The importance of access to green space and nature in supporting the mental health and physical well-being of our communities has been well documented and has come even more to the fore during the Covid-19 pandemic and wider climate crisis.

In response to these challenges, Low Line Commons sees the opportunity to create a new linear park linking the network of streets and spaces along the base of the rail viaduct, connecting people with nature along its length. By viewing these often under used spaces as a shared community resource, the Low Line Commons provides a toolkit to spark imaginations and guide the delivery of projects with local stakeholders, incorporating more planting, more space for nature and more space for people to actively explore the Low Line.

Some projects that bring the Low Line Commons to life like the Warden’s Grove Garden, Metal Box Garden and Druid Street meadow have already been delivered in earlier stages of the Low Line in Bankside and London Bridge. Low Line Commons builds on this earlier work and offers guiding tools for local communities, including residents, businesses and landowners along the length of the Low Line to deliver more patches of green space that will link up over time to result in a new linear park for the north of Southwark.

Low Line Commons was the winning entry in an international RIBA design competition hosted in 2019, funded by Lund Trust – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Rausing. Low Line Commons was the winning entry by PDP London Architects, working with Macfarlane + Assocs, Greengage Ecology and Studion 4125.