Myatts Fields Park is an unusual surviving example of a small Victorian Park in the heart of Lambeth, South London. LUC won the restoration project for the Park via competitive tender in 2003, working as lead consultants to bring back its historic features and secure its long-term future.In 2005, LUC prepared a successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and was subsequently appointed to implement the £2.6 million restoration project, funded by the HLF and Lambeth Council.The local community was the driving force behind the Parks restoration - the Myatts Fields Park Project Group started as a group of local parents who joined together to campaign for the improvement of their local park. LUC worked closely with the group and carried out local consultations to create a design and restoration strategy that respects the historic landscape as well as incorporating the elements of a modern day park.LUC researched historic maps to produce detailed plans for the restoration of this Grade II registered park. Our work discovered and brought back a lost area of decorative flower beds and paths which originally provided an important setting for the Bandstand. The original designer of the park was Fanny Wilkinson who was one of the first women Landscape Designers and a leading member of the women’s suffrage movement.Main restoration works to the park finished in winter 2008 and the restored Park was officially opened on Midsummer’s Eve 2009.This inspiring project is an excellent example of ‘Heritage-led Regeneration’, where investment in the physical structure of the park, together with the development of educational and enterprise opportunities, has acted as a catalyst to help build community and social inclusion. For example, operating from the park’s old green houses, a local charity will be providing horticultural training for disadvantaged and socially excluded people. Food grown by this project will be sold in a café housed in the restored kiosk building.Work on a new children’s building and an adult WC building started in August 2009 with architects Knox Bhavan. LUC designed the toddler’s playground for this additional work, commissioned the WC building and designed the landscape around it.Our team’s hard work has given new life to a run-down urban park in one of the most deprived wards in the country. The 120-year history of the park is being retold and its original glory revealed for a new generation and a modern audience. Most importantly, its central place in the local community, and therefore its future, has been secured.Cllr Rachel Heywood, Lambeth Council Cabinet member for Culture and Communities, said at the opening: “The improvements to Myatt’s Fields Park are a tremendous success story that proves how much can be achieved when residents, the council and other agencies work together for the benefit of everyone”.
