Exhibition: Renaissance The Revitalisation Of Elephant and Castle

Going to an exhibition at the NLA helped in seeing what new projects are happening in the city centre itself and also how new facades of buildings are being revitalised to provide a modern city for the 21st century and beyond.

The exhibition runs between the 17th July – 25th August and looks mainly at the £1.5 billion regeneration of Elephant and Castle is an ambitious urban redevelopment programme transforming one of London's oldest and most infamous areas.

Currently best known for its high rise estates, labyrinth subways, busy roads and red shopping centre, Southwark Council's £1.5 billion, 170-acre programme promises a massive new pedestrianised town centre, market square, green spaces and thousands of new homes and jobs.

New London Architecture

New London Architecture is a vital addition to the public debate about the future of London. The capital is undergoing a period of massive change and NLA is a place where everyone - professionals, politicians and public - can find out and get involved in what is happening to their city.

The NLA space is a centre for display as well as a centre for debate and for networking. It is where visitors to London can orientate themselves, where school children can learn about their environment, where communities can be consulted.
A permanent exhibition of a 1:1500 scale model of Central London, surrounded by a display showing a cross section of current building projects, is enhanced by a programme of temporary exhibitions addressing London issues.

Kew Gardens Alpine House and Master Plans

Kew Gardens has recently gone a step further in its research for protecting plants in the future with the installation of a new alpine house. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects at a cost of three million and designed to provide a sustainable energy efficient growing environment for world- renowned collection of Alpine Plants. It is comparable to the innovative high quality green houses which are traditional to kew and, as the first new glasshouse to be commissioned for nearly 20 years, will raise the profile of the Alpine collection and create a new focal point for this part of the site. The glasshouse is conceived as two back to back arches which create a stack effect to draw warm air out of the building.



Below ground level, air is pushed into a concrete labyrinth for cooling and then re-circulated around the perimeter of the house via a series of displacement pipes. Further environmental control is provided by a unique shading solution based on a fan- like- form similar to a peacocks tail.

Gunwharf Quays Portsmouth

With Maritime regeneration happening in many coastal towns as well as cities such as London, I thought I would look at Gunwharf Quays as it has been transformed into a new generation of maritime regeneration in terms of almost giving the current infrastructure a new lease of life. This also relates back to a currant project involving working in partnership with the North Sea Faring Project across destinations including Vissingen, Oostende and closer to home Lowestoft. All these areas are in need or our currently being regenerated but the key elements of the maritime towns and their rich history is being forgotten. However in Gunwharf Quays there seems to be a mixture of the old and the new.
The history of Gunwharf Quays can be traced right back to the 12th century when Richard I in 1194, let out land for development of a dockyard and constructed a dock for royal galleys, known as Richard’s Docks. The area now is an array of designer shops, landscaped waterways with pedestrian access to a variety of shops, cafes and historical interests. As well as their is also a vast development of luxury apartments, with exquisite Landscaped gardens and the hugely popular Spinnaker tower which is the tallest sky scraper in England outside of the City of London.

Diana Memorial Hyde Park

For one of my Focus week activities i decided to look at the Diana Memorial situated in Hyde Park. The design has always been seen by Landscape Architects as being a complete shambles but i wanted to judge for myself if the design was worth how much it cost and also to see if the general maintenance of the whole design is kept to a high standard. The fountain was built with the best materials, It contains 545 pieces of Cornish granite - each shaped by the latest computer-controlled machinery and pieced together using traditional skills. The design aims to reflect Diana's life, water flows from the highest point in two directions as it cascades, swirls and bubbles before meeting in a calm pool at the bottom. The water is constantly being refreshed and is drawn from London's water table.

More London

More London is a huge new development which has parts of it still under construction. The area has been transformed into modern living space with new luxury apartments as well as new office buildings allowing easy access from the main transport links into London and allowing unprecedented views across the river Thames and famous landmarks such as The Tower Of London and The Gherkin. The whole development is too allow the general public to have a larger open space to enjoy this part of the Thames with shows being played and acted out in the scoop which is a large seating area in front of Ken Livingston's Modern office buildings. The whole cost of the on- going project also includes the new potters field park.

Potters Field Park

Potters Fields Park, one of central London’s few remaining green open spaces along the Thames riverside is about to be transformed to meet the needs of its growing number of users. The new design will be inclusive, sympathetic to the local area and befitting to its high-profile location. The park redesign includes an associated management and maintenance plan and a dedicated Trust organization to oversee and ensure it is kept to a high quality for all to enjoy in years to come. The project is being funded and managed by the Pool of London Partnership, Southwark Council and More London. The cost of the new development to make this area of London more regenerated and rewarding for the general public is estimated at a cost of £3million pounds and has been designed by the renowned Gross Max Landscape Architects.


Plan of the under- construction Potters field park.

Cardinal Place Westminster, London

Cardinal Place is a development in the city of Westminster. The design consists of three public spaces: the Landscaped roof garden, the grand galleria which allows views of Westminster cathedral and beyond and the pedestrian walkways which are lined with a vast array of shops, restaurants, and cafes. The large oval roof garden has been designed as a big open space with a large what looks like chest board paving which allows large concerts to take place their as well as sculpture and art work displays. The way it has been designed with vast green curves allows wide walkways for visitors and workers to sit and relax while having lunch. The garden has been designed to look minimalistic which looks effective and really works well. The grand galleria has large glass sculptures which add great detail at night especially with the lighting of the area and the bustling shops and restaurants that line it. However i feel the lighting is very minimal and doesn't add to the real effect of the new development.

Greenwich Peninsula

After going to the newly opened o2 Arena i decided to take the opportunity to look at the beautiful designed Greenwich peninsula which is the gateway to the new arena. The whole area was designed by Whitelaw + Turkington who are one of the uk's leading firms of Landscape Architects. There work consists of mainly master planning, parks and open spaces and urban design mainly for commercial and residential areas. One of there many larger projects which they are currently working on is the Peninsula square in North Greenwich. This will be the main gateway to the o2 arena . The square will have shops, restaurants and cafes with an outdoor performance area with bold paving. This will create a new public space for London equivalent to the size of Leicester square. What i really liked was the attention to the different scales around the site and the diversity that they are undertaking in the design of the whole new public area.


Greenwich Peninsula.

The Barbican London

The Barbican is a grade 1 listed building and is not partially that attractive with its vast amount of concrete facade. The main space is mostly private and is for the use of the residents who live in the flats. At first the infrastructure is not that appealing but when you look at it on a larger scale the whole area does have a unique attractiveness.