were selected by a jury chaired by Peter Murray OBE, Founder of the London Festival of Architecture and comprised: Lee Lyons, Chief Operating Officer, The Fitzrovia Partnership; Lavinia Scalett, Placeshaping Manager, Camden Council; Mark Hart, Community Partnership Specialist, TfL; David Byrne, CEO, The Doctors Laboratory; Ruchi Chakravarty, Urban Designer.

Bill Webb, project lead, Able Partners said: “Both Able Partners and Elliott Wood are based in the heart of Fitzrovia, so we’re really pleased to have been appointed to the ‘Welcome to Warren Street’ project by the LFA and The Fitzrovia Partnership and to have the chance to celebrate our neighbourhood with a creative and dynamic installation.

“An extensive pool of talent submitted to the competition, so we’re incredibly proud to have been selected as the winning team. Our collaboration will draw on expertise from across Able Partners and Elliott Wood for a joined-up approach, and we hope that together with the LFA we will create real impact and bring new faces into this fantastic area in the heart of central London.”

About Able Partners and Elliott Wood

Team ‘Able and Elliott Wood’ is a collaboration between Able Partners, an architecture practice, and Elliott Wood a structural engineering firm, who share a workspace in Fitzrovia W1.

Able Partners specialise in creating bold, innovative and sustainable solutions to urban challenges. Working from our London studio we work to deliver impactful, original and affordable projects that improve our world and challenge conventional thinking.

Elliott Wood is a large established structural engineering practice with sustainability and community at their heart. Driven by strategic consultancy with creative and technical problem-solving, they act as originators, advisors and doers for the built environment. They inspire clients and organisations to think differently about their spaces – not just aesthetically and commercially – but for the benefit of the planet and the people who use them every day.