A true collaborative effort on the part of three agencies resulted in a new mobile public space for the community of Cricklewood in North West London. Civic ideas agency Spacemakers teamed up with Studio Kieren Jones, Studio Hato and the Outer London Fund to create a mobile town square for a town with no public space: no town hall, no library, no square, not even a bench.

The mobile town square is to be transported around Cricklewood via bike beginning August 31 and lasting until September 28. The 10-metre structure comprised of a 5-bike wheel base and steel frame covered in plywood and faux-brick cladding will play host to a series of free events, including a dog show, a film screening, and a public dance. The events programming will reference the area’s heritage with film screenings paying homage to now defunct local studios and the library stocking books by local authors. Design agency Studio Hato will will also run workshops instructing people on how to make their own signs for the space, using pre-cut templates and stencils based on Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calver’s Transport type face.

Funded by Outer London Fund as part of its initiative to revitalize Cricklewood’s town centre, the project aims to show what public space can do for a community. It also gets the community involved in the conversation about public space: Is it necessary? What should the public space look like? What should it function as?