Alfie Davies
Landscape Architecture Portfolio
York Civic Park Eburos Park
York is an ancient city with a rich heritage: therefore the design for the civic park had to work with the city’s history to form a creative yet respectful scheme.
Connecting to nature York has an abundance of cultural relics, yet it is lacks space for nature to flourish. The need to make room for nature was particularly important due to the site’s location on the confluence of the River Ouse and River Foss, resulting in regular flooding. The name York itself derives from its natural heritage. The site was originally called Eborakon by the Celts: a combination of the words eburos (yew tree) and akon (place) which translates to Place of the Yew Trees.
Site analysis Green infrastructure in York
Areas at risk of flooding
York Minster
York Minster Ri
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Train station
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Train station
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National Parks Gardens Street trees Canals Wildlife reserves SUDS Green transport Wetland Woodland Coastline Allotments Shared-space Green walls + roofs Rivers Parks Lakes + ponds Wilderness
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Proposed flow + connectivity
Existing site features + flow
Green space Water Flood water Buildings Notable buildings Roads and other surfaces
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Railway Foss
Clifford’s Tower
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Site boundary
City walls + Clifford’s Tower Pedestrian route Vehicle route Car park
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Boat route Public transport Bike route Node Key for all analysis plans.
Concept + design development
Masterplan
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The Grove
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The yew tree and woodland plants in the courtyard of Clifford’s Tower.
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The Marsh
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A small area of grass in the midst of The Marsh.
Buildings Paving Trees Planting + meadow Grass Wetland planting Water Shared space
Glade Tree walkway
Woodland room Rill Meadow walk Moat Yew tree with spiral staircase
Detailed design
A glade in the The Grove provides a place to relax in the sun surrounded by nature.
The moat and meadow walk.
A
B Section line for overleaf.
Tree canopy walkway
A Woodland glade
Woodland room
B Rill
Yew tree
Meadow planting
100mm 370mm
Portland cement mortar 10mm to BS 5628
YORKSTONE BENCHES CUT OFF SITE. DIMENSIONS VARY.
40mm around base of bench sawn cut as to be flush with paving. Dry sand jointing to BS 7533-4: 2006.
200mm
Concrete block edge stone 200 x 100 x 60mm
Growing medium.
Check Figure 4 for details of Yorkstone flag paving.
125mm
50mm
100mm
Growing medium.
50mm
160mm
Hardcore with maximum particle size of 50mm.
Compacted ground.
Self retaining edge detail.
100mm
Hardcore with maximum particle size of 50mm.
Compacted ground.
400mm
50mm
125mm
440mm
150mm
In-situ concrete foundation and haunching.
Compacted ground.
70mm
50mm 25mm
200mm
300mm
Compacted ground.
100mm
50mm
100mm
Hardcore with maximum particle size of 50mm.
1500mm
40mm 25mm
400mm
200mm
100mm
Hardcore with maximum particle size of 50mm.
watered and rolled.
Sawn Yorkstone flags 600 x 300 x 40mm
30mm 60mm
80mm 70mm
30mm
In-situ concrete foundation and haunching.
Coarse sand bed compacted
In-situ concrete foundation and haunching.
50mm
1000mm
Yorkstone edging stone set in concrete. Top face riven. All other faces sawn. 600 x 300 x 200
Vertical faces riven.
Paving side of block riven 100mm down the side from the top. Sawn rest of the way.
eveled. Cut 5mm from gled at 45 degrees.
Coarse sand bed compacted.
150mm
Dry sand jointing to BS 7533-4: 2006
Coarse sand bed compacted
Construction details and planting Figure 3.2
Figure 2.2
Figure 1.2
Figure 2.1
Fall of no more than 5mm on surface of bench. Technicalities of each bench will be sorted when being individually cut to shape.
Figure 3.1
In-situ concrete foundation and haunching.
50mm 200mm See Figure 1.1 for details. 125mm
50mm 70mm
Vertical faces riven.
440mm
m
Minumum length of the longest side of a sett is 60mm. Gap to be replaced by specialized sett of 360mm.
Dry sand jointing to BS 7533-4: 2006
m
In-situ concrete foundation and haunching.
160mm
m
m
Hardcore with maximum particle size of 50mm.
Compacted ground.
Coarse sand bed compacted.
Repeating pattern of Yorkstone setts.
Coarse sand bed compacted
Yorkstone bench cross-section.
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30mm
70mm
50mm 25mm
125mm
150mm
Compacted ground.
100mm
Sawn Yorkstone sett. 300 x 100 x 80mm
Yorkstone bench axonometric.
