Gort Scott was part of a consortium including Maccreanor Lavington Architects, led by Wood Plc, commissioned by the London Borough of Waltham Forest in 2017 to develop a masterplan to transform the existing Town Hall campus into a mixed use place orientated around biodiverse green space, culture, civic society and workspace, alongside a significant number of new homes. Gort Scott’s role encompassed the Civic buildings, workspace and Assembly Hall, including the re-imagination and reconfiguration of the Grade II Listed existing Town Hall up to RIBA Stage 2. Gort Scott also facilitated workshops and design review on placemaking and spatial organisation of the Town Hall Campus to support the new mix of activities envisaged on the site.

The masterplan was underpinned by the rationalisation of the Borough’s corporate estate and the delivery of enhanced Council infrastructure through the re-provision of new, modern workspaces. The Council aims to transform the way it operates and delivers services to residents by consolidating staff and democratic services onto the Town Hall Campus - releasing older surplus buildings and sites for redevelopment.

The first phase of delivery of the Council’s vision was the refurbishment of the existing Magistrates Court prototype workspace designed by Gort Scott as a Meanwhile project “The Magistrates”, to test new ways of working and sharing space with the public through its new ground floor cafe.

Following its successful delivery, Gort Scott was appointed to design efficient new workspace for council staff to enable the Waltham Forest Council to consolidate their offices onto the campus. The Council’s brief was for a new civic building to “complete the symmetry” of the original late 1930’s campus masterplan, around a reworked Fellowship Square and fountain.