Blue Line_Reconnecting Nine Elms
Masters project
Kingston University ma Landscape & Urbanism Grozopoulos Dimitris K1550339
Contents I. Introduction
VII. Furniture, materials and planting
_Introduction
II. London and the river Thames
_How the river effects construction _Socio-economic status _Open spaces _Access to the river
III. Paris and the River Seine
_ Paris and the River Seine
IV.Nine Elms-Battersea _History _Gentrification-Overdevelopment _Enviromental data _Urban Documentation V. Design Strategy _Concept _Masterplan _Design Toolkit VI. Focus areas
_The Watertower
_Urban Wetland
_Water Park
_The Stitch
_Street furniture _Material Palette _Planting Strategy
VIII. Management Report Context The Brief Place Making Project Economics Project Management Project Collaborators Designations-Policies Work Stages Project Team - Design Team Outreach Construction Health and Safety Inspirations and Contemporary Projects IX. Bibliography
I.Introduction
Introduction This year the focus of the Landscape Studio was to react to the current trends in relation to the river Thames through the medium of Landscape. Our ambition was to investigate the scope, power and potency of landscape architecture and urbanism proposition in the context of the Thames and its immediate edges and ‘terraces’’. Throughout the year the Landscape Studio has been working in collaboration with Unit 4 by going on a Field trip to Paris together but also working over an Atlas for the river Thames. Both in Unit 4 and Landscape Studio, we believe that the River Thames itself as an entity has been neglected. Access to the river is being further reduced by the privatisation of public space and by new ‘luxury developments’.
‘We want to remind Londoners and visitors of the vital wild space in the heart of the city. We want access for all to engage with the precious resource of water.’1 The project ‘Blue line. Reconnecting Nine Elms’ was based into an aspiration to ‘design a counterproposal to the privatized landscape of much of the south bank, using the river landscape to create a project of reclamation of the public realm, engaging with the notion of civitas.’2
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Unit Manual Pierre D’Avoine and Alec Scragg, ‘MArch Unit 4’, MArch/MA Unit Introduction, School of Architecture and Landscape, Kingston University
II.London and the river Thames
London and the river Thames During the last years London’s urbanization has became more and more intense and rapid. According to a research by UN population estimates, London is among the 6 densest cities globally and its population is about to grow even more by 2050 based on extension of London Plan scenario by GLA. Today, Nine Elms in the borough of Wandsworth at the south bank of the river is facing one of the greater transformations London has ever seen, ‘probably the biggest regeneration in Europe and even more expensive than Stratford’s redevelopment over the Olympics’.3 However, the Battersea redevelopment has raised a heated debate between developers, locals and researchers who are against the project. Specifically, the proliferation of residential towers on the riverside of Nine Elms has been described by Peter Rees, one of the London’s most experience planners, as a ‘disaster that is ruining London’.4 At the same time London is dealing with a huge housing crisis, probably the worst in the last twenty years while ‘London’s property market has entirely lost touch with the needs of ordinary Londoners.‘5
Taking all these into consideration, along with the course’s conceptual framework and ethos, the project attempts to identify the spatial characteristics of the undergoing development, explore both theoretically and physically urban phenomena like gentrification, overdevelopment or privatization. Finally, the project investigates urban design strategies like retrofitting, urban recycling and civic participation.
‘Commercial and residential land values in London are driven by a combination of factors – rising population, finite development land, a chronic shortage of housing, economic cycles and investor confidence, both domestically and internationally. When land is at such a premium, particularly in central London, tall buildings with high plot ratios can be an effective way of making the best use of available space.’6
Battersea is part of a huge building project – but not for Londoners, Julia Kollewe, The Guardian, 2015 ‘London’s new village? The transformation of Battersea power Station’, Kate Alen, Financial Times, 5 London had a sub-prime housing problem. Now it has a super-prime crisis. Anna Minton, The Guardian, 6 NLA Insight Study 3
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How the river effects construction
Socio-economic status
Open spaces
Source: Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC
Access to the river During the last decade there have been several reports from authorities and several organisations as well as published articles on the press focusing on the crucial subject of accessibility to the river Thames. Specifically, through the following diagrams and maps it is observed that along parts of the river in the west of Greater London (Arcadian Thames) there are numerous access points (stairs, draw docks) most of them in a good condition situated in a wider network of open/green areas such as parks, gardens or sport facilities.
