From Fight to Flight - A New Dynamic, Living Hub in the London Royal Docks by Audrey Chan

reen Spaces

NETWORKS AS A CATALYST

URBAN REGENERATION BA3 Audrey CHAN, Nicolas DERPORTE, Ignacio GUBIANAS BLANES, Alex PUGH, Annabelle SILVER-SETCHFIELD

STRATEGIC MASTERPLAN

THE SITE WITHIN LONDON

MATRIX OF NETWORKS Our driving principle is to establish an independent framework that demolishes physical and social barriers that exist on the site today. We employ several key mechanisms to achieve this.

which development can continue as economic considerations permit.

STREETSCAPE

The inclusion of parkland draws the river edge into the system extending the potential for waterfront property making this exclusive attribute far more accessible to a wider range of housing typologies. Extensive linear parks allow for easy visual connections to be drawn throughout the district making this the next centre for London’s businesses.

To counter the feeling of isolation a hierarchy of streetscapes and linear parks will draw residents living in the interior of the docks out to the active waterfront edge, engaging all members of the community along key lines drawing connections through social boundaries. We see the implementation of green infrastructure being as crucial in making this framework successful. SUDS, common tree species and continuous material choices act as binding features of a pervasive landscape fabric. Our strategy functions independently of proposed building work creating the underlying matrix of a successful district in Proposed Catalyst Areas

CATALYSTS

GREENSCAPE

The removal of clear zones within the site by gradating building heights allows the proposal for London city airport to become the clear centre of the Docklands, feeding off energy moved into the district with the use of key catalysts, providing a long misused area within the heart of London a new identity. An identity the residents can be proud to belong to.

VARIED DENSITIES Residen�al Density

Scale 1:5000

TIMESCALE

5 YEARS Low Density Housing Exis�ng Catalyst

Medium Density Housing

10 YEARS

20 YEARS

50 YEARS

High Density Housing

Proposed Catalyst Areas

1:1000

COHESION OF THE PUBLIC REALM

URBAN REGENERATION BA3 Audrey CHAN, Nicolas DELPORTE, Ignacio GUBIANAS BLANES, Alex PUGH, Annabelle SILVER-SETCHFIELD

UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

SITE MASTERPLAN - TRANSECT

GREEN BRIDGE Sloping the surfaces up on either side of the road to a gradient of 1 in 25. The road becomes an enclosed tunnel while the parkland is allowed to be extended above it. A green bridge enables the green network to be extended through the site, as well as eliminating the physical barrier of the dual carriageway.

This waterfront site is prime and for the Extension of the University of East London. UEL and other London Universities expand their campuses. An ideal use for a permeable space, extending elements of the parkland across the road with green walls and rooves and SUDS.

RUNWAY APARTMENTS MOVABLE FOOTBRIDGES Two movable bridges are necessary to link North Woolwich, Royal Warf , the New City Airport and the University. These bridges will also act as focal points in our site, to draw people through.

Right: Green bridge at Mile End, London, 2000 by CZWG

From old runway to linear park with waterfront housing. From the eastern end of the runway to the west there will be a transition from residential to mixed use and commercial development. The blocks will be divided up by extending the existing streets of residences by the airport to achieve a feel of connection in the community. With a one-way street on either side for transport and access to the waterfront apartments.

AIRPORT BOARDWALK This walkway will begin the cleaning process of water in the docks and provide interaction with the water for visitors. Floating islands will be planted with phytoremediation plants, connected by a walkway over the water and amongst the planting. Phytoremediation plants work in ways to either store pollutants, break them don into non-toxic forms, or release them into the atmosphere as a gas.

NORTH WOOLWICH

DOCKSIDE MARKET Space for a waterfront market is made by bridging existing concrete blocks to the dock-edge with decking. The market is a catalyst for drawing visitors and neighbourhood.

One of the foundations of our proposal is the avoidance of gentrification in the regeneration process. For this reason we will not be removing any existing housing. A heirachy of streetscapes will carry green infrastrutre and pedestrian friendly routes into existing heighbourhoods. Transitioning from higher density apartments to terraces in current North Woolwich. Pedestrian priority streets draw existing developments to pocket parks and waterfronts.

