Hackney Mosaic Project could lose its Hackney Downs Pavilion base to a café plan

Volunteers at the Hackney Mosaic Project fear they will be forced out of Hackney Downs Pavilion, where the group has made its murals since 2013. Hackney Council plans to turn the building into a café and a “flexible” community space.

If the proposal goes ahead, the group will lose exclusive use of the pavilion. Founder Tessa Hunkin, 72, says her volunteers need space and stability to finish their large pieces, and that a shared hall would take away the character of the place. “It’s a home from home,” she said.

What the Hackney Mosaic Project does

The project began as a way of helping people with addiction. It now says it supports hundreds of residents in Hackney who are vulnerable or cut off from others. Members work together for months on large mosaics for housing estates and playgrounds. Private clients also commission them, London Zoo among them. One of the group’s best-loved local pieces is the Hounds of Hackney Downs, which shows dogs from the neighbourhood, some of them long gone.

Hunkin says members include older people and widows, as well as volunteers facing hard changes in their lives who need a creative outlet. Ken Edwards, 62, was referred to the group by an alcohol rehabilitation centre in the early 2010s. He now attends on Wednesdays, Fridays and every other Saturday, and says he is devastated by the uncertainty. “It really saddens me to think there might be no mosaic one day,” he said.

Why volunteers oppose a café at Hackney Downs Pavilion

Members doubt the park needs a café. Edwards points to the many cafés in nearby streets and says two coffee vans have already tried the park, and neither made money. Deborah Chapman, another member, says the group’s use of the pavilion already benefits the community.

The council first announced plans for the former sports pavilion in November 2025. Its initial proposal showed a café seating 30 to 40 people. Hunkin says public feedback during the consultation was overwhelmingly in favour of the group staying, but the council is pressing ahead and a change of use application is expected.

An online petition to keep the group at Hackney Downs has gathered 2,800 signatures in a week. The council earlier offered the project a space in Springfield Park, Upper Clapton, that Hunkin says was half the size of its current workshop. For now the volunteers can carry on working from the building for three months or more. They are looking at other venues in the meantime, which Hunkin says is difficult because of the group’s unusual needs.