Contrary to that part, as heading forward to central London, it is clear that access to the river becomes more problematic due to both the lack of maintenance of the various access points and of semi-privatised areas. Finally, in the eastern part of the Thames, the number of the access points reduces while the number of wharfs in the same area is quite noticeable because of the existing industrial zones.
III.Paris and the river Seine
Paris and the river Seine ‘The unit’s interest in Paris lies within the sentiment of the city being on water akin to London. We are interested in drawing a revealing comparison between how both cities of river Seine and river Thames behave towards them while developing an understanding of both the rivers as physical entities their geologies, embankments, crossings, mode of transport, infrastructure as well as their human activities and cultures. Also examining their influences on each other for instance Napoleon’s Bois de Boulogne based on his admiration and envy for London’s gardens. The Seine, at 780 km (485 miles) long, is France’s second longest river. The Seine rises in the region of Burgundy and then flows through Troyes and Melun to Paris. Beyond the capital, the river moves in large loops through Normandy and Rouen, entering the English Channel in an estuary between Le Havre and Honfleur. Its name has Celtic roots and means “sacred source” or “sacred river”.’7
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Unit Manual
Parc de la Villette
Battersea Park
IV.Nine Elms-Battersea
History Development in Lambeth and Vauxhall had increased rapidly after the construction of the bridges at Westminster (1750) and Vauxhall (1816). The coming of the railways in the late 1830s to the 1860s stimulated further development, but also cut through the unity of the Vauxhall and Lambeth districts, permanently transforming the character of these finely grained areas. The Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company’s premises to the east of the railway line covered almost 50 acres. There were six filtering beds and two reservoirs of about ten acres each. In 1850 the water was still drawn from the Thames at Battersea, but in 1855 after health legislation it was drawn from the river at Hampton and pumped to the works. The works were closed in the 1920s. Train services had a relatively limited effect on housing development in Battersea until the 1880s, although there was a need to house the growing numbers of railway workers in the Nine Elms district. These workers lived in streets such as Sussex Street (now Wadhurst Road), begun in the 1850s with an entrance to the Nine Elms works at the end. Tightly packed terraces around Nine Elms and Vauxhall consolidated the working class character of the area, which has been retained in inter-war and post-war slum clearance projects.
Valve gear of 55 inch Cornish engine, Battersea Waterworks. (1867) Source: Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History
1888-1913 map of London Source: National Library of Scotland (http://maps.nls.uk/)
1937-61 map of London Source: National Library of Scotland (http://maps.nls.uk/)
Gentrification-Overdevelopment Gentrification is a complicated process that unfolds in many different ways depending on site and time as social geographer Rachel Brahinsky explains in her recent article, ‘The death of the city’. However, long before the first use of the term back in the 70’s, radical urban transformations driven by social and economic changes used to shape our cities. From Haussmann’s ‘percees’ in Paris to Google’s penetration to San Fransisco, the evolution of the city’s form, shape and function was always related to the once local and now global market as well as to the current trends and population movements. In other words, our cities ‘are made up of wave upon wave of such morally gray displacements, some violently coercive, and others eerily quiet’. It is said that the catalyst for the Battersea redevelopment was the decision of the US embassy to move to the area. The ‘embassy effect’ as it is described by Lydia Muniz, Director of the US Department of State for Overseas Building is the trend driven usually by the US Embassy to attract other embassies to move close to the new neighbourhood in this type of redevelopment zone creating an opportunity area for further investment. At the same time, in the case of London, the river Thames is another catalyst for generating redevelopment projects along the riverside.
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Ellis Woodman, Architecture critic
Thus, it could be said that the river itself causes a form of gentrification, as stated by Dan Clarke, developer at Native Land. Specifically, it is estimated that properties located in the riverfront are valued sometimes 20% to 35% higher than others not facing the Thames. These two factors, the US embassy effect and the place of Battersea in the riverfront may act as gentrifiers but the question to ask is whether ‘this new wave of riverside development is making for more integrated city or merely serving to deepen its existing social and physical divisions?’
