Southwark Mixed Use Development
"London is full of crossing paths; of people, of traffic and ideas. They all run along their own lines, and they all come together...
"London is full of crossing paths; of people, of traffic and ideas. They all run along their own lines, and they all come together...
..here.
The site was appropriately dramatic for our last project of architecture school; Potter's Field Park next to Tower Bridge. Standing on site I was struck by the audience the scheme would have; millions of residents, businessmen, tourists. I chose to make these axes manifest in my plans, and to highlight the dynamism of the area by tapering my volumes, and rotating one to make it "puncture" the other two. I used materiality to highlight the different functions; the residential and commercial volumes are a creamy limestone, like that of Eric Parry's 30 Finsbury Square, and the learning centre's volume is a dark slate.
The brief called for 80 residential units, a dozen commercial units and a learning centre with a specific focus. I chose a day centre for a small number of students with special educational needs, and used a covered walkway to connect a new triple height lobby and atrium gallery space to the existing listed buildings which has a history as a school. I also gave the learning centre a new mezzanine library with extensive glazing. I also included a glazed winter garden, similar to the Barbican's to connect to an indoor eating atrium, for eating your lunch in an English climate- inside.
The three public squares are treated differently to take on different characters; fencing in patterns taken from those already on site add practicality and safety to the learning centre's playground. Water and steps create the feel of a plaza in the square on the corner. Closely planted hedges create intimate spaces, and a tree-lined avenue evokes Las Ramblas on the approach from the river.
