High Street North Enhancements (Shape Newham)
Shape Newham launched in 2019 to co-design and install imaginative and original public space improvement projects across the borough. Local residents and businesses were invited to a series of community events and workshops to choose the location and priorities for each project.
At the community events in East Ham, residents voted to combine a number of Shape Newham installations along the length of High Street North. Together these enhancements would span from the Barking Road to East Avenue and would incorporate Pilgrim’s Way.
During the resident workshops to develop design proposals, feedback included preferences that the installations should:
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Incorporate vibrant colours.
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Address the cluttered, congested and unwelcoming feeling outside East Ham Station.
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Celebrate and promote East Ham as a place to live.
This led to the development of a number of design proposals for the Shape Newham enhancements along High Street North. The designs included proposals to:
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Redecorate the gateway arches at each end of the High Street, and the forty lamp posts between them, using vibrant colours, with new lighting and signage. This proposal was designed by CarverHaggard and Europa.
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Reconfigure the street furniture outside East Ham Station and install purpose-made bike racks that spell out a welcoming message, reflecting the importance of the station as a gateway to the area. This proposal was designed by CarverHaggard and Europa.
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Incorporate artwork from local artist - Sabba Khan. She has created 12 drawings based on interviews with the local East Ham community. Titled ‘I Love it Here’ the artwork celebrates the energy of Newham’s population. Sabba’s work was proposed to be installed on Pilgrim’s Way and tells the story of what it means to live in East Ham, shoulder to shoulder with one another, encouraging us to see ourselves and our neighbours in a different way.
The installation of the Shape Newham enhancements along High Street North commenced in 2023.
The enhancements along High Street North are part of the Council’s Shape Newham programme. For more information on this programme, including information on the community engagement process and locations of all the Shape Newham projects across Newham please visit the Shape Newham page.