Elephant Park

Challenge

Elephant Park was a hugely sensitive project. The development promised to put something back into the community, with new homes, green space, shops and opportunities. But it was entering a part of London with a strong culture and identity already in place, including an established Latinx community around Elephant & Castle.

The challenge was to create a position that felt rooted in that existing place rather than imposed on top of it.

The work

I helped develop the positioning around Life & Soul of the Elephant. It worked on two levels: a promise that this new place would put something back into the community, and a way to speak to the Latinx community already central to Elephant & Castle.

The point was not to overlay a new identity, but to grow one from something that was already there. That thinking informed the placemaking strategy, meanwhile activity and communications, including work with local businesses.

It also gave the wider creative team a foundation for the identity. The ampersand became a flexible storytelling device, connecting different people, places and experiences rather than presenting Elephant Park as something separate from its surroundings.

For the Lendlease project headquarters, I developed a narrative around the park itself. Mature trees, fresh air and new life became the story, connecting the temporary building to the place taking shape around it.