Revised Concept Briefs & Vision Statements

Updated these last night so should post here- don't worry if you can't be bothered to read them...

CONNECTIVE

BRIEF


Jubilee Gardens is to be reconnected to the fabric of the South Bank, the river Thames and Waterloo station- it will no longer function as the “doormat” of the London Eye. The successful proposal will extend the cultural programme of the South Bank into the space presently occupied by Jubilee gardens. It will re-connect residents, tourists , visitors and workers to the site, the river and beyond.

AIMS
· To connect the site culturally
· To connect the site ecologically
· To re-connect with the river
· To-reconnect with local residents
· To connect to the digital world
· To create a world class addition to the urban landscape

OBJECTIVES
· Extend the site into the River Thames
· Establish links and green corridors to neighbouring green spaces
· Include one or performance areas
· Ensure space can manage current programmatic use whilst generating new sequence of performance and encounter spaces
· Create new digital as well as physical space and include interactive site features
· Include cafe/ restaurant/ commercial spaces



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CONNECTIVE - VISION

“Both conduit and node”
At present, Jubilee Gardens exists as nearly two acres of underused space at the epicentre of London’s most vibrant cultural centre. A This proposal sees Jubilee Gardens as the connective tissue between a number of adjoining physical and metaphysical elements on a multitude of levels that will reinvigorate the immediate environment and create a truly world class environment. This new connective space will be a conduit and a node, a thoroughfare and gathering-place.

"Connecting High and Low culture, resident and visitor"
The design proposes to reconnect this space- literally and figuratively- with the cultural programme of the South Bank. Visitors to the London Eye and local residents need to connect with this programme also.

“Connecting east with west”
The site sits to along a section of the Thames that runs from south to north. To the east, Waterloo sits oblivious to the activities of the gardens. To the west, a new connection with the river- its rhythms and its oscillations- is long overdue.

“Connecting environments”
Does a space that concentrates on social and cultural issues have to exclude ecology and biodiversity? This proposal will integrate neighbouring green spaces and provide ecological corridors without compromising the cultural programme.

“connecting to the digital realm”
Locally activated applications, accessible only at the site, could provide opportunities to visit both the physical site and a parallel, virtual site. Technology pioneered in Toronto could enable users to store and share files, pick up last minute tickets for the south bank and to make new social connections. This interactive element will provide a new sense of ownership for all site users, as well as offering residents greater involvement with the programme of events.

“The performance of everyday life”
Space is event, events are performances and performances depend upon performers. This site will connect users to the street-performers whilst maximising the number of social encounters possible, so that they too will become performers.

STRATEGIES

· Establish and survey patterns of use to devise new, connective organisational structure
· Use of contemporary architectural structural elements that “sit” comfortably amidst the built environment
· Use of environmentally friendly, sustainable materials
· Develop interest in digital/ interactive elements of site during construction process to build excitement and establish ownership by site users
· “Digitally live”, phased project to minimise disruption
· Creation of sequential spaces with contributions from artists, garden designers, sculptors etc.
· Follow ecologically conscious, native planting scheme whilst maintaining contemporary design aesthetic

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EDUCATIONAL

EDUCATIONAL - BRIEF

Jubillee Gardens is to be redesigned as a working urban farm in the heart of London’s cultural quarter. It will provide the opportunity for members of the local community to gain skills in agriculture and horticulture and promote urban food production.
The facility will be operated and managed by a co-operative of community groups.

AIMS:
· To create an urban farm on the site of jubilee gardens incorporating both arable and pastoral land.
· To provide local school children, youth groups and residents with vocational skills in horticulture, food growing and animal husbandry
· To operate a working, operationally transparent, self-sufficient organic farm
· To educate visitors and resident about the importance of urban food production, food security and sustainable farming methods
· To acknowledge the large volume of visitors to and through the site throughout the year
· To connect the site to the adjoining environment

OBJECTIVES
· Site must provide land allocated for allotment style micro-agriculture
· Provide comfortable and secure space for a variety of farmyard animals
· Site must include education centre to “re-skill” the local populace
· Site must provide visitor centre and cafe (revenue generation)
· Site must provide access to all or most of the area 7 days a week during daylight hours
· Include hay/flower meadow
· Sit comfortably amidst vernacular architecture of the site
· Farm will be managed along organic lines and be as self-sufficient as possible

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EDUCATIONAL - VISION

This proposal envisages an urban farm which embraces the future whilst acknowledging Britain’s the past. Jubilee Gardens is to be reborn as Jubilee Farm: a radical project that is reflected in a radical aesthetic.
In a homage to strip farming, the site will be organised into longitudinal strips parallel to the river Thames. Whislt the site will be bisected by a diagonal path linking Hungerford Bridge to Belvedere Road, the majority of the site will be fenced off, accessible via the visitor centre. Pedestrians will be able to enjoy the woodland edge habitats created on the sites fringe, glimpsing free-range livestock through an encircling woodland.
The present site of the car park will function as a food market, encouraging the sale of local produce and that grown on site. A visitor centre located here will feature green roofs for food production. Cutting into the landscape of the higher elevation jubilee gardens, the green roofs will give way to glasshouses.


· Phase development involving local populace
· Employment of suitable management and staff from within local population
· Establish links with local youth groups, schools and adult education centres to engage in educational programme
· Create a local, not-for-profit cooperative to eventually run the site
· “Closed loop” management policy- minimisation of waste and energy
· Hedgerow/ woodland edge planting scheme, native grass pasture and meadows, food production area