TATE & LYLE FACTORY, PLAISTOW WHARF HIGH DENSITY ON THAMES FRONT BOULEVARD RENOVATION Road reduced to one lane of traffic,Incorporating a cycle lane and SUDS. This will reduce noise pollution and create a friendlier streetscape. Where before, the road acted as a noisy, physical North South divide.

Higher density apartments with riverfront views and views directly onto pocket parks. To avoid gentrification of the area, we propose a transition of housing densities.

This is a proposed catalyst area and landmark building. As an icon, we propose the Tate & Lyle building should remain with a change of use from industrial. These are buildings or features (bridges) that will be higher than the surrounding buildings and are located and designed to direct people through the space as well as provide the community with an icon. Below: The Baltic , Newcastle

RIVERSIDE WALKWAY A pedestrian only walkway along the riverside of the Thames will frame the entire network and create a powerful piece of public realm combine with a set of parks that will be key in regenerating the area.

Scale 1:1500

Extension of the TFL Thames Path from Canning Town to North Woolwich to encourage foot traffic. Above: Royal Wharf walkway

Urban Regeneration Iterative Development Submitted by Audrey Chan BA3 Landscape Architecture

Introduction.............................................................4 Marks of History...................................................... 6 Concept Development ..............................................8 Pockets and Corridors ............................................14 Human Activities and Intensity ..............................18 Human Activities and Intensity ..............................20 First Design ..........................................................22 Zoning through Movement .....................................26 Different Types of Space .....................................28 Section Exploration................................................29 More Experimentation... .....................................30 Final Design in Detail ............................................32 Reference...............................................................33

Table of Contents 2

Introduction

Rewinding back to the group work, our idea was surrounding the theme of composing a landscape fabric with coherent pattern, compiled by greenspace, housing and business catalysts. However, little detail have been designed particularly in the linear park on the current runway, making it dull.

Marks of History

As the Royal Docks had changed uses twice: Dockyard -> Airport -> Proposed Housing I was looking at the structures that were took down and how the site developed. I found that the site is rich in transportational history as two iconic transportation port have once set their foot in this area. I want to preserve their characters through movement. I also looked at the changes the airport runway had. It was occupied as a dockyard for almost a century, and one of the main axis seen from the maps is a straight corridor that runs across the west to east side of the site. Since its conversion into the London City Airport, the axis become more prominent. 7

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Vibrant Urban Experience Enhancing sense of place Encouraging art and cultural activities Fostering Social interaction Strengthening sense of community Promoting acitve lifstyles of a walkable neighborhood with green infrastructure • Improve general well being

Automated public transport is advancing rapidly. In the future we can expect to see more driverless electric trams, buses and trains in the streetscape. This will reduce the dominance of and our reliance on the car; lower pollution, noise and congestion; increase safety; make cities for people; and provide the opportunity for green corridors.

Vertical farming may become more popular as urban populations explode and available space shrinks. The use of roofs, vertical spaces and basements to grow arable crops could result in shorter, more environmentally friendly distribution routes, healthier diets and fresher foods.

In denser city environments our public realm, streets and squares will gain in importance as vital places for people to meet, relax and socialise. Large city trees and urban woodland will be more essential than ever to create attractive and healthy spaces with comfortable microclimates.

Green roofs, walls and façades are likely to become more prominent in cities, as we need to exploit and retrofit the layers of the city to find space for recreation and nature. Supporting valuable ecology, or as pleasant places for urbanites to hang out, these features also provide pollution mitigation, natural warming/cooling, rainfall attenuation and insulation to lower energy costs.

Cool city parks—spaces for larger urban populations to socially interact, keep healthy and escape—will become even more important than they are now. These spaces will need to be more densely tree-covered to provide vital urban cooling, shade and weather protection, and they should incorporate or retrofit multifunctional design features like temporary floodable areas to provide climate change mitigation.

Extensive green networks through the city are the aim of a green infrastructure design approach. Networks can be formed over time to create an encompassing “city ecosystem” that can support the sustainable movement of people, rebuild biodiversity and provide substantial climate change adaptation.

