In 1996 Loader and Brown were appointed to work with community architects Hunt Thompson Associates to develop a strategy for the Gospel Oak area for a Capital Challenge bid and to draw up the feasibility proposals for the bid documentation. A community steering group was set up to oversee the developing proposals and public consultation meeting held at the local library. The bid received £6.1 million funding from the Government Office for London. The key issues addressed were a lack of physical integration with the surrounding area, with the urban fabric fragmented by redevelopment of 1970's and the area disconnected from the road network.