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Swings and seesaws are of course among the classics of outdoor play. The giant versions proposed by Playbank invite people to take a break and release their inner child. In addition to their functionality, the objects have a strong sculptural presence which communicates the message of play and changes our perception of the public space. The seesaw is right beside the roaring traffic on Albert Embankment; the swing is on the traffic island in front of Vauxhall Station which is currently mostly lost space. In both cases, hostile spaces are appropriated through play and experienced in novel ways.
Playbank Welcome to Playbank, a multi-year game for Vauxhall’s 110,431 residents. Whilst the word ‘bank’ usually makes us think about how to manage our finances, Playbank encourages us to consider an even more important question: namely how to manage our time.
The project aims to contribute to the regeneration of Vauxhall by adding a layer of intergenerational play and other activities: to give new meaning to underused spaces, inspire people to move from space to space and explore the wider area, and thereby connect areas that are currently lacking in life and disjointed.
Through the simple message of play, Playbank strives to give Vauxhall a compelling new brand that is wholly unique in London.
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The giant Newton’s Cradle is mounted to the unused White Hart Dock structure on Albert Embankment. The simple game adds life to an otherwise meaningless open space and allows us to experience the conservation of momentum and energy via a series of swinging spheres. The moving spheres also hark back to the times of industry and activity in the area, which was dominated by the Royal Doulton Pottery complex until the Lambeth factory closed in 1956 due to new clean air regulations and all work was transferred to Stafordshire.
Challenges Vauxhall faces a number of complex challenges. Due to piecemeal development, the area has a poor public realm where traffic dominates and neighbourhoods are cut off from each other by major roads and the rail arch spine.
In addition there are substantial social challenges. Approximately half of all households live in social housing; levels of social deprivation, crime and anti-social behaviour are high; and unemployment stands at twice the national average, despite the opportunities afforded by the proximity to central London.
In consequence, the area has a negative image to most outsiders and a clear need for a rejuvenated sense of pride amongst local residents.
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Pedlars Park is a relatively new open space, named after the ‘Pedlar of Lambeth’ who is believed to have donated one acre of land for the nearby St. Mary’s-atLambeth Church, which is now the Garden Museum. Communication to the park is hindered by a barrier of walls on the boundary, which cuts off the park from the businesses and offices beyond. To break through this barrier and establish a connection between the park and its surroundings, empty facades will be used for a climbing wall and an open-air cinema for public film showings, in imitation of the Pedlar’s gift of space for the public benefit.
Approach Playbank aims to tackle these challenges by igniting a culture of play in Vauxhall through a grid of components comprising zones of play, zones of contemplation, zones of tolerance and connecting routes, all supported by intense community engagement.
The idea of play here extends far beyond the conventional notion of an activity primarily for children, as expressed for instance in the Lambeth Play Strategy 2007-2017.
Rather, it is an intergenerational activity which has the power to bring together the diverse parts of Vauxhall’s community and which can serve as an icebreaker for a host of community-led activities in the public space.
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The railway arches have long been a barrier and inhibited routes towards the river and connections between communities. In order to improve their permeability and connect Albert Embankment with Vauxhall Walk and Tyers Street, whispering pipes will pass through the arches at Tinworth Street and Whitgift Street and allow passersby on both sides to engage in conversation. By exciting curiosity about events, people, voices on the other side and establishing a direct aural connection, the whispering pipes will encourage people to make greater use of the arches and explore the other side.
Zones of Play Zones of play offer a variety of activities, ranging from seesaws on Albert Embankment, to whispering shells in the Spring Gardens, to a skate park in Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground.
In all cases they are strategically located in areas where improvements are needed, bring to life underused public spaces, and create a network of new destinations.
Aimed not only at children but at all generations, and designed in line with Vauxhall’s rich heritage, they constitute a Trojan horse to introduce a welcoming spirit of play to the area in order to pave the way for community-driven activities and events.
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Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground is a small park which used to serve as a graveyard for St. Mary’s church. The park is somewhat down at heel; it is primarily used as a transit route and the formal water feature at the centre is dilapidated. To enhance the attractiveness of the place, a mobile skate park will be installed in the water feature and a path of senses will be created. The path of senses will encourage people consciously not to rely on their vision, but to make use of their other senses whilst traversing a route designed to offer a host of experiences focusing on hearing, touch and smell.
Zones of Contemplation Zones of contemplation are in many respects similar to zones of play. Just likes zones of play, they are positioned in places in need of improvement and form an essential part of the area’s network of new destinations.
Rather than offering activities, however, they provide havens of peace and tranquility supported by public furniture. Vauxhall has tremendous unrealised spatial potential, such as Albert Embankment with its wonderful views of the Palace of Westminster and Battersea Power Station.
Zones of contemplation tap into these opportunities to slow down time and offer a much-needed contrast to the bustle and traffic that otherwise dominate the area.