‘We have occasionally referred to also in other cities as the Embassy effect or the US Embassy effect. We will sometimes move to a new neighbourhood in this type of redevelopment zone and we see other embassies who again are often times expanding or in outdated facilities in older very expensive parts of town this create an opportunity’ Lydia Muniz, Director of the US
Department of State for Overseas Building Operations
‘We have to ask whether London’s new wave of riverside development is making for more integrated city or merely serving to deepen its existing social and physical divisions?’
Ellis Woodman, Architecture critic
‘But there has been criticism on other grounds, such as the lack of a masterplan for area. Rowan Moore, Observer architecture critic and author of Why We Build, says the new buildings don’t speak to each other. Sir Simon Jenkins, former chairman of the National Trust, has warned that the Thames riverside is turning into “a wall of glass from Bermondsey to Battersea.’
Julia Kollewe, Journalist
‘Despite multiple objections from politicians and not withstanding Boris Johnson’s 2011 Manifesto for Public Space, the construction of Pops such as More London is continuing to escalate and expand, including nine acres planned in Tower Hamlets, a vast patch outside the Battersea Power Station development, and open space and parks at Woodberry Down near Manor House...’ Bradley L Garrett, social and cultural geographer
Enviromental data Another critical objective of the project along with the social coherency is the environmental sustainability of the borough and specifically the ecological resilience and the ability to deal with the existing flood risk. A flood Risk is the likelihood of a particular flood happening (probability) e.g. ‘there is a 1 in 100 chance of flood in any given year in this location’, multiplied by the impact or consequence that will result if the flood occurs. The London Borough of Wandsworth is at risk of flooding from both local sources of flooding and other sources, including the tidal River Thames, main rivers, sewers and artificial sources. The greatest risk from these often arises where different sources of risk combine to exacerbate flooding. In December 2013 the Environment Agency published the national surface water flood mapping, the Flood Risk from Surface Water Map. This Strategy has identified that within the London Borough of Wandsworth; Up to 2,190 residential properties and 602 non-residential properties could be at high risk of surface water flooding (for a rainfall event with a 1 in 30 probability of occurring in any given year). Up to 6,703 residential properties and 1,333 non-residential properties could be at medium risk of surface water flooding (for a rainfall event with a 1 in 100 probability of occurrence in any given year). Up to 24,918 residential properties and 3,322 non-residential properties could be at low risk of surface water flooding (for a rainfall event with a 1 in 1000 probability of occurrence in any given year).
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What is Flood Risk? ‘Flood Risk is the likelihood of a particular flood happening (probability) e.g. ‘there is a 1 in 100 chance of flood in any given year in this location’, multiplied by the impact or consequence that will result if the flood occurs. Sources of Flood Risk The London Borough of Wandsworth is at risk of flooding from both local sources of flooding and other sources, including the tidal River Thames, main rivers, sewers and artificial sources. The greatest risk from these often arises where different sources of risk combine to exacerbate flooding. Surface water flooding usually occurs when high intensity rainfall generates runoff which flows over the surface of the ground and ponds in low-lying areas, before the runoff enters a watercourse or sewer. It can be exacerbated when the soil is saturated and natural drainage channels or artificial drainage systems have insufficient capacity to cope with the additional flow. Groundwater flooding occurs as a result of water rising up from the underlying aquifer or from water flowing from springs. This tends to occur after much longer periods of sustained high rainfall and can be sporadic in both location and time often lasting longer than flooding from rivers or surface water. High groundwater level conditions may not always lead to widespread groundwater flooding; however, they have the potential to exacerbate the risk of surface water flooding and flooding from rivers by reducing rainfall infiltration capacity, and increasing the risk of sewer flooding through groundwater interactions.’ 9
London Borough of Wandsworth Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, Strategic Environment Assessment – Environment Report, Draft for Consultation, June 2014
Documentation Having as a reference Kevin Lynch’s mental maps and Gordon Matta-Clark’s ‘fake estates’, the exploration over Nine Elms and specifically proximate to the railway revealed numerous vacant or mistreated spaces-urban voids which constitute a field of opportunities for re-design. In the next stage, all these different areas were identified creating a taxonomy of urban voids or possible intervention sites.
