This film captures the story of People’s Pavilion 2023, an ambitious youth-led architecture and cultural project developed by Beyond the Box to explore who has the power to design civic cultural space in London.

Young people aged 14–18 from across East London were invited to take part in a design competition, working in teams alongside architects, engineers and creative practitioners to develop proposals for a temporary pavilion. After public voting involving more than 2,500 participants, the winning design “Roots of Heritage” by Team Cultural Maze was selected and constructed in the garden of Lea Bridge Library in Waltham Forest.

Beyond designing and building the structure, young people also curated the programme inside it. A team of youth cultural producers organised a free summer festival, transforming the pavilion into a vibrant space for art, performance and community gathering.