Sunnyside Community Gardens has planning permission, approved unanimously at Islington's committee yesterday. The decision secures a permanent home for the therapeutic horticulture charity, replacing a cramped shipping container and a failing timber toilet block with a building where up to twenty-five volunteers can garden, cook and eat together year-round.
The garden is one of the only community gardens in London with no gates and round-the-clock public access, on a triangular plot at the top of Hornsey Rise. The design answers that openness with a deep porch that reconciles welcome and security, and a robust palette of brick and metal built to withstand a public park.
Our thanks to Sunnyside's trustees and volunteers, and to Islington Council, whose Section 106 funding made the design possible. Work now moves towards fundraising and delivery.
