The Design District will have low-lying buildings sitting cheek by jowl around a series of asymmetric courtyards.
– Matt Dearlove

HNNA have unveiled designs for the London Design District, which was conceived by developer Knight Dragon to be a purpose-built neighbourhood for the creative industries.

The vision for the Design District is to provide "a permanent hub for makers and thinkers driving forward the fields of design, art, tech, food, fashion, craft and music."

Covering a 1ha (2.5ac) plot on Greenwich Peninsula, the masterplan comprises a cluster of 16 new buildings and provide 150,000sq ft (14,000sq m) of workspace in one form or other for around 1,800 creative industry workers.

Rather than design a uniformity into the new district, HNNA were keen to bake in architectural diversity, unpredictable geometry and individuality among the buildings, as found in neighbourhoods in London and elsewhere that have evolved organically over long periods.

There will be a "bold and playful combination of forms, colours and styles" aimed at creating an environment that will help to inspire creative thinking, collaboration and bold new ideas.

To achieve this, eight architects, including HNNA, will each design two buildings, with the others being 6a Architects, Adam Khan Architects, Architecture 00, Barozzi Veiga, David Kohn Architects, Mole Architects and Selgas Cano.

Matt Dearlove, head of design at Design District and Greenwich Peninsula, explained: "The simplest and most efficient route would have been to create a symmetrical layout of homogenous, large-scale workspaces, but the Design District will be a richer and more complex neighbourhood, with low-lying buildings sitting cheek by jowl around a series of asymmetric courtyards."