V.Design Strategy
Concept Towards a resilient and integrated city. The project aims to: a)restore the lack of connectivity and permeability all over the area of Nine Elms caused by both the Railway line cut between 1830-60 and the recent developments as well as, b)to encounter with the existing threat of flood risk. To achieve that the proposal expands into different areas all along the railway line from Battersea to Vauxhall. Based in the concept of urban acupuncture, the design process is developed into a network of -pocket-public spaces utilizing different water treatment systems and a unique design language. The strategies of retrofitting, urban recycling and civic participation determine the different interventions in order to transform all these neglected spaces into active public spaces where people could meet and celebrate water. The project introduces the idea where: ‘instead of taking water out of the city as quick as possible in pipes, keeping in the city could turn it as an asset, as a feature, a place where people want to go and visit.’ 10
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Caroline Bacle, Director of Lost Rivers
Design Toolkit The research on flood risks over the area declare the importance of immediate action in terms of flood risk management, critical infrastructure and transport networks. For that reason, the design was further developed along wth a water management strategy for the areas emphasising in SuD systems. Specifically, through the design of a ‘water features toolkit’ the proposal could be easily adjusted in the different spatial and social characteristic of the area. The toolkit element’s usage ranges from social interaction and play to water purification or even irrigation. For example, there are components designed to reinforce social coherence such as the fountain, the water rooms or the bridge where community is invited to celebrate water. Apart from that, the environmental oriented elements of the design toolkit such as wetlands or water collectors aim to filter water utilising it in other ways and also reduce flood risk for the area.
Masterplan 1:2.000
VI.Focus Areas
Focus Areas ‘Blue Line’ project attempts to develop a strategy of small and medium scale interventions based on the concept of urban acupuncture while at the same time aims to improve water management and flood risk management over the area. Taking into consideration both the local heritage and context the proposal invites the local community to engage and celebrate interaction with water on public realm.
The Watertower ‘This type of urban recycling of the remnants of the industrial city benefits from the unexpected and given context of the site that needs to be remade, a context far from a tabula rasa (...) the site acts as a mnemonic device for the making of the new.’ Mohsen Mostafavi, Why Ecological Urbanism? Why Now? At the moment Unit 66, of the Railway Arches at Queen Circus South is used as a parking area for people who work at the arches nearby. The area is almost 390 m2 and connects the front and backside areas of the arches.
The Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company was established in 1845. It was a utility company supplying water to parts of south London. However, the company closed in 1920 due to contamination or poor filtration of the less used, uncovered filter beds in Battersea.
The London Gasworks was established on the waterfront in Vauxhall by 1862. It comprised three gasometers, a retort house and ancillary structures. Recently, the four gasholders remaining to the north of Battersea Park Road, all built between 1872-1932 were removed from the site.
PLAN
SECTION A-A’ 1:500
PLAN
SECTION B-B’ 1:100
Urban Wetland ‘Cities are looking toward green infrastructure as a means to not only detter deal with stormwater, but to also mitigate flooding, increase biological diversity, and provide cleaner water and air.’ ‘Urbanism and the Landscape Architects’, Mark Hough CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS Wetlands can effectively remove or convert large quantities of pollutants from point sources (municipal, industrial and agricultural wastewater) and non-point sources (mines, agriculture and urban runoff), including organic matter, suspended solids, metals and nutrients. The focus on wastewater treatment by constructed wetlands is to optimise the contact of microbial species with substrate, the final objective being the bioconversion to carbon dioxide, biomass and water. Wetlands are characterized by a range of properties that make them attractive for managing pollutants in water (Bavor and Adcock, 1994). These properties include high plant productivity, large adsorptive capacity of the sediments, high rates of oxidation by microflora associated with plant biomass, and a large buffering capacity for nutrients and pollutants.
At the moment bridges 12A-12B of the Railway Arches at Southolm Street are used as a parking areas for the neighbourhood. The areas are 260m2 and 320m2 connecting Southolm Street to Strasburg Road.
Between the two apartment blocks at Strasburg road there is a wide parking area approximately 1500m2 which seems to be in abeyance at the moment with a few cars parked during the day.
PLAN
SECTION C-C’ 1:500
PLAN
SECTION D-D’ 1:100
Water Park ‘Instead of taking water out of the city as quickly as possible in pipes keeping it in the city and using it as an asset as a flood plain as a feature as somewhere people want to go and visit’ Caroline Bacle, Director of Lost Rivers At the moment the railway arches at Lockington Road are closed deterring someone to cross through and walk to the other side.