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The Spring Gardens were opened in 1661 and reached the height of their popularity in the early 1800s, with 20,000 visiting on one night in 1826. In the words of a Russian visitor in 1790, it was a place that united all classes: “it is frequented by men of fashion and by flunkeys, by the finest ladies and by women of the street.� To hark back to these distant days of bustle and noise, and to connect to new activities on the bandstand and draw in visitors, large sculptural whispering shells will be placed on the outer edges of the park and serve as giant ears with which to hear what is happening inside.
Zones of Free Play While zones of play and zones of contemplation are to a certain degree predefined in their use, zones of free play are spaces which are wide open for community-led activities and experimentation.
Subject only to the barest minimum of rules to ensure safe and responsible use, they are essentially places where anything goes. At each zone of free play, a rolling series of events will be developed for and by the local community.
In many respects, then, zones of free play are the ultimate manifestation of the Playbank ethos: places where the rules of play and the course of the game are not set in advance but collaboratively created.
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Not far from the original location of the bandstand where Handel’s ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’ was first performed in 1749 in front of 12,000 people, a new bandstand will be established. Located on the edge of the Spring Gardens by Goding Street (facing the arches, next to the Glasshouse Walk) to connect to the neighbouring area, the bandstand will serve as a stage for a rolling programme of cultural events. In particular, it will provide a venue for community-designed activities in the nearby zone of free play. Whilst the original entertainments in the Spring Gardens were largely a commercial venture, new activities will primarily be staged for and by the community.
Connecting Routes The final component of the Playbank grid is the network of routes that connects the zones of play, contemplation and free play with each other as well as with other destinations in the area. At present Vauxhall lacks cohesive routes and is segregated by the gyratory, the railway line and major roads.
By means of new trees, vegetation and public furniture consisting of Y-shaped benches that emphasize the Y in the Playbank logo as a symbol of connectivity where all lines come together, a new series of routes will be marked out to encourage movement from destination to destination and broader exploration of the area.
Playbank will have its own dedicated app enabling locals and others to have a profile which will keep track of their walks, who they met, what they played and what they shared with the city on their excursion. This digital layer of the Playbank will serve to engage with the sense of play at home and anchor physical connections in their virtual networks.
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Public furniture provides meaning to underused spaces and is strategically placed to highlight connecting routes between destinations and improve the pedestrian experience, which is currently poor on account of barriers like the arches and a lack of coherent routes. The Y- shaped structures, which reinforce the Playbank logo with its Y as a symbol of connectivity and convergence, serve as benches and also as places for urban gardening or community food growing like Incredible Edible. In addition, empty frames are hung alongside the arches, building on the arts offering already available in the area by creating a permanent exhibition space for community-created art.
Community engagement To build a culture of play and ensure maximum participation in zones of free play it is essential to engage local residents from the outset. Vauxhall has an excitingly diverse community.
The population is young; approximately 40% of residents originate from a non- white ethnic group; there is a distinct Portuguese and LGBT community; and the percentage of residents in social housing is high.
To bring together all these different groups, we will rely on our extensive experience of participatory placemaking – bringing in tools and processes to engineer a novel type of geopsychological social contract.
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The Thames with its exceptional views of the city is one of the greatest natural and historical assets of the area, yet its potential is largely untapped. To reconnect the area to the river and improve the riverfront, zones of contemplation will be created to encourage people to pause, observe, and enjoy the slowing down of time. Under the pergola in front of MI6, a typical ‘spy game’ device will be installed to allow users to send Morse-code messages by means of giant torches. Another device will be placed in front of the Tate Britain, thus playfully connecting both riverbanks through Morse conversations.
Incremental Roll-Out The great advantage of Playbank is that it can be rolled out incrementally. To launch the project, only a minimal grid of zones and routes is required, supported by community engagement.
Over time more and more zones and routes can be added, ideally based on community input into preferred locations for play, contemplation, tolerance and connections. To grow the grid, our intention is to seek funders for zones of free play.
To emphasize Vauxhall’s proud history of commerce and trade, our fundraising efforts will be focused on City Livery companies, especially those with a connection to the area such as the mercers, shipwrights, chandlers, fishmongers, brewers and distillers.
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As a first step, four zones of free play will be created to allow for community-driven activities and experimentation, facilitated by a comprehensive programme of community outreach and participatory placemaking. All the zones will be strategically located in underused spaces. Established in an unused tunnel next to Vauxhall Park, in the corner of the Spring Gardens by Tyers street, at the entrance of Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground, and in an empty lot next to Beaconsfield Gallery. The zones of free play will create dynamic new locations and serve as a focal point for local communities.
Impact Playbank is a powerful means to support the regeneration of Vauxhall: low on investment, easy to get started, and strongly drawing on the area’s untapped potential in terms of underused space, local history, and above all the dynamism and creativity of local residents.
Grown over time by and for the community, Playbank will create a compelling opportunity landscape which will decrease the speed with which we move through the area, increase our sense of exploration and opportunity, allow for a range of new commercial possibilities, and
build a strong and simple brand identity that will help to turn the area into a popular destination just as it was 200 years ago.
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