SITE X supernature

Welcome to SITE x supernature; an adventure in circular food and architecture

At the backend of 2019, Elly Ward Morris and I (both architects) purchased a dilapidated and unloved terraced building on Hackney Road. Arranged over a ground and basement of street facing commercial space with two compact floors of residential above, it’s most recent incarnation was as a post office, but it had stood empty following the relocation of the business operation to new premises. Our vision was to convert the building by adopting low environmental impact practices and a circular approach to its programming. 

Elly and I both became vegan overnight in August 2017, and the impact this has had for our lives is profound and positive. Consequently, during 2018 and 2019, Elly launched a small venture called ‘SITE’ in a small shop outlet on Columbia Road, world famous for the weekly flower market which draws tens of thousands each Sunday. SITE’s purpose was to bring vegan practice, in all its guises and incarnations, to the high street, through events and exhibitions as well as food and drink. The ambition quickly outgrew the space, and thus Hackney Road was the next logical step to help expand the programme.

Through the relocation, SITE has evolved to facilitate a multiple of complimentary planet centric programmes, and now in collaboration with ‘supernature’ hosts a whole-food, planet centric bar and kitchen. Likewise, the team has expanded to include master chefs with a fondness for foraging, pickling and fermenting seasonal produce, where we bake, stew, roast, toast and dehydrate EVERYTHING on site, a gardener-mycologist growing everything from edible plants on raised roof decks to mushrooms harvested from coffee grinds in our own basement mushroom farm, mixologists specialising in bespoke vegan cocktails, baristas making coffee from Hackney roasted beans and so forth. 

The menu is ambitious, with every dish built on the foundations of local, seasonal and completely plant based produce with an emphasis on taking each ingredient as far as is possible across each dish, before converting it as organic waste into a super nutritious plant feeder for our roof-deck raised beds which are growing year round edible flowers, salads, roots and herbs, all watered from captured rainwater harvested from the multiple roofs across the property.

At the rear of the building is a south facing walled garden, which replaces what was previously a back of house dusty, windowless storage space. It now offers year round amenity with lightweight cover from inclement weather, solar powered heaters to take the nip out of the evening air, and of course an amazing sun trap for indulgent and hyper-nutritious dishes from a changing menu responding to seasonal variation, all within a cluster of palm trees planted in recycled mass concrete drainage pipes, and edible native plants and flowers.

This will be a life long emotional, philosophical and financial investment, and a vehicle for experimentation, innovation and research in the face of planet crises. We believe there is a fundamental and intrinsic connection between how we plan cities, design and construct buildings, as well as how we farm and feed, our methods of cooking and how we tackle issues of waste. Our team is young and ambitious, and we are excited to share our experiences with you. We are open now, after what seems like an age as a result of the pandemic, with a menu of exceptional tastes, textures and flavours from our all day Brunch menu as well as our evening plates and cocktails coming soon.

198 Hackney Road, London, E2 7QL

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