However at the same road a new development is under construction.Battersea Exchange is located on Patcham Terrace and includes residential houses,apartments,a new school building for St Mary’s RC School, shops, offices and new restaurants to be located under the railway arches.
PLAN
PLAN 1.1000
SECTION Ε-Ε’ 1:500
The Stitch ‘Increasing people’s access to green spaces could cut billions of pounds from the NHS healthcare bill. Sue Holden, the chief executive of The Woodland Trust said it had been calculated that the NHS could save £2.1 bn a year if everyone had access to green spaces -the link between healthy woods and healthy lives’ was a ‘connection that really has to be made much more and much more often.’’ Mark Kinver, BBC News (2013) Cities Alive, Rethinking Green Infrastructure, ARUP
At the moment the railway line cuts through the urban fabric dividing Nine Elms. Savona Estate is located at the east Side of the line lacking connection to the rest of the area.
PLAN
PLAN 1.1000
SECTION F-F’ 1:500
VIΙ.Furniture, materials and planting
Street furniture 1:50
Material palette
Planting Wetland section 1:50 1. Basin 1 (1st stage of treatment) Reeds (Phragmites) 2.Basin 2 (2nd stage of treatment ) Sand 3. Basin 3 (3rd stage of treatment) Rushes (Acorus calamus) 4. Wetland Marsh zone Acorus calamus-Myosotis scorpioides-Juncus roemerianus Shallow water zone (-0.30m) Iris pseudacorus-Butomus Umbellatus-Alisma plantago-aquatica Semi Shallow water zone (-0.50m) Hottonia palustris-Callitriche palustris-Nymphaea Deep water zone (-1.50m) Orontium Aquaticum Aponogeton Distachyos Nuphar Luteum
VIIΙ.Management Report
Context Heritage Battersea and Nine Elms were developed rapidly after the construction of the bridges of Westminster (1750) and Vauxhall (1816) while the coming of the railways in the late 1830s to the 1860s stimulated further development, but also cut through the unity of the Vauxhall and Lambeth districts. Train services had a relatively limited effect on housing development on Battersea until the 1880s, although there was a need to house the growing numbers of railway workers in the Nine Elms district. Tightly packed terraces around Nine Elms and Vauxhall built up the working class character of the area in the 1850s, before the slum clearance projects took place after the war. Current developments The former wasteland, at the south bank of the river Thames, opposite of Chelsea, is facing today a dramatic change, since £15bn of investment is pouring into the Nine Elms. This redevelopment project is according to The Guardian ‘the biggest building site in London, and one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe, easily eclipsing the £9bn cost of the 2012 Olympics site in Stratford’. The project will deliver new commercial districts, schools, offices, infrastructure networks and over 20,000 new homes effecting the local communities and borough’s life in general. However, in terms of green and open spaces, the major green space of the area Battersea Park is poorly connected, with narrow pavements, heavily trafficked roads and unwelcoming railway arches. Regarding the riverside, the quality of the riverside walk is also poor and most of the
open spaces and sitting areas along the riverside are bleak with no identity thus most of the times are unused. Public access to the river is currently constrained by a lack of good quality pedestrian/ cycle linkages across the whole area from the residential hinterland to the south east. Socio-economic context Exploring the social parameters, someone would realise that the area of Battersea has shown some level of deprivation on some indicators according to a research made by the Department of Communities and Local Government in 2007. Specifically, population of the area depicts a higher percentage of older people and larger percentage of younger families. At the same time, the area has concentrated pockets of particular ethnic groups with particular needs while the population in general is characterised by high unemployment rates, low academic attainment and large crime rates for certain offences. The population includes a diverse range of ethnic minority communities and faith groups. Specifically, 22% of residents come from non-white groups, whilst 65% are White British, 10% are Black or Black British, and 7% are Asian or Asian British with relatively small Indian, Bangladeshi and Chinese people living within the borough. Wandsworth is largely residential, with some substantial areas of employment. Most of the borough is densely populated, including a number of housing estates in north Battersea. Wandsworth’s town centres provide a focus for employment, shopping and leisure activities, although a substantial proportion of the population travels to jobs elsewhere, particularly in central London. (source: Department of Communities and Local Government, Indices of Deprivation 2007)
The Brief ‘Blue Line’ project attempts to develop a strategy of small and medium scale interventions based on the concept of urban acupuncture while at the same time aims to improve water management and flood risk management over the area. Taking into consideration both the local heritage and context the proposal invites the local community to engage and celebrate interaction with water on public realm. The ‘Blue Line’ seeks to reconnect Nine Elms to the river Thames conceptualising water as a joining artery. The project was based on ‘Vauxhall Missing Link’ brief exploring further the concept of green links and urban connections in-between the urban fabric, the proposed linear park and the river Thames. Also ‘Blue Line’ introduces a new type of civic engagement to the public space through the involvement of local communities to its design, management and maintenance. The project tackles to enhance spatial qualities of the numerous urban voids of the area using innovative Sustainable Urban Drainage systems (SUDs) that reduce the risk of flooding and re-introduce water as an attraction to both residents and visitors.
