A new pavilion created by UK design studios POOR Collective and Wiggle Wonderland spotlighted the crucial yet underappreciated contributions of London’s night-shift workers, showcasing their stories and challenges amidst the London Festival of Architecture 2025.
UK-based design studios POOR Collective and Wiggle Wonderland have created a vibrant, artwork-covered pavilion to highlight the often overlooked contributions of the City of London’s night workers. Called Unheard Voices in the City, this colourful open-air pavilion was situated in the courtyard of St Bartholomew’s Hospital and formed part of the London Festival of Architecture 2025. The initiative was organised in collaboration with the London Museum and aimed to celebrate the vital but frequently ignored roles of night-shift workers including market traders, hospital staff, and black cab drivers.
According to data from the Living Wage Foundation, around 26 percent of London’s workforce operates during night or evening hours, making the needs and experiences of these workers a significant yet underrepresented community within the city’s workforce. POOR Collective’s architectural designer Akmaral Khassen explained that the main goal of the installation was to amplify the ‘unheard voices’ of London’s night-time economy and communities. The artworks within the pavilion were co-designed with local night workers from Smithfield market, hospitals, nightclubs, and 24-hour cafes, formed through surveys and drawing sessions conducted at places like St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Fabric nightclub, and Ferrari’s café.
The pavilion’s structure, a coral-coloured timber frame, was reclaimed from a previous project by Wiggle Wonderland and repurposed as an open-air art gallery. The artwork itself, made from weatherproof MDF panels, is designed for reuse elsewhere by the London Museum following the pavilion’s dismantling. This approach underscores POOR Collective’s broader commitment to sustainable and community-driven design, where existing structures are adapted and reimagined to serve local needs—an ethos reflected in their prior work in Barnet and Wood Green, where local youth have been engaged to reshape community spaces.
Khassen emphasised the importance of revealing the hidden nightlife of London that supports the city’s functioning around the clock. Despite the central role these night workers play, there is limited data on their experiences and aspirations. Through the installation, POOR Collective sought to reveal their stories, highlighting both the challenges they face—such as invisibility and lack of recognition—and the crucial contributions they make to the city’s vitality and continuous operation.
The Unheard Voices pavilion ran from mid-June to early July 2025, forming part of the London Festival of Architecture, which this year featured over 450 events centred on the theme of ‘Voices’. The festival aimed at amplifying underrepresented perspectives in urban development and design. Other contributions within the festival echoed similar themes of inclusion and sustainability, underscoring the importance of diverse community involvement in shaping London’s built environment.
POOR Collective, which stands for Power Out of Restriction, is a socially engaged design studio that focuses on involving young people and often excluded communities in transforming public spaces across London. Celebrated recently with the Emerging Design Medal at the London Design Festival, the studio is increasingly recognised for its impact on the city’s design discourse by embedding social equity into architectural practice.
With this installation, POOR Collective and Wiggle Wonderland have not only brought visibility to night workers but also created a platform for dialogue about their needs and experiences, challenging the broader city to acknowledge and value the workforce that sustains it after dark.
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Source: Noah Wire Services
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
10
Notes:
The narrative is current, detailing an event that took place from mid-June to early July 2025. No evidence of recycled or outdated content was found. The initiative was organised in collaboration with the London Museum, indicating a high freshness score. No discrepancies in figures, dates, or quotes were identified. The content is original and not republished across low-quality sites or clickbait networks. No earlier versions with different details were found. The article includes updated data and original material, justifying a high freshness score. ([flolondon.co.uk](https://www.flolondon.co.uk/all-posts/what-to-do-and-see-at-the-london-festival-of-architecture-2025?utm_source=openai))
Quotes check
Score:
10
Notes:
The quotes attributed to Akmaral Khassen and other individuals are unique to this narrative, with no identical matches found in earlier material. This suggests the content is potentially original or exclusive.
Source reliability
Score:
10
Notes:
The narrative originates from Dezeen, a reputable design and architecture publication. The London Museum and POOR Collective are established entities with verifiable public presences. The City of London is a well-documented location, and St Bartholomew’s Hospital is a historic institution. All mentioned entities and locations are verifiable, indicating a high level of reliability.
Plausability check
Score:
10
Notes:
The claims about the ‘Unheard Voices in the City’ pavilion are corroborated by multiple reputable sources, including FLO London and Creative Entrepreneurs. The event’s details align with the London Festival of Architecture 2025 programme, confirming the narrative’s plausibility. The language and tone are consistent with the region and topic, and the structure is focused and relevant. No excessive or off-topic details were found, and the tone is appropriate for a cultural event report.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH
Summary:
The narrative is current, original, and sourced from reputable entities. All claims are plausible and supported by multiple sources, with no signs of disinformation or recycled content.
