Stirling-prize winning architect Will Alsop has been given the task of designing the Purfleet masterplan for new film and tv studios and thousands of houses. 

The Gazette got an exclusive sneak-peek at his 'grand' vision for Purfleet: a cross between Venice Beach in California and Whitstable, in Kent.

Why have you taken on this project?

I was invited down by Ken Dytor on a miserable Sunday in February 2014 and we had lunch at the Royal pub, our favourite pub from day one.

Even on this grey day, I realised you could see back to Canary Wharf. I thought, “OK, this is going to work, because it’s connected to London”. You could see London. I thought it was full of potential.

What other projects have you worked on before that are similar?

I worked on an exciting project in east Manchester on a housing estate, where we worked closely with the local authority to build houses and design the town centre.

The appeal to me of the Purfleet project is that we haven’t done anything like this before – with the film and TV studios. I was excited by building more opportunities. You can live there, work there, train there, and have a good time there.

What’s it going to look like, and which bits of the master plan will you be designing?

In my mind I have a cross between Venice Beach, in California, very beautiful, but very comfortable – should feel cosy – and Whitstable, which everyone we know likes.

For the houses,I see them as small-scale–as many proper houses as we can. The houses will be friendly and varied, so that not all the buildings will look the same.

Most important of all is the river front.

Will it be, dare we say it, “fun”?

I take fun very seriously! A lot of my critics put me down and say my buildings are just “fun”, but I say, good! A lot of people like the buildings, and to be honest, the general public is more important to me than other architects. Fun is a serious business.

Will you involve the public in the design process – and if so, how?

The answer to that is yes. We have a master plan, but the plan is going to change and evolve.

We will be holding public meetings soon and they should feel more like a party than a boring old meeting – something to eat, something to drink, and colours. We take away their drawings and work with them.

We then report back to the same people before we start building. It’s about a three month process.

I’m excited about it and I’m very proud to be working in Purfleet.