Future Wimbledon - Announcing the winners

We are very excited to announce the winners in our Future Wimbledon ideas contest, presenting 7 creative visions to transform Wimbledon town centre.

Back in July, we teamed up with Merton Council and Love Wimbledon BID to launch an open competition for ideas that envisage what Wimbledon town centre could look like in the next 15 years.   We asked for entries that would contribute to a masterplan for the town’s future; making it a fantastic place to live and work

How it worked:

Our judging  panel of leading lights in design and architecture including Paul Finch, Alison Brooks, Wayne Hemingway MBE and Morag Myerscough, assessed the brilliantly imaginative entries in the form of animations, sketches, technical plans and architectural designs.   

Entries were submitted in two categories - Rising Stars: for individual or soon-to-be-qualified built environment professionals; and Creative Communities which was open to ideas from creative thinkers locally and globally.  

The winning ideas:

The winners and runners-up in each of the two categories are:

Rising Stars

1st place winner - £3000

Pablo Sendra Fernandez, Lugadero Studio
Play Wimbledon

Pablo’s entry imagines a town centre with escalators, giant slides, open air theatres and interactive games.  Playful and intelligent, the Seville-based architects’ idea was inspired by Aldo van Eyk’s transformed post-war Amsterdam.

Download View Pablo Sendra Fernandez's Play Wimbledon in full (File type: .pdf)

2nd place runner up - £1000

Michael Betts, M12 Studio

Michael proposed creating a new “heart” for Wimbledon town by pedestrianising the Broadway and building a covered space running down to an Arts Square by New Wimbledon Theatre.

Download View Michael's Wimbledon Garden High Street idea in full (File type: .pdf)

3rd place runner up - £500

Mark Jason Warren
Wimbledon Garden High Street

Wimbledon Garden High Street Imagines a truly green shopping street.  By taking the traffic away from the Broadway, the street becomes a flexible space with a series of gardens, independent market stalls and an open air theatre.

4th place runner up - £500

Holly Lewis, We Made That
Wimbledon Network

The Broadway is transformed with market stalls, performances and fitness classes in Holly’s Wimbledon Network, with rear yards  revitalised as “green rooms” for local businesses and deliveries made by tuk-tuks.

Creative Communities

1st place winner - £1000

Wimbledon East Hillside Residents Association

A ‘green grid’ is created to dramatically enhance pedestrian/cycle use and safety, with elevated paths and ‘wormholes’ to allow easier traffic flow.   A series of linked green spaces facilitates connections between the local community and businesses, and a South Bank style skate park provides a new congregation spot for young people.

Download View East Hillside Residents Association idea in full (File type: .pdf)

2nd place runner up - £500

Wimbledon Concert Hall Group

Wimbledon Town Centre is reinvigorated with outdoor sculptures, an ambitious new concert hall and a vibrant arts quarter, positioning it as an international cultural centre.

3rd place Runner up - £500

Tony Kane Studio

An area of unused space outside Wimbledon Theatre is transformed into a beautiful new piazza where the public can enjoy outdoor performances and events.

What the judges said:

“The future of Wimbledon is looking extremely positive, judging by the standard of ideas in this competition.”

Paul Windsor, Chair of Love Wimbledon

“The most successful and most convincing ideas were those that were playful and slightly unconventional in their approach, not requiring huge teams of professionals and huge acquisitions of land.”

Alison Brooks, Alison Brooks Architecture Ltd

View the winning entries:

An exhibition of the winning entries for Future Wimbledon can be viewed from 9 Oct - 7 Nov at:

NLA, The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT

Find out more about the Future Wimbledon ideas contest.