40mm 25mm
Growi
400mm
200mm
Edges beveled.
Compacted ground.
m
30mm 60mm
Minumum length of the longest side of a flag is 100mm. Gap to be replaced by specialized flag of 700mm.
100mm
Hardcore with maximum particle size of 50mm.
m
80mm
100mm
Water level.
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m
Check Figure 4 for details of Yorkstone flag paving.
Sawn Yorkstone flags 600 x 300 x 40mm
Concrete block edge stone 200 x 100 x 60mm
Growing medium.
Yorkstone edging stone with riven face. Check Figure 3.1 for details.
Dry sand jointing to BS 7533-4: 2006
m
Rill.
Apply instructions for edging stones from Figure 3.2 to boundaries with raised Yorkstone blocks.
Coarse sand bed compacted
Portland cement mortar 10mm to BS 5628
Repeating pattern of Yorkstone flags.
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40mm around base of bench Levels of flags vary. sawn cut as to be flush with See cross section for paving. Dry sand jointing to details. BS 7533-4: 2006.
Portland cement mortar 10mm to BS 5628
Figure
mm
Sawn surface.
YORKSTONE BENCHES CUT OFF SITE. DIMENSIONS VARY.
Riven vertical face.
Yorkstone edging stone set in concrete. Top face riven. All other faces sawn. 600 x 300 x 200
Figure 4
98
Vertical faces riven.
Sawn Yorkstone sett. 300 x 100 x 80mm
Hardcore with maximum particle size of 50mm.
m
Edges beveled. Cut 5mm from edge angled at 45 degrees. Yorsktone rill edging block.
Sawn Yorkstone flags 600 x 300 x 40mm
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YORKSTONE BENCHES CUT OFF SITE. DIMENSIONS VARY.
m
Sawn Yorkstone flags 600 x 300 x 40mm
54
Sawn surface.
Boundary between Yorkstone flag and sett paving.
Figure 3.2
Riven Yorkstone
Sawn Yorkstone flags 600 x 300 x 40mm
Repeating pattern of Yorkstone flags.
Sawn Yorkstone
Self reta detail.
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Shrub and field layer plant plan.
Yew Taxus baccata
Tufted-hair grass Deschampsia cespitosa
Pedunculate oak Quercus robur
Wood anemone Anemone nemorosa
Hazel Corylus avellana
Ox-eye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare
Harts-tongue fern Asplenium scolopendrium
Purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea
Degree show public exhibition
The university held a public exhibition at the end of the final year to allow us to showcase our work. This gave us the chance to refine our presentation skills through various different kinds of media and to pitch our work to the public and potential employers.
Private Garden Belsize Park, London
This project is the private garden of a large semi-detached town house that I designed and implemented. The client wanted a scheme that would provide plenty of greenery and colour that could be seen easily from within the house but that also provided space to relax in the sun and experience the planting close up. Strong topiary forms were also of interest to the client as well as a herb bed that could provide for the kitchen.
Herb bed
Existing patio
Living/dining room Sunny plant beds
Crocus lawn Shaded plant beds
Existing trees and shrubs Topiary hedge Existing retaining wall
Existing seating + patio Bedroom
Living/dining room
Planting + construction
Plant plan + path footprint.
Topiary hedge plan.
Topiary hedge elevation.
Implementation 1 Digging the trenches for the Scottish pebble paths. 2 Paths edged with steel and then filled in with hardcore. 3 Laying out the plants. Some existing potted plants from the garden were used in the plant beds. 4 Original turf removed and replaced once the ground was levelled and crocus bulbs planted. 5 Soil turned, followed by addition of conditioning compost and grit to improve the soil quality for the plants.
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Finished garden The garden is divided into two ‘rooms’ by the box hedge: the lower patio and the upper garden. The lower patio is backed by the retaining wall and prairie-style planting and acts as an extension of the spacious interior of the house. The upper garden consists of a small patio backed by a mixed herb bed, looking onto a crocus lawn, with an intimate path through the plant beds and shade planting under the shrubs and trees.
Shed
Shaded plant beds Crocus lawn Sunny plant beds
Rockery Topiary hedge
Path to the front of the house
Herb plant bed Outdoor dining area
Bedroom
Living/dining room
Image Trees for Life (n.d.) Overgrazing [online] [accessed 23/4/2015] Available from: http://treesforlife.org.uk/forest/human-impacts/overgrazing/
Critical Study Bringing wilderness back to the UK: is it possible? In this critical study I research and analyse the appropriateness of rewilding in the UK and how it would affect both humans and the natural environment. The points that I argue to support it’s implementation are its ability to prevent, if not reverse the massive reduction of biodiversity caused by human activity, how it can reduce the occurrence and severity of flooding, its capacity to enable the storage of carbon and cleanse the atmosphere, and its various social and economic benefits. The other side of the argument includes issues of food security as a result of lost agricultural land and the problems that the reintroduction of large predators could bring. I also address the issue of how the aesthetic of the UK countryside is engrained in the national psyche and the difficulties arrising from the changes that rewilding would bring.
