Regeneration project: Harrow Town Centre

The Mayor’s Outer London Fund has given £472,000 from Round One and £1.8m from Round Two, matched by £1m from Harrow, to help make Harrow town centre a more resilient and inviting place. The area has struggled to compete with several new shopping mall developments nearby, with plenty of potential yet to be fulfilled. In response, streets have been redesigned and the overall environment has been improved with new pavements and surfaces, benches, planting, signage and lighting. Lowlands Recreation Ground is also getting a facelift, including a new outdoor performance space which will help bring much-needed energy and excitement back to Harrow town centre.

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Animating places

Despite its prime location, Lowlands Recreation Ground is an underused and unloved green space. This important community resource is being remodelled according to designs by architects Adams & Sutherland. New entrances are opening up the park to draw people in from the town centre. Planting, play areas and a cafe are helping to create a pleasant leafy environment which complements the town centre’s buzz. A large outdoor performance space is also being created. This will be able to host music, dance, drama and cinema screenings to help revitalise Harrow’s image and bring new cultural life to the centre.

Hosting events

Improvements to the Lowlands Recreation Ground include a new, flexible performance space which can be used for major open-air events and more intimate musical concerts, tea dances, comedy or cabaret shows. When it is not being used for entertainment, the space offers a useful extension to the cafe or a rehearsal and workshop space for local dance or drama groups. Alongside the obvious draw of performances in the park, a series of speciality craft, vintage, and continental markets are bringing new visitors to Harrow town centre. Together, these changes are helping to make Harrow a new destination for exciting entertainment and shopping experiences.

Public spaces

St Ann’s Road is Harrow’s most important shopping street. This pedestrianised route is used to access two indoor shopping centres and features kiosks and barrow pitches. David Kohn Architects are reinvigorating its appearance and giving it a stronger identity, helping it to compete with nearby shopping areas. The same design team are also working on St Ann’s Road and the adjoining Havelock Place, decluttering and smartening up the area with new lighting, paving and street furniture. A tree-lined ‘boulevard’ route from the station through Lowlands Recreation Ground and onto Station Road will encourage further movement and new connections. Work is also underway to introduce new signage to make the town centre easier to navigate.

Stewardship

A new Business Improvement District for Harrow is bringing together local traders to make a tangible difference to how the town centre is managed. The organisation galvanises all those who rely on the town centre for their economic wellbeing, encouraging them to collaborate on projects that improve the town centre while boosting their own bottom line. As well as stimulating wider engagement within the business community, the new forum unites traders, statutory authorities and wider stakeholders behind a common vision for the town centre, helping to generate more income to benefit the whole area.

Shaping development

The first round of Outer London Fund investment helped Harrow Council work with muf architecture/art to produce the report ‘Testing the Urban Realm’. This comprehensive survey of the strengths and potential of the town centre made a range of recommendations on how best to revitalise the area and has served as foundation for future spending. A further study, ‘Heart of Harrow’, was produced by East Architecture Landscape Urban Design which informed the Area Action Plan and was supported by the GLA.

Borough: Harrow

Partners/client: LB Harrow, GLA

Consultants: David Kohn Architects, Adams & Sutherland, muf architecture/art, East Architecture Landscape Urban Design, Designed by Good People

Funding: Mayor of London £2.2m, LB Harrow £1m