This sequence of public realm interventions is located on Plumstead High Street in south-east London. Funded by both the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund and the Royal Borough of Greenwich, the works were aimed at bringing investment to Plumstead town centre, uplifting the pedestrian experience through an improved sense of place and identity and mitigating the impact of climate change. Improvements to the junction of the High Street and White Hart Road, plus adjustments to White Hart Road, a vital link from the High Street to the Ridgeway and new residential development beyond, calm traffic and increase footways. A narrowed, and now one-way, road includes new rain gardens, wayfinding, a small orchard and integrated play area. Together, these make a partly industrial road safer and more welcoming for walking and cycling, while absorbing rainwater and creating wildlife habitats. The centrepiece, a railway underpass on White Hart Road, has been transformed into a welcoming pedestrian place, lit and animated with vibrant graphics.  New green spaces along the High Street include Gavin House Green, where paths, planting and play-on-the-way spaces now enliven a previously unused frontage, a reorganised car park at Abery Street, now set within trees, and a new garden at Lakedale Green. In addition, seating, low-level planting and lighting enhance spaces outside shops at both Lakedale Road and Plumstead Plaza.Advertisement These projects demonstrate the positive impact that a critical mass of small interventions, carefully considered together and supported by community aspirations, can bring about in a busy and familiarly chaotic town-centre context.  Graeme Sutherland, director, Adams & Sutherland     Project data Start on site January 2021 Completion Gross external floor area 2 Architect Adams & Sutherland Client Royal Borough of Greenwich Structural engineer JCC Civils engineer Civic Engineers Quantity surveyor Appleyard & Trew Project manager Rumi Bose Main contractor JB Riney & Co Consultation and graphic design Make:Good Soft landscape architect JCLA Lighting Studio EG CAD software used Vectorworks Predicted design life 30+ years   Specification Wayfinding Artwork on the bridge, celebrating Plumstead’s heritage, inspired by workshops with local students, and derived from the character of Plumstead High Street and the nearby Edwardian power station (now being converted to workspace), also acts as wayfinding, visually connecting destinations. Inlaid ground signage on a busy footway and a muscular, low-maintenance bespoke Cor-ten (weathering steel) finger post by an industrial estate are designed to be appropriate to their locations.  Edging Weathering steel is also used to form planter edging in the pedestrian realm, easily creating fluid and responsive forms, adjusting to levels and detailed to require minimal foundations, so reducing costs and impact on existing trees. New SuDS rain gardens in the carriageway are edged with granite kerbs, with inset boulders and stepping stones creating moments of play-on-the-way by the pavement.Advertisement Planting Negotiating constraints is a part of successful urban greening. Aligned with the railway underpass, White Hart Road has a high concentration of underground services, so tree planting was not possible. Rain gardens therefore focus on mitigating surface water drainage, while trees were planted on adjacent sites. Along the busy High Street, existing fragments of green space were enhanced and enlarged. Native trees, including birch and alder, combine with tough textured grasses, flowering and scented species to introduce colour and variety. Graeme Sutherland, director, Adams & Sutherland     Seating Providing seating in the public realm can be a surprisingly complex and controversial undertaking, requiring solutions which bring amenity and comfort but also address anti-social behaviour. The answer here was to be very specific to each context and to use a range of different approaches. Generous, high-backed timber benches (with a great view) built into new raised planters at Lakedale Green replaced existing well-worn seats, while, overlooked by busy supermarkets, single, fixed, steel chairs give respite for shoppers but do not encourage gathering. Along the High Street, steel perches give a place for pause and support and in new open spaces these extend to become bespoke play rails.     Graeme Sutherland, director, Adams & Sutherland   Selected products Planter edging Logic Manufactured Bespoke Raised and flush 6mm Cor-ten planter edging with various heights Footways and landscape logic-bespoke.comSurface edging Kinley Flush aluminum edging for hard surfaces Between hard landscape surfacing kinley.co.ukPlay surface SureSet Resin Systems Permeable play surface EPDM rubber crumb surface Play areas sureset.co.ukLit bollard SLV Lighting UK Oxidised steel (Cor-ten) bollard with integrated light Within landscape slv.comInlaid signage South Coast Stone 30mm sandblasted granite with 3mm flat stainless steel inlay Within footways southcoaststone.comBlack brick paving Marshalls 100 x 200 x 60mm Priora permeable block Paving marshalls.co.ukResin-bound gravel and tree pit surfacing Addagrip Terraco 30mm porous resin-bound, mixed 6-10mm Footways and tree surrounds addagrip.co.uk