Entertainment in the urban environment for citizens is very likely to move into the digital age. Features such as interactive art installations allocated in denser urban environments will provide opportunities for social interaction, community involvement and tourism—all essential for successful cities.

Green corridors provide important routes for wildlife to migrate and travel through the city. Urban green spaces are far more effective when linked; this is a key objective of a green infrastructure design approach. Another is multifunctional design, and these corridors can also provide natural drainage solutions and better airflows for climate change resilience.

Smart weather covering could help keep public spaces usable in varying conditions. This may include covers that automatically unfold during rain events or when sunshine is intense. By collecting solar energy during daytime they could provide “smart lighting” that responds to the presence of people, providing security whilst also saving energy.

Large-species trees need to form a vital component of a green infrastructure city ecosystem, for the multiple benefits they deliver, which includes a role as the best carbon sinks a city can get. They absorb huge amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it to oxygen, helping create healthier and liveable cities for urban dwellers.

Urban wetlands will need to become more commonplace as essential hard-working city components to deliver storm protection, buffering, filtration and reed beds for cleaning and purifying water through natural processes. These features can also support attractive and significant wildlife areas to increase city biodiversity.

The “harder” public realm areas and streets will continue to provide vital “breathing rooms” in the city. Healthy streets and urban squares will need to work harder, incorporating more permeable surfacing and sustainable drainage for flood protection, and a higher percentage of large trees as standard, to generate better microclimates. Greener city spaces will help increase land values and boost retail sales.

Glowing trees are being researched as a way of providing lighting without the use of electricity. Using bioluminescence technology they would provide all the benefits of large trees as well as provide secure and shared public space for people to enjoy.

Interactive spaces provide the opportunity for entertainment and interaction with light and music. These spaces can be used for artistic or commercial events and increase the attractiveness and success of urban space.

Glowing pavements use particles in the pathway to absorb and reflect light and emit it at low ambient light levels. This provides an environmentally efficient and exciting way to light parklands, streets and squares.

With land at a premium, creating city space for people will call for courageous design. As cities expanded in previous times urban railways went underground—why not underground roads now? Burying key highways will significantly lower pollution, noise, congestion and barriers to movement. This will create huge gains by freeing up city space for people and enhancing the city environment.

Research is being poured into vehicle automation and electric cars. Automated private cars will act to improve safety for pedestrians, whilst lowering pollution and noise to create better city environments where people come first.

Permeable paving and soft landscape areas will help urgently convert grey to green in future city environments. This is a simple technology, but a vital one to improve water absorption and slow rain water run-off. This will help cities cope with extreme weather events and increased precipitation whilst significantly visually improving the environment.

City environments will need to be modified to design in or retrofit sustainable drainage systems within streets and city green spaces to better cope with predicted extreme weather events. Measures may also include temporarily floodable areas of public realm and “water roofs”, designed to hold stormwater which is often cheaper than conventional drainage systems.

Green bridges can retain important links in green infrastructure city networks. They also act to provide continuous wildlife corridors to benefit city biodiversity and bring opportunities for healthier traffic-free routes and pedestrians crossings over waterways and roads.

The urban environment will need to work harder in the future in cities to provide flexible uses when city space is in demand. Adaptable public spaces can be designed for multiple functions: as meeting places, markets and entertainment and education places. This approach will help local business and engender local community pride.

Bike sharing is already very popular in many cities, and research shows significant health benefits to city dwellers who are provided with convenient cycle ways and good facilities. This trend needs to be encouraged—cycling will deliver lower public transport and public health costs; along with innovative solutions such as underground bike parks, it could save valuable city space.

Finding city space for informal recreation may look to retrofitting obsolete city infrastructure above ground or even to finding space for underground parklands. Cities are already pioneering research into how to facilitate green spaces using fibre optics. Urban greening should be designed to occupy multiple layers within the city to effectively utilise available space.

Solar panels are likely to become more commonplace as cities look to spread the energy load. Panels are increasingly a cornerstone of municipal environmental policy in many cities. With zero carbon emissions they can effectively provide heat and power to urban structures.

Our urban environments may become places to go to experience augmented reality, especially as devices get smarter and more wearable. This provides opportunity for new experiences of the city as well as practical solutions to way finding, navigation and tourism in the city.

