reimagining emma cons gardens

summer series

A local, community-led event series designed to reclaim and reimagine this cherished green space ahead of its long-term transformation.

Reimagining Emma Cons Gardens 2026

Reimagining Emma Cons Gardens is a community-led ‘meanwhile’ celebration – a chance to activate the space and experience how the gardens could be, and to come together with our community to share the regeneration plans we’re developing for its future. Every event is a small experiment in what’s possible: a way to gather, perform, plant, play, listen, and shape what comes next.

It’s also a fundraising moment. Alongside the programme, we run our community fundraising campaign for the public art that will sit at the heart of the redesigned garden. Every donation – big or small – helps make the new Emma Cons Gardens a reality.

CURATED WITH COMMUNITY

Nothing in the series happens in isolation. Our Summer Series is put together with local partners, neighbouring businesses, cultural organisations and the residents who know this corner of Waterloo best. From The Old Vic on our doorstep, to WeAreWaterloo BID, to our local businesses, schools and community groups – it’s a programme shaped by the people who use the gardens every day.

If you’d like to get involved – as a partner, a volunteer, a performer, or with an idea worth trying – we’d love to hear from you.

keep up to date

To keep up to date on news about Emma Cons Gardens sign up here.

about emma cons

This exciting programme of events celebrates Emma Cons, the Victorian social entrepreneur who established the Royal Victoria Coffee Music Hall (now The Old Vic) and founded Morley College. Emma Cons gave up the life of an artist to dedicate herself to social work to improve housing for working men and women, to provide wholesome and joyous recreation at a low price and to promote education. The Emma Cons Garden is dedicated to her memory, in the hope that one day, with more investment, it will become ‘The People’s Garden’ – bringing joy and social interaction to the local community, as Emma herself would have wanted.

the future vision

Emma Cons Gardens represents a unique opportunity to create one of Central London’s great public spaces and a civic heart for Waterloo. To realise this future vision, the Emma Cons Gardens Trust has been set up to work in partnership with Lambeth Council and other stakeholders to transform the space and seek long-term funding for arts, culture, and community events. Working with the community, architects Farrer Huxley, have developed an exciting scheme for the space which will be funded by Bourne Capital, developers of Waterloo Central.