Hannah Pezzack's Park Royal Soundwalk Explores London's Industrial Hinterland

For the inaugural Manufactory x ArtReview Writer's Residency, Hannah Pezzack created a soundscape of Park Royal, London's largest industrial estate. Using a field-recording setup with a Zoom recorder and tripod-mounted microphones, she captured sounds such as granite being sliced, reversing forklifts, and workers' conversations. The work highlights the estate's hidden industrial rhythms and its role as a hinterland—a politically peripheral zone sustaining global capitalism. Pezzack notes that Park Royal's architecture of concealment keeps its operations largely invisible, despite housing major companies like Renault, Heinz, and Guinness. The estate faces significant urban change from the HS2 railway line and redevelopment around Old Oak, raising fears about affordability and displacement of small businesses and artists. Drawing parallels to Cardiff Bay's gentrification, Pezzack frames the recording as a document of a place whose sonic character may soon be altered beyond recognition. A talk with Pezzack, Aram Masharqa, Mazzy-Mae Green, and Fi Churchman will take place on 12 October 2026 at Queensrollahouse, NW10 7LU.