Birds and the City: Urban Biodiversity, Land Use, and Socioeconomics

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After reading several researches including Cities Alive and this article, it further reinforced my proposed design programme: A central park that reflects the history of its location, introduces a variety of facilities for landscape remediation and recreational experiences, which also allows movement of different speeds, across different points of the site.

Concept Development

Place d'Youville is a linear park in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is designed by Claude Cromier and Associates. This linear park is a good example of creating different movement speed through manipulation of materiality. The carefully chosen plants of seasonal interests becomes a powerful placemaking device to create a vibrant landscape for all seasons. 10

There is a lot of materials used in the park, including stone sets and pavings of differnt color to recreate different routes in the park. Cromier himself described this as artificial but it should blend in well into the existing surrounding due to its geometric design and adds tint of color to the site. I am most inpsired by the design philosophy behind this park and the graphics displayed are clear and concise.

Multiple routes were proposed due to desire lines.

Similar history of locating close to a waterfront

Bird Eye view of the park. 13

I experimented new axis in the park that improves the access between the north and south buildings. I found that these axes not only improves accessibility, it also act as a corridor to divide up the vast space I have on the linear park, enclosed by paths designated for different movement speed

Pockets and Corridors

The Goods Line is a competition entry based in Sydney, Australia. This design displays ways to alter a regular linear structure into an irregular structure with a coherent rhythm, as well as offering a wide range of facilities to visitors for all times of a day. The sections shows example of facility and planting used.

The Goods Line is designed based on a raised linear park and shows similarity to the famous landscape project in the United States, 'the High Line'. This case study is a good example of adding facilities of all kind into a narrow linear park without resulting in too many things happening at the same time, through a careful detail manipulation in colors and shapes. However, the material component and ropographical background are less likely to be adapted in my case study due to climatical limitation.

Each section shows the example of facilities for public use. 16

Bird's Eye View of the Goods Line 17

After that, I was intending to experiment with sections, but I found I had little idea what people would do in a park, therefore I drew the ones I can think of and analyzed these activities based on the amount of required space, ecological importance and intensity of the activity. This should be very helpful to assign land for each type of activities

Human Activities and Intensity

I assessed and categorised each activity possible in three different aspects: Ecological impact, Activity intensity and required space. With this categorised I will be able to assign different spaces in the site with the sutiable activity intensity, and assign corresponding facilities. Besides, I tested things in sections and plan. One thing I did wrong was drawing them in 1/1000. The level difference are hard to notice but I still managed to gain insights of them. Adding a thin stream of water at the centre of the park is a key approach to create everchanging movement, reflecting the history of the site.I also analysed the impact these designs have on connectivity, experience and little bit on ecology. The different shades of color represent different experience and the arrows represent movement. The first few focused on water, and the rest focused on creating different experiences across 55 metres, including manipulating levels and installing playground facilities.

Assigning spaces suitable for activity of what intensity

Human Activities and Intensity

In a smaller picture, where only the park can be seen from the plan, I layered out the proposed routes across the park, to predict how fast people will walk through. This is helpful to balance the fast corridors with slower pockets of space, such as putting a slow walking garden to balance out people rushing for work

First Design

Superkilen is a public park located in Nørrebro, Copenhagen. Designed by BIG Architects, Topotek 1 and Superflex. It challenges the public's perception of what is acceptable as a public park. The park is separated into three parts: Red Square, Black Square and Green Park.

Although the scale of the park is much larger than the site of my linear park, it displays a demonstration of benefits to areas according to the intended movement, and allow people of different interest to stay in one place. The red square poses a large contrast, giving the area a energetic, cartoonic vibe. As an extenxion of Norrebrohall, it serves as a physical fitness square as facilities offered include Thai Boxing, calisthetic training equipment, and more. The pattern of the ground paving is very interesting

The black square is also known as an urban living room. During weekdays, the permanent facilities including permanent tables, benches and grills provide entertainment for the local retired residents. The green park is a new replacement for the existing sports field, where a number of sports facilities can be found including hockey and basketball fields, creating a natural attraction sport for teenagers. The park also attracts children for its playground facilities, providing a good spot for a family day out. The vibrant contrast and characteristics of each zones fascinates and I found factors like zoning, placemaking of different area through materiality and infusion of sculpture and art, applicable into the linear park of Royal Docks.

