Crane Park Island

Crane Park Island used to be the old Hounslow Gunpowder Mills, and

has now become a peaceful "haven" surrounded by the River Crane.

The area is a mixture of woodland, scrub and reedbeds providing

habitats for a huge variety of plants and animals. Our first project of

the year involved creating two A1 sheets for a redesign of the Crane

Park Island site.

London Docklands

Docklands is the nickname for an area in East & South-east London, including the boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlet, Greenwich & Newham. The area used to be part of the Port of London, the largest port in the world at one point, now the area has been developed & is primarily used for commercial & residential use.

Lighting masts rising from the water near the Excel building

Rows of trees outside the Excel building
Creates an interesting effect, very simple, yet effective

Excel Footbridge

View west from the Excel footbridge, distant views of Canary Wharf

Contemporary children's playground in Wapping
I like the use of materials & colours, it is not a typical-looking kids play area, has a city vibe to it

St Katherine's Dock, near Tower Bridge
This is a really nice area, it is slightly secluded & gives you a sense of escape from the city.

More London

More London is a development just to the south-west of Tower Bridge, designed by Foster+Partners & Townsend Landscape architects, it was completed in 2003. The area consists of office blocks, shops, restaurants, a sunken ampitheatre, a pedestrianised area with sculptures & water features, Tower Bridge Hilton Hotel & much more. Townsend LA were appointed to design the landscape with a brief to "create a place of individual character while retaining the flexibility to change as a part of an evolving city."(townsendla.com)

Water channel cut into the pedestrian district, dividing business & pleasure with office buildings to the left & trees to the right

Southern exit onto Tooley Street

Very contemporary use of building facade materials, varying widely across the 13acre site

Brilliant views across the river & to Tower Bridge. Townsend used a lot of granite in their landscape, creating open paved spaces with minimalist seating

The area has many water features, here showing jets of water that erupt from the granite paving. Townsend have incorporated the surroundings into their design, using a lot of water, which reflects the nearby Rover Thames.

I enjoyed visiting the area, I am a fan of the contemporary look & use of materials, particularly granite, however I felt the open space was a bit too open. There seemed to be too much space, it would be a difficult place to fill with people (althoug I visited on a very grey day), & I felt a little over-exposed when sitting on one of the granite benches. Saying that it is a perfect place for a public space, perhaps it just needs a bit of sun & some more people.

Thames Barrier Park

Alain Provost of Groupe Signes won the 1995 competition to design the Thames Barrier Park. The rectangular park is split up by dominating diagonal lines slicing through it. Alain Provost is known for his use of geometric shapes, & the Thames Barrier Park has been likened to another of his projects; Parc Citroen, in Paris.

There are strong steel bridges running across the lowered central garden, these are unattractive & really not in fitting with the other aspects of the site, in colour or in material. I cannot understand why such an unsightly material would have been used, why not wood or brushed steel..??

Wildflower area with silver birches

The small cafe is set back in a large lawn area, bordered by pines & silver birch trees.

In the spring & summer the lowered garden is beautiful, with a great variety of plants & flowers. However, it is not particularly to my taste, especially with the heavy hedging lining the garden.

A series of residental apartment blocks over look the park.

By the river's edge is a large decked area with bespoke wave benches, & a large steel canopy. From here you can see very close up to the barriers themselves that gave this site its name.

Grassed sloped leading onto decking with canopy, & the Thames Barriers in the background

There is a varied use of materials, however the design has been clever to allow them to easily & fluidly run into one another, without any obvious clashes

Steel pillars hold up the canopy

The Thames Barriers at a low tide

I have been to Thames Barrier Park several times now, & each time I want to enjoy it more, but I never seem to be able to. As I said, I am not a fan of the lowered garden, but purely for the plants used, however, the remainder of the park is great. I love the use of decking & grass slopes, the large lawned areas edged with rows of trees, & I especially like the wildflower areas that are dotted around the site. Perhaps it is the lack of people in the park, due to its 'out-of-town' location, there are never many visitors at any one time, it has diminished the usage of the park. I think it deserves more visitors definately, but to attact them to the area it may take more than a small, albeit very nice, cafe, especially after such a long journey on the DLR.

Canary Wharf

Jubilee Park is a green public space in the centre of Canary Wharf, built above an underground railway station, effectively making it a roof garden. The focus of the park is the serpentine water channel which runs through a rough stone wall. Surrounding this is grassed slopes, benches, sculptures & a multitude of trees. The area is always in use, I think the location is perfect for office workers who want to have a relaxing lunch break. The trees make a canopy-like covering over the park, which blocks out a large proportion of the overbearing, surrounding buildings.

These are some of the models I made for first year projects; the first for a redesign of Knight's Park Quad & the second for the space outside the Royal National Theatre on the Southbank in London.

West 8 is an international company for urban design and landscape architecture, founded in 1987 by Adriaan Geuze. Over the last 20 years West 8 has established itself as a world renowned, leading practice with an international team of 75 architects, urban designers, landscape architects and industrial engineers. West 8 work mainly in Northern and Eastern Europe, however have projects all across the world such as New York, London, Madrid and Moscow. Many of their projects are the result of entries into international competitions. West 8 are very aware of the local context, history, ecology and lanscape of their given sites, incorporating these factors strongly in their designs. http://www.west8.nl/

Here are some examples of their groundbreaking designs across the world:

Brandende Stad, Rotterdam

The formation of red flowers is to commemorate the Rotterdam Blitz on 14th May 1940, during World War II.

Governor's Island, New York

A huge public park (69ha) that embraces the cities culture, ecology, history and beauty. It is surrounded by water in the Upper New York Bay. The island is car-free but invites people to visit to enjoy views of the city, long walks, picnics, concerts and much more.

Chiswick Park, London

A public space surrounded by office buildings near the centre of London. West 8 tried to create two different zones: an "inner" area - elevated area in the centre of the site fronted by the buildings, and an "outer" area - corridors between buildings, peripheral car parking and site boundaries.

Cow - Horizon Project, The Netherlands

Three 8 metre high inflatable cows were placed near to the main highways in Randstad, to form reminders of the horizon to passers by.

Pine Cone Garden, Italy

An inner garden of the Carthusian Monastery of Padula. Thousands of pine cones were collected by the children of the local village and strewen across the area. At night the pine cones glow red from lighting hidden beneath.

Jubilee Gardens, London (design to be commenced)

The aim is to create a spectacular public green space in the heart of London with the best view across the city. The park will be elevated and seperated from the London Eye. The natural green landscape edged with white stone is to represent the appearance of the English coastline.