The Shadwell Estate, originally built by Peabody in 1866 and added to throughout the 1900s, lacked any recognisable identity or amenity value for its residents. The client’s brief was to create high-quality outdoor spaces that would strengthen community cohesion, enhance biodiversity and provide places for socialisation. However, the residents’ existing negative perception of the estate was the single biggest challenge that the project had to overcome. Central to the project, helmed by Turkington Martin, was the creation of a sense of identity for the whole estate, to improve access to green space and to maximise opportunities to bring people together. The landscape proposals create a ‘garden’ for the residents, providing a series of formal and informal social spaces. The Shadwell Estate improvement works demonstrate to a wider regeneration audience that social housing environments can be high-quality spaces that support vibrant communities.