Referencing from the design of Superkilen, I started to zone out the different areas I intend to create with different characters Again, I have used the activity intensity as a base to layout my spatial framework. Due to measurement error, I found out the park is much more narrower than Ithought, from 55m shrinking to 23m wide, and 1.2km long

Zoning through Movement

After defining areas of activity intensity, I started drawing in sections to test different types of space and how to layout the facilities for those mentioned activities. The top left is an exploration of street form on the main streets that surrounds the park, of dimensions for pedestrian access and car access, additionally bicycle access. At the end, I felt to accomodate a more greener neighborhood and promote walkable neighhood further, I chose the design with all three access for: pedestrian, cars and cycle.

Since I am focusing on creating a tranquilising landscape in an urban jungle, I also drew sections only on testing how would the spatial layout of my experimentation look in perspective. Overall, I felt the walking paths are too exposing, but I did choose number 2 (the middle) as the final with minoe adjustment on the location of the paths. The sections exploration below shows demonstrations of how I brainstormed what to put in those areas, by listing example facilities for those area and fitting them into the section. However, it is still hard for me to experiment solely through section due to the lack of space in a section plan.

Chosen this design Chosen this design

Chosen this design for the still and quiet activity area.

Different Types of Space

Medium-High intensity activity area accomodates: Skate Park • Mini bike stunt park • Fitness training ground • Fitness facility for elderly and adults

Low-Medium intensity Activities Area shall have facilities: • Children playing equipment • BBQ and grilling facilities • Picnic and reading shalter • Badminton nets • Table Tennis Table

Section Exploration

After experimenting how these spaces look, I reviewed my original layout and started to see how the paths interact according to all the chosen design.

After experimenting how these spaces look, I reviewed my original layout and started to see how the paths interact according to all the chosen design. I was slightly worried about two paths being too much in a 23m park, therefore I experimented with only one path in the quieter areas. However, it goes against my design intention of creating a naturalistic and quiet space since all sounds are gathered in one place, therefore I reverted it back to the original design, and hiding the two paths between dense tree vegetation

Chosen this design for the loudest, high intensity activity area. This is the final draft of my design with only access and draft vegetation categorized according to the proposed materials and movement speed

More Experimentation...

This is the spatial layout I have finally decided to take on to 1/1000 scale in A1. 31

• Baan, I. (2017). Gallery of Superkilen / Topotek 1 + BIG Architects + Superflex - 12. [online] ArchDaily. Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/286223/superkilen-topotek-1-big-architects-superflex/508 8cdcc28ba0d752a0000dc-superkilen-topotek-1-big-architects-superflex-photo [Accessed 25 Apr. 2017]. In detail, I looked at the placemaking for the quietest area because there are least facilities and I wonder how I could make it more attracting, however after drawing it in 1/500, I realise the park is 'small' enough for people to jsut use it for picnic and use the trees for shelter for reading, as brainstormed from the activity brainstorm section. Therefore, with the stream producing pleasant sounds and a wildflower meadow acting as a small attraction, it should atract people to use it on a dail basis as a hidaway.

• Birds and the City: Urban Biodiversity, Land Use, and Socioeconomics. (2017). 1st ed. [ebook] Michael W. Strohbach , Dagmar Haase, and Nadja Kabisch. Available at: https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/ vol14/iss2/art31/ES-2009-3141.pdf [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017]. • Cities Alive - Towards a walking world. (2017). 1st ed. [ebook] ARUP. Available at: http://www.arup. com/cities_alive/rethinking_green_infrastructure [Accessed 17 Apr. 2017]. • Superflex.net. (2017). SUPERFLEX/Tools/Superkilen. [online] Available at: http://www.superflex.net/ tools/superkilen [Accessed 21 Apr. 2017].

• Visitcopenhagen. (2017). Tourist. [online] Available at: http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/ superkilen-park-gdk707822 [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. •

Perspective vision for the outdoor cinema

Final Design in Detail

Reference 33