Community House: Art Shaped by Our Community

Over the past year, Community House has been carefully refurbished to create a vibrant, welcoming space for the local community. Alongside a refreshed community café open to everyone, the ground floor has been made more accessible and brought to life with a series of beautiful murals. Designed by local creative service Doodle Designs and artist Amaechi Anolue, the three murals were created in partnership with local groups, reflecting the voices, experiences and creativity of the people who use Community House.

Binary Flow is the first of three murals commissioned by Enfield Council’s Journeys and Places team for Community House. Designed specifically for the computer room, the artwork responds to a space for learning, focus and exploration. It draws inspiration from the bold motifs of 1950s textile design while reimagining them through a modern, forward-thinking lens. Influences from mid-century visions of the future such as Thunderbirds or early Star Trek, create a dialogue between nostalgia and innovation.

To support a calm and focused environment, the design uses a limited, muted colour palette, clean lines and repeating forms. These elements help to create a space comfortable and accessible for all users. The composition is intentionally fluid, guiding the eye smoothly around the mural and reflecting a sense of learning and continuity.

Subtle references to computer science are woven into the pattern itself, integrated in a way that feels natural rather than literal, reinforcing the room’s purpose while maintaining a sense of harmony.

Binary Flow: A Community-Crafted Vision by Doodle Designs and Amaechi Anolue at Community House, Edmonton Green (2025)

While You Wait reimagines a 1950s waiting room, inviting visitors to pause, reflect and momentarily step back in time. Rather than observing today’s world, the scene offers a glimpse into everyday life from a bygone era that is quiet, familiar and nostalgic.

As your eye moves around the artwork, details from the decade begin to emerge. At the heart of the room, sits a 1950s Ferguson television sits, a subtle reference to Enfield’s rich industrial heritage. The wallpaper pattern is inspired by stencil designs created by service users during a workshop, when participants explored popular patterns of the 1950s. These designs have been carefully refined to create a calm and harmonious backdrop shaped by community creativity.

On the television screen, a vintage advertisement from MK Electric plays, celebrating the building’s original purpose. Nearby, a magazine titled Inside Matters appears within the scene: an authentic MK Electric company newsletter, kindly donated by a former employee who spent 25 years with the company.

The mural’s windows echo the architectural style of the current building, framing a nostalgic view of Fore Street as it might have appeared in the 1950s, seamlessly connecting past and present.

While You Wait: A Community-Crafted Vision by Doodle Designs and Amaechi Anolue at Community House, Edmonton Green (2025)

Looking Closer is a mural made up of three panels that show close-up views of Community House. At first glance, the building can seem grey and tired, but looking more closely reveals strong shapes and interesting details that are easy to miss. The mural aims to help people notice these features and see the building in a new way.

Each panel focuses on a small part of the 1950s building, zooming in to highlight details that often go unnoticed. By enlarging these sections, the mural brings out the bold lines and forms that give the building its character. These close-up views invite people to pause and look again and appreciate the design, rather than seeing the building as just a place to pass through.

Together, the three panels celebrate the care and thought that went into the building’s original design. The mural encourages people to recognise Community House as an important local landmark, a shared place shaped by people and memories, with details worth noticing and celebrating.

Looking Closer: A Community-Crafted Vision by Doodle Designs and Amaechi Anolue at Community House, Edmonton Green (2025)

Behind the scenes of the mural’s creation, developed together with the local community.