The Elephant
The Elephant
Embedding art across a new residential neighbourhood and its public realm
Client: Get Living
Year: 2025–ongoing
Location: Elephant & Castle, London
Services: Art strategy, curatorial development, artist commissioning, community engagement and delivery
Status: Current project
The Elephant is the second phase of Get Living’s transformation of Elephant & Castle Town Centre, bringing new homes, shops, workspace, public spaces, transport infrastructure and a new London College of Communication campus to the area.
Cultural Transitions was appointed to develop and deliver an integrated art programme across the residential buildings and public realm.
The curatorial framework is rooted in the history, communities and changing identity of Elephant & Castle. It prioritises local connections, meaningful opportunities for artists, community participation, the creative reuse of the site’s heritage and the integration of art into the development’s architecture.
Public Realm Art Programme
The public realm programme brings together permanent commissions, community-led projects and the creative reuse of elements from the former shopping centre.
It includes:
SHINE: Produced by Cultural Transitions in collaboration with local artist Theo Hersey. The work reuses the original letters from the former Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, refurbishing and reconfiguring them to form the word SHINE. Selected in consultation with the Inspiring Elephant Community Panel, the illuminated work will be suspended from the ceilings of the development’s archways.
Studio Lenca: A five-year hoarding commission by the Elephant & Castle-based artist. Developed through community participation, Como la Flor draws on botanical imagery, movement and the area’s Latin American identity.
IVY Studios: A large-scale vinyl artwork developed through IVY Studios’ work with local communities, bringing local stories and creative expression into a prominent part of the development.
Permanent totem: A sculptural marker creating a recognisable point of arrival and contributing to the development’s identity and wayfinding.
3D-printed concrete commission: An open-call opportunity for artists and designers connected to Elephant & Castle. The permanent artwork will be integrated into a 75-square-metre 3D-printed concrete wall. The open call runs until September 2026.
Residential Art Programme
We identified opportunities for art throughout the residential experience, including entrance lobbies, the double-height superlobby, circulation areas, shared amenity spaces and residents’ fitness facilities.
The collection brings together major commissioned works with selected prints, photography, text-based works and artist editions. A large-scale commission for the superlobby responds directly to the architecture and creates a focal point within one of the development’s principal residential spaces.
Works have been selected for their artistic quality, relationship to the area and ability to give each building its own identity. The programme places established and emerging artists within residents’ everyday experience of their homes.
Our Role
Cultural Transitions’ work spans the complete process:
Developing the curatorial framework
Identifying sites and opportunities for art
Researching and selecting artists and works
Writing briefs and managing open calls
Producing and overseeing artist commissions
Managing budgets, contracts and procurement
Coordinating community and stakeholder involvement
Working with architects, designers, engineers and contractors
Overseeing fabrication, framing, interpretation and installation
Together, the residential collection and public realm commissions make art part of the experience of The Elephant—from the spaces residents encounter each day to the landmarks that shape the wider neighbourhood.