Placemaking Placemaking have been used as a concept since 1960’s. One of the world’s biggest organisations related to public space, the PPS began to use the term consistently during 1990s having mentors like Jane Jacobs and William S. Whyte who introduced ground-breaking ideas about designing cities for people focusing on the social and cultural importance of lively neighbourhoods and inviting public spaces. Placemaking could be described today as an ‘..integrated approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. It requires a collaborative process through which public realm is shaped to maximise shared value. Placemaking pays particular attention to the relationship between the physical, cultural, environmental and social components that define a place to inform the regeneration or evolution of that place. Placemaking shows people how powerful their collective vision can be. It helps them to re-imagine everyday spaces, and to reveal the potential of parks, neighbourhoods, streets, and the wider public realm when these are considered in a more holistic way.’ (sources: Green Infrastructure Task Force Report, GLA, p.36, http://www.pps.org/reference/what_is_placemaking/)
Project Economics The ‘Blue Line’ project could be owned and managed by a group of companies and stakeholders including London Boroughs of Wandsworth and Lambeth, Network Rail and the local communities. Funding could be gained from the various investors of Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership along with a number of potential sponsors and small or medium scale businesses operating in the railway arches. Funding could be categorised into different phases following on the different interventions and also could be split between pre and post construction stage.
Project management As stated in the ‘Green Infrastructure Task Force Report’ which was published this year by the GLA, ‘until the early 1980’s all local authorities managed their parks as inhouse services/direct labour organisations…Today about 60% of boroughs have contracted out their parks services. Some contracts are single grounds maintenance contracts (including parks, housing, schools and highways) and some are multiple facilities management contracts (included with waste or street cleansing).’ However, there are several examples of different types of new management forms emerging during the last years. For example, the borough of Lambeth identified itself as a ‘Co-operative Council’ in 2013 and was committed to work more collaboratively with local communities to deliver local services. As a result of that strategy, the council developed a model which includes three different types for parks and green space management. The three types were: a) Council management – major spaces managed by the council and its contractors. b) Co-operative management – a partnership between the council, local community representatives and local organisations to ensure joint decision-making. c) Community management – community groups and supporting partner organisations take responsibility for management with the council performing a monitoring role to ensure appropriate standards.
An outcome of the Co-operative Parks Programme was the motivation of Vauxhall City Farm and Vauxhall One (in cooperation with the Friends of Vauxhall Park) to take over the of five Lambeth parks which due to their proximity form a unite green trail which can be connected to the proposed Nine Elms linear park at Battersea. (source: Green Infrastructure Task Force Report, GLA, p.35) Drawing on the previous example and the importance of new forms of public space and parks management along with the future green infrastructure goals for London in 2050, the project attempts to maximize community’s participation and engagement in both management and maintenance of the proposed spaces. Specifically, right after the completion of the project all related communities and engaged organisations could distribute the different tasks using the co-operative management framework developed by the Vauxhall council.
