Ladywell Pop Up Village. Pic: Lewisham Council

The first ever Pop-up Village in London will appear in Lewisham, designed by internationally renowned architect, Lord Richard Rogers.

The Ladywell Pop-up Village will be the first social housing initiative of this kind. The project has been taken on by architect firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and will be built on the site of the demolished Ladywell Leisure Centre.

The brightly coloured Pop-up Village will comprise of 24 factory-constructed, four-floor modular housing blocks of temporary two-bedroom houses and business units that will stay on the site for four years before being replaced by permanent homes. The blocks can be “dismantled and moved on” and could be used over several years and in different locations. The units will be constructed using a prefabricated timber-framed system, which allows for a cheaper and faster method of building work.

Pop-up housing in Lewisham. Pic: Lewisham Council

Ivan Harbour, a partner at Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners, said: “We are very excited to be working with Lewisham council on the Ladywell site. By delivering well-designed, flexible and sustainable accommodation… we hope to change the way we think about house building in the future.”

Sir Steve Bullock, mayor of Lewisham, said: “This scheme could solve the all-too-common problem that plagues many development sites which sit unused for years while complex regeneration plans are put together. It is a terrible waste having thousands of people on our housing waiting list and paying out for expensive bed and breakfast.”

All units will exceed the current space standard requirements by 10 per cent and save the council an annual cost of £3 million that is currently used to maintain families housed in B&Bs.