Gabriel's Wharf (1988 – 1992)

"One of the nicest bits of the South Bank" — Evening Standard

Gabriel’s Wharf was a derelict site with a blank factory wall and a great view of the Thames. Developers Coin Street Community Builders briefed USM to exploit the site’s short-term potential by designing, building and managing a scheme that would pay for itself in no more than four years, prior to eventual redevelopment, and at the same time fit in with their wider aims for co–operative housing.

USM’s solution was a mix of retail craft workshops, pub and riverside restaurants, performance space, weekend market and low-cost promotion. Construction cost had to be low, yet success depended on high visual interest and quality. This was achieved by innovative use of relocatable building and exhibition techniques, including a “trompe l’oeuil” which turned the blank wall into a shopping street. The ‘interim’ solution, which took just three months from drawing board to opening ceremony, was so successful that it is still flourishing nearly two decades later