Project Collaborators Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership (Mayor of London, London Borough of Wandsworth, London Borough of Lambeth, GLA, Transport for London and area’s main developers and landowners)
Network Rail
Small and medium-sized businesses hosted in the railway arches
Community schemes (Network Rail community scheme, Battersea Power Station Community, Katherine Low Settlement, Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St. Joseph Catholic Church community, Spare Tyre, WCEN)
UK Green Building Council
Project for Public Spaces (PPS)
Designations-Policies Buildings Inside and close to the focus area there are some listed buildings including: - Buildings on Albert Embankment and around Lambeth High Street. - Buildings in Vauxhall around the Oval. - The Battersea Power Station which is listed Grade II. - A small number of other listed buildings around Battersea Park Road. Albert Embankment, Vauxhall Gardens, Lambeth Palace, Vauxhall and Lambeth Walk and China Walk are designated as conservation areas. Open spaces The focus area is characterised by lack of open spaces especially around Battersea Power Station. However, there are numerous parks and green spaces including: -Spring Gardens -Pedlars Park -Whitgift Park Spring Gardens -Battersea Park -Heathbrook Park -Vauxhall Park -Larkhall Park Battersea Park is a grade II* listed park of significant scale which is designated as Metropolitan Open Land and serves a large residential catchment area.
Work Stages Stages A-B Assessment of the client and other members of the design team. On the first stages the design team needs to research over the wider area and the existing site in order to identify and collect data over the landscape, the urban character, the history and heritage of the site, possible constraints and opportunities of the site. At the same stage the design team need to review the client’s brief and provision of the timeframe and schedule. Moreover, site visits and checking the feasibility of the project through surveys and reports in relation to site’s ecology, geology, environmental condition and archaeological findings needs to be done before proceeding to design. At the next stage the design team could proceed to a concept design sketches and diagrams exploring through multiple ideas along with the client the potential outcome and directions of the project, before actual design work begin. Stage C Community engagement and design preparation. Design team could ask for consultation and feedback of the ocal community in order to develop the concept design and prepare the outline plan with rough spatial arrangements and indicative planting strategy. Stage D-E Design development and specialisation of the design according to surveys and community consultation during stage C. The design team should finalise all the spatial arrangements, material palettes and planting plans in order to be able to make cost estimations. At the next stage, the design team could work over details and specialisation of the planning plan, indicating species, size and density of the
proposed vegetation along with general landscape detailing and CDM risk assessments. Work should be of sufficient level to submit to Local Planning Authority to clear related planning conditions. Stages F-G At this stage the design team should prepare a full technical information package from all relevant core design members, for Landscape this will involve general arrangement drawings defining areas of paving, kerbs, boundary treatments etc. More focused planting plans with soil depth plans, existing vegetation to be removed and demolition of selected existing buildings, landscape levels drawings. Stage H At this stage the designation of the different construction works need to be contracted for all the different sectors of the site and future construction phases. Stage I At this stage, the design team need to monitor and inspect all the works on site in relation to landscape and construction through site inspection reports. Design team need to be able to respond to all the information requests or even to amend the drawings and technical specifications if needed. Stage J For the project completion, a final inspection of works across the site need to be done and all issues and works that have been completed successfully need to be listed.
Construction Health and Safety All on site work will comply with CDM regulations 2015 (Construction Design and Management) as supported by the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) in the U.K interpretation of main directive; Directive 92/57/EECtemporary or mobile construction sites, with the assumption of the common practice of the client designating these as mandatory measures. Landscape Architect acting as principal designer would replace CDM co-ordinator role in line with U.K. amendments of 2007 where the principal designer will be able to seek advice from external organisation as a sub consultant and CDM advisor for other disciplines designs. Contents of Directive The client or project supervisor nominates person(s) responsible for the coordination of health and safety at sites where several firms are present. Where a person responsible for coordination is appointed, the project supervisor or client remains responsible for safety and health. The client or project supervisor also ensures that, before work starts at the site, a health and safety plan is drawn up. Where the site is expected to remain open for longer than 30 working days, and it employs more than 20 workers at the same time - or involves a volume of work in excess of 500 mandays - the client or project supervisor must give prior notice in accordance with Annex III to the competent authorities before work starts. The project supervisor and, where appropriate, the client shall take account of the general principles of prevention set out in Framework Directive 89/391/ EEC and a safety plan when deciding architectural and/or organisational aspects, and when estimating the completion time of works or work stages. The person(s) responsible for coordination on the site shall ensure that employers and selfemployed persons apply the general prevention principles,
particularly in respect of the situations described, and that the health and safety plan is taken into account when necessary. They shall also organise cooperation between employers in matters of health and safety and check that the working procedures are being implemented correctly as well as ensure that no unauthorised persons enter the site. The employers’ obligations are: • To adhere to the minimum safety and health requirements applicable to work sites set out in Annex IV. The aspects covered include energy distribution systems, emergency routes and exits, ventilation, temperature, traffic routes and danger areas, sanitary installations, etc. • To act on the comments of the health and safety coordinator. Obligations of self-employed persons are to comply (by analogy) with the principles on safety and health at work set out for employers in Art. 6 and 13 of the “Framework Directive” 89/391/EEC and in the relevant provisions of Annex IV of this Directive and certain provisions of the directives on the use of work equipment and personal protective equipment in order to guarantee the health and safety of all persons on the work site.
