For decades, Cockpit's frontage on Deptford's Creekside has presented a solid face to the street: 3.5 metres high, an imposing barrier to an unused and inaccessible yard.

This week, Quinn cut the opening that will eventually receive a new steel gate by Cake Metalwork. It is the first time the wall has been breached at ground level, and the effect is immediate. Light reaches the front yard. The yard will become visible from the pavement. The relationship between Cockpit and the street, which has always been one of the practice's ambitions for this project, is suddenly imaginable in physical terms.

Momentum reviewed the wall condition before works proceeded and confirmed no temporary propping was required. The gate foundations are being formed now. The gate itself is in fabrication.