Design + Community Fewston + Glencoe Bridges, Cross Green, Leeds As designers, landscape architects have the ability to design unique and interesting spaces for people to enjoy. However, in reality, most projects are restricted by numerous factors such as the size of the budget, the client’s demands, protected areas and all other manner of limitations. Yet, what might at first be seen as restrictions on the creative process can actually be turned into instigators of an imaginative design that responds to such issues in a respectful and innovative way. The Design + Community project gave me the opportunity to experience this aspect of landscape architecture first hand by working with clients on a small community project with a restricted budget in a team of other landscape architecture students.
Working with the community
Community
Play Grow
The first stage of the project involved conducting background research and analysis for the site, followed by a community consultation to find out what the clients wanted in their design.
Design The next stage was for each team member to create their own design. We then presented all of these to the client to find out which aspects of each design they liked the most.
Store shed + community workshop
Community events space Edible plant beds Decorative plant beds Path through site
Individual design
We then worked together as a team to collate the best aspects of each of our designs. Roles were assigned to each team member of which I was given the task of working up the drawings and creating visualisations.
Large reclined seating
Integrated play and plant area
Edible plant beds Community events space
Team design
Visualisations
Design exhibition
The final stage of the project was the exhibition of our work to the client and local community. A portfolio of the whole process, from site research and analysis, through individual work, to our team design, was created to present to the client for them to keep. This gave them the opportunity to construct the scheme in their own time or take aspects of our work that they were interested in. Left Our D+C work exhibited to the clients. Right The same work exhibited to the public at the end of year degree show.
Interdisciplinary workshop Former Tetley Brewery, Leeds This was a three day intensive design project, working with architects, urban planners and project managers to produce a masterplan for the former Tetley Brewery site on the south bank of the River Aire in central Leeds. The brief that my group worked on was the planning of a campus for the Leeds Institute for Climate Research (LICR) and associated Leeds Botanical Garden. Having the opportunity of working in an interdisciplinary team was very beneficial for being able to understand how landscape architecture practices are run in conjunction with other professions.
Leeds city centre
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Brewery Wharf
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Crown Point Shopping Park
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Student accomodation
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Tetley Botanical Gallery
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Salem Church Central square
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Existing buildings
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Royal Armouries
Photos, models + sketches
Garden in Italy Lunigiana, Tuscany This is a personal project that my family started in 2004. The site was a derelict farm building that my parents saw the potential in with its interesting poly-tunnel structure and large plot of surrounding land in the lush forested mountains of the Lunigiana region in Northern Tuscany. It is a joy to work in the garden due to the free reign I have on its design and implementation, though due to constraints on our available time, the process has been very slow! However, the slow pace of its development creates an interesting contrast to my university projects and professional landscape architecture practices which are fast paced.
The condition of the building and garden when we first found it.
The house and garden as it looks in its current state.
RĂŠsumĂŠ
I am passionate about Landscape Architecture and environmental conservation and believe that they must always go hand in hand in any approach to a design. I feel that in much of modern society humans have lost their connection to nature and that it is through inspirational design that this connection and appreciation of the natural environment can be rekindled. Thus it is by working in the field of Landscape Architecture that I believe I have the chance to encourage others to be as inspired as I am.
Interests
Environmental conservation | Rewilding | Architecture + Design | Playing drums in a band
Education
Leeds Beckett University | BA(Hons) Landscape Architecture - Second Class Honours (1st Division), 2015. Camden School for Girls | 3 x A2 Level - ABC in Politics, Art and History, 2012. 4 x AS Level - ABBB in Politics, Art, History and Geography, 2011.
Experience
Design and implementation of a private garden for a client in Belsize Park, London, 2015. Leeds Beckett Student Representative for the Landscape Institute Yorkshire + Humber branch, 2014-2015. Landscape Architect Course Representative at Leeds Beckett University, 2014-2015. Gustafson-Porter internship | Landscape Architects Assistant, June-July 2014.
Skills
AutoCAD Adobe InDesign Adobe Photoshop Hand graphics
Contact information
07758696172 alfie_apd@hotmail.com 28 Elliott Square, London, NW3 3SU