Animating Nutford Place

Westminster City Council is collaborating with The Portman Estate and Native Land to invest in long and short-term opportunities to animate Nutford Place, the main public space off Edgware Road.

Nutford Place is one of the priority projects for Paddington - Bayswater High Streets Programme. The programme aims to create a more welcoming and inclusive high street environment. The public space at Nutford Place was also identified as a priority location for improvement by the Edgware Road Placemaking Strategy.

This project forms part of the High Street ‘Animation’ initiative, a programme dedicated to enhancing the area's arts and cultural offer. It aims to celebrate local culture and heritage while revitalising the streetscape through creative collaborations with artists, designers, and makers. 

Following on from your feedback during public engagements across 2023-24, we invited three architectural design teams - Assemble Studio, Root And Erect and Muf Architecture, to each develop a design theme to inspire the transformation of Nutford Place, based on the following objectives:

• Creatively address a specific functional need on the high street
• Positively animate the space through playfulness, wonder, discovery and social interaction
• Reflect local stories and heritage of people who live, work and visit the area.

Each team proposed one long-term vision and one pop-up activation. This exhibition presents the three themes for long-term improvements and invites local feedback to help identify which concept resonates most with the community. In the meantime, Root and Erect have been selected to deliver their pop-up proposal, offering a chance to test site activity and an art intervention while we gathered feedback on the future direction of the space and the three long-term proposals. 

Public Engagement 

1st - 29th September 2025

Now is your opportunity to tell us what you think about each of the themes. Your feedback will help us develop a focused design brief to create a special public space feature, based on the favoured theme, designed to reflect local culture and make Nutford Place somewhere everyone feels welcome.

 Get involved by:

• Telling us what you think by answering the short online survey below
• Taking a look at the exhibition which shares more details of the three proposed themes. It will be onsite at Nutford Place from Friday 29^th August to Monday 29^th September, or below
• Join us and Root And Erect for a series of pop-up events throughout September 2025 exploring the theme of pattern to develop a series of giant floor ‘rugs’ and test the animation of Nutford Place. Sign up for an event here

Check out the online Exhibition Boards

Designing the Magic Carpet, September pop-up activation

1st - 29th September

Throughout September, Westminster City Council and the Portman Estate with design consultants Root and Erect are hosting a series of events and workshops at Nutford Place, Edgware Road, to develop a series of giant floor ‘rugs’ and test one way to animate and activate Nutford Place. Sign up to the events below on Eventbrite here 

The programme is designed to connect with the local community and celebrate the area’s rich heritage. 

Why a pop-up?

This pop-up month at Nutford Place provides an opportunity to invite the community to test different ways to activate and animate the site, before committing to a long-term investment. 

Your feedback on both the pop-up and longer-term ideas will allow us to gather insight and consider what long-term improvements would be the most suitable. 

September Programme

Week 1 - Pattern Setting Out

• Pattern Workshop: Saturday 6th September 11am - 2 pm. Hosted by artist Lacey Ferri

Week 2 - Design Week

• 3D Sculpture & Pattern Workshop: Sunday 14th September at 11am - 2 pm. As part of London Design Festival with Root and Erect and GF Smith

Week 3 - Play Week

• Afterschool Play Day: Friday 19th September at 3:30pm - 6:30 pm. In collaboration with storytellers Hekayyatna and SWANA organisations

Week 4 - Feast

• Community Feast day: Saturday 27th September 1:30pm - 6:30 pm. Food provided by local businesses, with story sharing by Hekayyatna and SWANA organisations

Awards

• Finalist, The Pineapples, Child-friendly Place, 2026
• Finalist, Thornton Educational Trust, Culture, 2026
• Shortlisted (award tbc), NLA Awards, Meanwhile Activation, 2026

Meanwhile On at 21-23 Nutford Place

Westminster City Council have been in collaboration with The Portman Estate to test new uses at 21-23 Nutford Place via three pop-ups: 

1. Shubbak Festival Corner: May - June 2025 bringing Arabic culture to Edgware Road through a local living room hosting events.
2. Big Sister: French Vegan Cafe ran for 6 month from August 2025.  
3. Cantoast Bakery: currently live. A Hong Kong café and bakery, reimagined for a modern audience.

The Meanwhile On programme looks to diversity the offer on the high street.

Shubbak Corner, 2025

The Portman Estate hosted Shubbak Corner at 22 Nutford Place from Friday 23 May to Sunday 15 June 2025.

Shubbak (meaning “window” in Arabic) is a cultural charity that supports and celebrates contemporary Arab, South West Asian & North African artists (SWANA) through participatory and experiential events and programmes. Shubbak Festival is their biannual celebration, featuring visual arts, film, music, theatre, dance, literature, and thought-provoking debates. All with the aim of highlighting art as a site of connection and transformation.

Shubbak transformed 22 Nutford Place into Shubbak Corner from Friday 23 May to Sunday 15 June 2025, a site for reflecting on the present, imagining new futures and celebrating community-led cultural life. The event featured exclusive art displays, interactive workshops, and thought-provoking talks and panel discussions exploring community, culture, and place.

Shubbak Corner is sponsored by The Portman Estate.