Reinstate
Project
Location: former Tate Institute, Newham
Status: In Progress
In partnership with: Respace Projects
Financed by: National Lottery Community Fund
Wild Cities begins in Newham: our first pilot at ReInstate
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Wild Cities' first pilot project has landed at ReInstate, ReSpace Projects' pioneering transformation of the Tate Institute in Silvertown. Built in 1887 by Sir Henry Tate for workers at his sugar refinery, this locally listed building has already lived several lives, from communal baths to library to pool hall, and is now being reimagined by ReSpace as a net zero, circular economy community hub, using reclaimed materials to bring the derelict space back into use for the people of Silvertown.
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It's exactly the kind of partner Wild Cities was built for. ReSpace's ethos, reuse waste, reduce inequality, rebuild communities, mirrors our own belief that ecological and social repair are not separate projects but the same one. At ReInstate, we're testing that idea on the ground: piloting the community gardens within the wider retrofit, trialling how ecology and community engagement work together in practice, and using what we learn here to shape the Wild Cities Ecological Framework as it expands across our London-wide corridor.
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Newham is one of our four anchor boroughs. This is where Wild Cities moves from framework to field, planting the first seeds of a model we hope to take across the city.
Partners & Funders
We are growing
From vision to ground: ReInstate's community planting day, 15 July
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Before a single seed went in the ground, the designs for the ReInstate garden were shared directly with the Silvertown community. Through a series of consultations, local residents helped shape the vision, weighing in on what the space should grow, how it should be used, and what would make it genuinely theirs. That listening process has now become a plan, and the plan is about to become a garden.
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On 15 July 2026Â we delivered the project on site with a community planting day, followed by a workshop session led by our project lead, Jack Hodgson. Our volunteers got their hands in the soil, met the people behind the project, and saw the ideas from the consultation take root (literally).
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Special thanks to Jack Hodgson, Gee Sinha and the amazing volunteers who joined us.
