Stratford is getting a flashy new cultural quarter with live entertainment, art galleries and a new public piazza

During the 2012 Olympics, the whole world was looking at Stratford as athletes raced, jumped and swam their way to victory in what’s now the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Then, for a while afterwards, the attention died down, and the neighbourhood’s main draw was shopping at the shiny new Westfield Stratford. Now, it looks like this well-connected but historically overlooked patch of east London is getting another shot at the limelight.

The Mayor of London is backing new cultural hub East Bank, which has seen massive cultural institutions setting up shop in Stratford, near the old Olympic park: V&A East, V&A Storehouse, and Sadler’s Wells East are all pulling in new visitors. But the investment doesn’t stop there. There’s a new, separate development in the works on a site that’s right by Stratford station, and is set to be transformed into a cultural destination for arts, performance and immersive theatre lovers.

The patch of land itself isn't especially inspiring. It’s a former coach park from the 2012 Olympics, with railway tracks on three sides. For a while it was earmarked for the ill-fated MSG Sphere, which sought to bring a glowing, Las Vegas-style orb-shaped entertainment venue to a neighbourhood that said a pretty resounding ‘no thanks’. Finally, things are starting to look a bit more positive, though. Local onlookers have been intrigued to see it fill up with old red double decker buses, daubed with trippy designs by big names in street art including Tamp Two, Captain Kris and Tom Blackford, who’s created a retro, many-tentacled monster. 

This outbreak of art is just a tiny taster of what’s coming next. Freshly unveiled proposals from Hallmark Property Group have outlined plans for Stratford Junction, a whole new cultural neighbourhood, springing up on this unloved patch of concrete. 

They’re hoping to create 1700 sqm of new public space, including green areas, a piazza, and places to hang out. There’ll be outdoor exhibitions, art trails, and over 100 public art installations. Two flexible performance venues will house shows for 1,200-4,300 people each, and there’ll also be 20,000 sqm of space for immersive experiences and exhibitions.

And of course, there’ll be tons of bars, cafes and restaurants for ravenous culture vultures. The idea is that a year-round programme of events, festivals and community activity will turn this site into a bustling new community hub, one that attracts £190m in visitor expenditure and creates up to 1,500 new jobs.

Of course, this artsy utopia will need to be funded somehow. And like many of London’s new cultural offerings, it’ll include a substantial helping of new flats. There’ll be 2,100 shared living homes on the site, taking advantage of its stellar transport links, as well as 1,600 hotel rooms to serve the many expected new visitors to thriving Stratford.

This development is promising to bring a huge amount of life to this relatively small site, and it’s doing so by thinking vertically: Stratford Junction will have three new towering new skyscrapers, ranging from 31 to 47 storeys. 

Will these ambitious plans go down better with locals than the roundly vetoed MSG Sphere? There’s already been a year of engagement with nearby residents and stakeholders, and further consultations will take the form of public exhibitions of the plans at at The Source, Theatre Square, E15 1BX, on July 15-16, 4-7pm. 

If all goes to plan, an unloved site that’s lain empty since 2012 could finally be back in the spotlight, taking Stratford’s already-impressive glow-up to shiny new heights.

Here’s our review of Stratford's freshly opened cultural destination, V&A East.

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