The new civic building will be at the heart of the first phase of the planned 1,622 new homes to be delivered as part of the Abbey Wood and South Thamesmead Housing Zone in the London Borough of Bexley.

It will be located on the south side of Southmere Lake within 10 minutes’ walk of the eastern most terminus of the new Elizabeth Line at Abbey Wood.

This new state-of-the-art building will serve the needs of new, existing and future communities, with a 21st century library, learning space and potential to accommodate other civic functions, including learning, health and wellbeing spaces. The competition provided an opportunity for creative design solutions to be explored that engage with the lakeside settings and Peabody’s commitment to investing in the local area.

The teams shortlisted to proceed to the design phase were:

• Adam Khan Architects
• Architecture 00 Ltd / Studio Weave
• Bisset Adams Ltd
• Keith Williams Architects
• Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter, Norway

The shortlisted teams worked on their design proposals and the final Evaluation Panel decision took place in October 2017. The Panel included John Whiles, Founding Director, Jestico + Whiles; Proctor and Matthews Architects; the London Borough of Bexley & Peabody.

The design proposal developed by Bisset Adams was selected as the winning scheme for the competition.