A Place of Landings is a narrative placemaking project for a retail development centred around a Grade II listed Art Deco RAF control tower in Kent. The site – formerly West Malling airfield – was an active RAF base during WWII and remained in use through the 1950s and ’60s, ceasing operations in 1969. Its rich heritage endured long after, with the airfield hosting air displays and serving as a film location in the 1970s and ’80s, including for Wish You Were Here and The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour.
The project embraces this layered history to create an experience that is both educational and surprising – reconnecting visitors and communities to the spirit of place. In collaboration with local writers from Future Creative, we gathered vibrant narratives from past and present – stories that are moving, funny, and deeply human.
Working with pioneering fabricators millimetre, we delivered a series of bespoke interventions, including:
• A seven-metre cast steel roundel featuring stencilled narratives – RAF pilot slang in the centre, surrounded by community memories of life around the airfield.
• A second roundel with a spiral of personal stories and integrated bespoke seating designed by millimetre.
• Winding ‘flying’ texts embedded in pathways – echoes of historical voices, poetry, and contemporary reflections – some aligned to the scale and orientation of the original runway.
• Twelve 250mm ‘brass rubbing’ roundels depicting RAF aircraft (plus The Beatles’ tour bus), paired with children’s kenning poetry – simple, joyful two-word descriptions of the planes that were resident at the airfield.
Through narrative, design, and memory, A Place of Landings brings heritage to life – inviting playful engagement while honouring a remarkable legacy.
Completed at the end of summer 2014. The project was commissioned by Futurecity for Liberty Property Trust UK.
