Chrisp Street Market was designed by Frederick Gibberd

Frederick Gibberd

Sir Frederick Ernest Gibberd was an English architect and landscape designer.Gibberd was born in Coventry, the eldest of the five children of a local tailor, and was educated at the city's King Henry VIII School...

, and built as part of the Festival of Britain

Festival of Britain

The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...

 in 1951. It is located in Poplar

Poplar, London

Poplar is a historic, mainly residential area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is about east of Charing Cross. Historically a hamlet in the parish of Stepney, Middlesex, in 1817 Poplar became a civil parish. In 1855 the Poplar District of the Metropolis was...

 in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...

, and forms part of the eastern edge of the Lansbury Estate

Lansbury Estate

The Lansbury Estate is a public housing estate in the Poplar area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets named after George Lansbury, a Poplar councillor and Labour party MP.It is one of the largest such estates in London...

.

It was the first purpose-built pedestrian shopping area in the UK. It features a prominent clock tower, shops, small retail outlets, cafes, market stalls and apartments. East End of London

East End of London

The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...

 favourites such as pie and mash

Pie and mash

Pie and mash is a traditional London working-class food.-History:Pie, mash and stewed eels shops have been in London since the 19th century and are still common in south and east London, in many parts of Essex and in places abroad, particularly Australia - where there are significant expatriate...

 are available alongside Chinese and Indian food outlets.

In the early 2000s its library was closed and replaced with a larger 'Idea Store' designed by David Adjaye

David Adjaye

David Adjaye OBE is a British architect.-Early life:David Adjaye was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The son of a Ghanaian diplomat who has lived in Tanzania, Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon before moving to Britain at the age of nine, he led a privileged life and was privately educated...

, a place for lifelong learning

Lifelong learning

Lifelong learning is the continuous building of skills and knowledge throughout the life of an individual. It occurs through experiences encountered in the course of a lifetime...

 with computers and rooms for community use.

The Council transferred ownership of the shopping arcades along with the rest of the Lansbury Estate to Poplar HARCA

Poplar HARCA

Poplar HARCA is a housing association in the East End of London, England. It is the landlord of about 8,500 homes in the Poplar area, a quarter of which have been sold leasehold; the remainder are let on assured tenancies at subsidised rent levels.The association focuses on community regeneration...

, a locally-based housing association

Housing association

Housing associations in the United Kingdom are independent not-for-profit bodies that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in housing need. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones...

, in 2006.