Hackney Wick

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Hemmed in by the busy A12 dual carriageway to the north and west, and by the River Lee navigation to the south and east, Hackney Wick feels like an island: a strange and unique place, cut off from the rest of the city, a haven for artists and craftspeople.

Gentrification stops for no one, though. What did for it was the Olympics: the games pumped in billions of pounds worth of funding to regenerate the area, and the Wick – just twenty metres or so of canal away from the Olympic Park – was never going to survive unscathed.

And so, for now at least, it’s a strange mix of luxury flats, dilapidated artists’ studios, plant hire firms, warehouses, graffiti-covered walls, hipster pubs and Michelin-starred restaurants.

For years, one of the most famous symbols of Hackney Wick was the former Lord Napier pub, which closed in 1995 and subsequently became a canvas for local graffiti artists to protest the gentrification of the Wick. Much of its graffiti dated to one marathon 48-hour painting session led by artist Aida Wilde in 2016.

The former Lord Napier pub, with its iconic “from shithouse to penthouse” graffiti, seen here in July 2019.
It sits just across from the luxury flats of the Bagel Factory, “a flagship collection of unique warehouse style apartments” built in a former bagel factory.

In 2021, the pub reopened under the ownership of the Electric Star group, and now offers live DJs and a roof terrace – reflective of the evolution the Wick underwent in the 25 years it was closed.

The new frontage of the Lord Napier in July 2025.
No more “from shithouse to penthouse” graffiti; perhaps it was a bit too on-the-nose.

The Wick has been home to artists for years, but since the Olympic games there has been an emergence of more corporate-sponsored creativity.

The White Building, Queen’s Yard, an “open space for fearless experimentation at the intersection of art, technology and sustainability”, run by SPACE Studios. July 2019.
The White Building, July 2019.

The Wick is still dominated by more organic graffiti, though.

“This ship is sinking.” White Post Lane, July 2019.
White Post Lane, July 2019.
White Post Lane, July 2025.
White Post Lane, July 2025.
Just across the canal, and so just outside the Wick, is the Olympic Park. The black building is the heat generator that supplied heating and hot water to the Olympic games, and now supplies local homes.
The best seat in the house: Schwartz Wharf.
Schwartz Wharf, July 2019.

Across the Wick, new buildings are going up, mostly residential apartments that trade on the culture of the Wick while inevitably altering it.

In 2019, new flats had gone up on Wallis Road, the street on which the world’s first plastic was invented in 1866.
Wallis Road, July 2025.
“Private communal podium gardens”, the property developer offers. Rothbury Road, July 2025.
“1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments and duplexes”. Rothbury Road, July 2025.