Tuesday 27 January 2009
Wednesday 14 January 2009
Tavistock Road Garden Project
July 2006
My partner in crime (!) bought a gorgeous basement apartment in Westbourne Park who's garden had sadly suffered the concrete finger.....With a nasty oversized fountain right in the middle which did absolutely nothing for the space. So £300 post E-bay sale and some new soil and grass......I got stuck in. On the rainiest bank holiday weekend possible.
Over a year on and the garden is amazing. We learn as we go by. Sadly the grass doesn't have enough drainage so we will probably dig it up in the next few weeks and re-lay it. And since removing the 2 fir trees and a very large overhanging Eucalyptus, the surrounding plants are growing beautifully.
And the friendly red-breasted robin seems to agree.
My partner in crime (!) bought a gorgeous basement apartment in Westbourne Park who's garden had sadly suffered the concrete finger.....With a nasty oversized fountain right in the middle which did absolutely nothing for the space. So £300 post E-bay sale and some new soil and grass......I got stuck in. On the rainiest bank holiday weekend possible.
Over a year on and the garden is amazing. We learn as we go by. Sadly the grass doesn't have enough drainage so we will probably dig it up in the next few weeks and re-lay it. And since removing the 2 fir trees and a very large overhanging Eucalyptus, the surrounding plants are growing beautifully.
And the friendly red-breasted robin seems to agree.
Battersea Power Station
Sifting through some old photo's...I found these great pictures of Battersea Power station, taken whilst working for Rafael Vinoly Architects before starting at university.
As RVA won the Battersea Power Station competition, I was invited to go on a quick visit one day to see the site. It really is such an amazing structure...and even in its shell of a state, there are still reminders of the building's history.
In the main area, murals of 40's inspired social activity oddly appear on the wall....as if this room could have once been a large dance hall! And onto another floor, the power room - hundreds of dials under most of London's streetnames...a gloomy atmosphere which once would have been a busy hub in this incredible building.
The proposals for the site are interesting. Initial concepts that won Vinoly the competition would probably shock a lot of Londoner's....no surprise then that they will not continue with these proposals. When the scheme is complete, the development will be home to some 7,000 new residents and up to 13,000 new jobs will be created. 3,500 homes will be built on the site and 2,500 jobs will be created during the construction phase. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2012 and the development will be complete by 2020 – subject to timescales through the planning process.
In the main area, murals of 40's inspired social activity oddly appear on the wall....as if this room could have once been a large dance hall! And onto another floor, the power room - hundreds of dials under most of London's streetnames...a gloomy atmosphere which once would have been a busy hub in this incredible building.
The proposals for the site are interesting. Initial concepts that won Vinoly the competition would probably shock a lot of Londoner's....no surprise then that they will not continue with these proposals. When the scheme is complete, the development will be home to some 7,000 new residents and up to 13,000 new jobs will be created. 3,500 homes will be built on the site and 2,500 jobs will be created during the construction phase. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2012 and the development will be complete by 2020 – subject to timescales through the planning process.
Monday 12 January 2009
Focus - Kew Gardens Visit
The last Focus visit of 2008 was to Kew Gardens for a guided walk around this gorgeous wintery setting. The Palm House was the first and last 'warm up' stop...well positioned. We had a guide who had an interesting story about Capability Brown's promenade along the Thames overlooking Syon House - the place to be seen back-in-the-day.
The Gardens are always a delight, at any time of the year. A crisp, sunny winter day is especially lovely..the naked skeletal trees so graceful.
Two thirds of Kew staff are scientists, the other third are horticulturalists.
Kew has 10% of the world's plants in seed form stored in West Sussex. visitors are welcome 363 days of the year. http://data.kew.org/save-a-species/seed-bank.html.
The Gardens had a Christmas tree recycling deal giving tree bearers a two-for-one-entry.
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