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Inspiration and contemporary projects Landscape & Urban design projects ‘Local Code’, Nicholas de Monchaux ‘The Luchtsingel’, ZUS Architects ‘The Promenade of Curiosities’, Erect Architecture and J&L Gibbons ‘River Rooms’, David Kohn ‘The Goods Line’, ASPECT Studios, CHROFI Architects ‘Paley Park’, Landscape Architects Zion & Breen ‘Bankside Urban Park’, Witherford Watson Mann Art installations - Artistic interventions ‘Fake Estates’, Gordon Matta-Clark (1973) ‘Appearing Rooms’, Jeppe_Hein ‘Waterfall’ ,Olafur Eliasson (2008-2016) ‘Turning the World Upside Down’, Anish Kapoor (2010)
1. http://www.urbanpixxels.com/appearing-rooms/ 2.http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/olafur-eliasson-versailles 3.http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/16/luchtsingel-elevated-pathwaysbridges-rotterdam-cityscape-zus-architects/ 4.http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2015/10/the-goods-line-byaspect-studios/ 5. http://www.wwmarchitects.co.uk/projects/bankside-urban-forest
IX.Bibliography
Bibliography Books Neil Smith, Peter Williams, ‘Gentrification of the city’, Allen & Unwin (1986) Peter Ackroyd, ‘London the biography’, Great Britain, Vintage, (2001) H. Izembart / B. Le Boudec, ‘Waterscapes’, Editorial Gustavo Gili SL, (2003) S.Kostof,G.Castillo ‘The city assembled. The elements of urban form through history’, Thames and Hudson Ltd, (1999)
Anna Minton, ‘London had a sub-prime housing problem. Now it has a super-prime crisis’, The Guardian, Citie, 20 April 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/ apr/20/london-housing-crisis-sub-prime-problem-superprime[accessed 10 August 2016] Saskia Sassen, Who owns our cities and why this urban take over should concern us all, The Gurdian, Cities. 24 November 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/ nov/24/who-owns-our-cities-and-why-this-urbantakeovershould-concern-us-all[accessed 10 August 2016]
Mohsen Mostafavi, ‘Ecological Urbanism’, Lars Muller Publishers, (2010)
Hugo Cox, ‘How much more does it cost to live near the Thames in London?’, Financial Times, June 5, 2015 3:09 pm, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/94e58ebc-05ee-11e5-b67600144feabdc0.html,[accessed 10 August 2016]
Articles
Documentaries
Julia Kollewe, ‘Battersea is part of a huge building project – but not for Londoners’, The Guardian, Construction industry, 14 February 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/ feb/14/battersea-nine-elms-propertydevelopmentHousing, [accessed 16 Julyl 2016] Kate Alen, ‘London’s new village? The transformation of Battersea power Station’, Financial Times, 24 Ocober 2014, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6fcf504c-55e3-11e4-a3c900144feab7de.html#slide0 [accessed 10 August 2016] Annalee Newitz, ‘This is what gentrification really is’, io9, 20 August 2014, http://io9.gizmodo.com/stop-complainingabout-gentrification-unless-you-know-w-1620913091 , [accessed 16 July 2016]
AR, ‘Architecture & Water documentary. Part 1: A river runs’, online video recording, Youtube,27 October 2014, https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeEuXrT-cCA, [accessed 10 June 2016] AR, ‘Architecture & Water documentary. Part 2: Gentrification machine?’, online video recording, Youtube,27 October 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvgrKzvlWKU, [accessed 10 June 2016]
All material is created by the author unless otherwise stated
Acknowledgements Kingston University Patricia Brown Vladimir Guculac Frances Christie Christoph Lueder Karin Helms Helen Neve