What Goes Around Mitcham Fair Green Bandstand, London Borough of Merton for London Borough of Merton with Charles Holland Architects, RASKL Studio and eHRW

What Goes Around Mitcham Fair Green Bandstand, London Borough of Merton for London Borough of Merton with Charles Holland Architects, RASKL Studio and eHRW

 

What Goes Around is a bandstand on Mitcham Fair Green. It hosts music, events, performances, storytelling and drawing workshops and gatherings during the summer months in the heart of Mitcham. it is fully demountable and is designed to be stored over the winter and re-installed each spring. What Goes Around stands on the site of a former bandstand removed in the 1960s and re-imagines the bandstand as a popular performance pavilion for the twenty first century.

 

youtu.be/mT8JVe3HGNI?si=wtFUhzV92aC9D9m2&t=4444

 

Describe the context of this project, its neighbourhood and people.

 

What Goes Around (WGA) is located on Mitcham Fair Green in the heart of Mitcham in South London. The green was once the home of Mitcham’s annual summer fair which it hosted from the 17th century until the 1920’s. During this time, exuberant pavilions and fairground rides would populate the green. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the area was known for growing medicinal plants including lavender and peppermint. The site also hosted a bandstand, removed in the mid-twentieth century. More recently the site has been regarded as problematic and known as an area for street drinkers, with many residents actively avoiding it. In the words of one resident; “We have a space that sits there, doing nothing week in, week out, contributing to the general, air of drifty nothingness on the Fair Green.” (Mitcham Matters Report, 2024) WGA forms a key part of an effort to boost civic pride by renewing this space, helping to shape the town centre together with its communities. Since its installation in July 2025, this structure has become an important part of Mitcham’s diverse and vibrant cultural life hosting music and events. WGA is a contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional bandstand. Its pattern and colouring relate to flowers and its shape to the lavender drying huts that were once a common sight. Like the fairground tents that have also inspired it, it is demountable and will return every summer to form an ongoing part of Mitcham life.

 

Tell us what you did and how the project, event or installation enlivened the place in a creative way? 

 

Through the installation of our new bandstand, Fair Green has become a more welcoming and enjoyable public space used by local residents of all ages. It has also offered an enjoyable new local landmark for the area, signalling ongoing improvements in Mitcham through the commissioning of new design and cultural infrastructure. What Goes Around offers a focus for the cultural life of the area, an adaptable, colourful and dynamic structure that activates an important public space through concerts, parties, performances of all kinds. Mitcham is a vibrant and diverse community and over the first summer of being in place, the bandstand has hosted over 50 free activities and events ranging from steel bands, dj’s, dance troupes, swing and jazz music and even an urban opera. 
 
 The bandstand was opened during a weekend of activities ranging from a quiet, storytelling workshop to a full-on DJ set for a shifting audience of all ages. Booking the bandstand is free and the summer programme has also included Youth Club nights, chess classes, salsa lessons, clarinet ensembles and brass bands. It finished with a momentous night in a still sunny October featuring DJ AG. The bandstand offers a practical space for performance, a focus for artistic activity, a playful piece of public infrastructure and a symbol of Mitcham’s culture and life.

 

Did the project make a positive social and environmental contribution? If it was a temporary intervention, is there a legacy plan? What happened to its tenants, users, materials and programming?

 

Through the installation of our new bandstand, Fair Green has become a more welcoming and enjoyable public space used by local residents of all ages. It has also offered an enjoyable new local landmark for the area, signalling ongoing improvements in Mitcham through the commissioning of new design and cultural infrastructure. What Goes Around offers a focus for the cultural life of the area, an adaptable, colourful and dynamic structure that activates an important public space through concerts, parties, performances of all kinds. Mitcham is a vibrant and diverse community and over the first summer of being in place, the bandstand has hosted over 50 free activities and events ranging from steel bands, dj’s, dance troupes, swing and jazz music and even an urban opera. 
 
The bandstand was opened during a weekend of activities ranging from a quiet, storytelling workshop to a full-on DJ set for a shifting audience of all ages. Booking the bandstand is free and the summer programme has also included Youth Club nights, chess classes, salsa lessons, clarinet ensembles and brass bands. It finished with a momentous night in a still sunny October featuring DJ AG. The bandstand offers a practical space for performance, a focus for artistic activity, a playful piece of public infrastructure and a symbol of Mitcham’s culture and life.