Woodberry Downs Pavilion, 2025

The Woodberry Down Pavilion was a youth-led project aimed at strengthening young Woodberry Down residents’ roles in community-decision making. The project came at the half-way point in the Woodberry Down estate’s 35+ year redevelopment and offered young residents, many of whom had grown up with the redevelopment project, an opportunity to make an impact on their local area.

RC/YYC worked with young Woodberry Down residents aged 14 to 19 years old, introducing them to built environment skills through a series of skill-building, co-design workshops through which the Woodberry Down pavilion was designed. 

We led on recruitment, building relationships with local community groups, including the Woodberry Down Community Organisation (WDCO), as well as local schools and the youth hub, The Edge. In-person meetings and outreach were complemented by flyering and door-knocking to raise awareness about the project.

RC/YYC led on the delivery of ten skill-building workshops, supporting young residents to design the Woodberry Down pavilion with input from structural engineers, Simple Works and furniture-makers New School of Furniture Making and Daniele Barco Works.

Working with the New School of Furniture Making, Daniele Barco Works and Or This, RC/YYC installed the pavilion in the summer of 2025 for the Hidden River Festival on 13th September where it was officially opened by Mayor of Hackney, Caroline Woodley. The pavilion stayed in place for three weeks, hosting ten further workshops for six years old and above, as well as two community-led events, before being dismantled and stored on the estate for use at future community events. 

The project was delivered in collaboration with the London Borough of Hackney, Notting Hill Genesis and Berkeley Group, with support from Manor House Development Trust and the Woodberry Down Community Organisation.