Alphabetical gets off to a flyer with identity for Thamesmead community centre The Link

The Link is a £5.5m facility to be operated by community development agency Trust Thamesmead. It is set to open next year and will offer services including sporting and cultural activities and educational and volunteering opportunities to young people and the wider community in Thamesmead.

The centre is being designed by Worthing-based architect Saville Jones and is the second facility designed by the practice for Trust Thamesmead, according to director Haydn Jones.

Alphabetical was appointed to create branding for the centre last month after being approached by the client, according to creative partner Bob Young.

The consultancy was appointed after the client secured funding for the centre under the Department for Education’s Myplace initiative, which aims to deliver world-class youth facilities.

Alphabetical is currently working on designs for the branding, which Young says the consultancy hopes to complete by the end of the year. He says the team is working with young people in the area, including the Thamesmead Youth Voice Group, to get input.

The Link will be located underneath the Harrow Manor Way flyover, and Young says, ’It’s using that space to create something positive.’ He adds, ’The branding will be mindful of where the centre is.’

Saville Jones was appointed to design the centre in 2007, according to Jones. He says the building will slope down from a two-storey height in line with the flyover.

Jones says the practice designed the centre within the supporting structures for the flyover, which could not be altered. He adds, ’We had to create a building within the surrounding structure without touching it.’

Young says Alphabetical may also work on wayfinding and other graphic application systems within the centre. Jones says Saville Jones has already begun work on siting for the wayfinding, and adds that the branding may use ’graffiti-style’ graphics.