Tomorrow is Built Today Pavillion

A temporary structure with a green roof has been built by the lake. Read on to find out more about this structure and the meaning of the initiative.

The Pavillion

The structure celebrates Lewisham’s pioneering Black-led community self-build for rent schemes. Individuals met their housing needs through collective action, creating communities to build award-winning eco-social housing across the borough. The pavilion was built using the same Walter Segal principles as Nubia Way in Downham, the first social housing in London with green sedum roofs incorporating sustainable building materials.

 The Project

In the 1990s, Fusions Jameen, a co-operative of African and Caribbean Londoners, formed to develop a radical housing solution. The cooperative worked with a housing association to build award-winning social housing themselves.

Tomorrow is Built Today, led by original self-builder and community-led regeneration consultant, Tim Oshodi, gathered the memories of those involved in Lewisham’s pioneering Black-led self-build movement as part of In Living Memory, a programme led by Goldsmiths, University of London.

The programme empowered Lewisham communities to tell their own stories, supporting six community-led projects to develop a new people’s history of post-war Lewisham based on the memories of those who experienced and contributed to it.

 After gathering a host of memories and archival materials, Tim responded to them with a series of creative activities including a documentary film, exhibition and Open House tour of a Nubia Way self-build home.

The Pavilion

The structure was designed and built by Yes Make and Tim Oshodi. Yes Make is a company based in south-east London who are committed to community empowerment through the construction of public spaces that both inspire and are inspired by nature.

It is both a striking reminder of the powerful legacy of Lewisham’s pioneering Black-led self-build initiatives and provides shelter for the users of Beckenham Place Park swimming lake.

The project was supported by Goldsmiths, WAL, Mayor of London, Yes Make