PR from Gustafson
Porter Apr 2006
Swiss Cottage Park, London
Gustafson Porter has created a new park at Swiss Cottage – the heart
of an ensemble of buildings of local importance including the public library
by Basil Spence, a new leisure centre, the Hampstead Theatre, a community
centre, the Winchester Project, offices, affordable housing, luxury housing
and a home for the elderly.
This new open space eloquently weaves together the evolving cultural and
recreational needs of this diverse neighbourhood and is one of four interlinked
landscape projects by Gustafson Porter on this site, including: the Swiss
Cottage Library entrance, the Eton Avenue market, and the Leisure Centre
landscape. Co-ordinating these related
projects and new architectural elements, the new park transforms a collection
of loosely related functions into a coherent communal setting with an
elevated sense of place.
At the park’s heart is a water feature intended for play as well
as visual drama. Jets set at thirty-degree angles emit 15m-long streams
of water arcing over the rectangular basin. In addition, a thin sheet
of water emerges from grilles set into the paving at the fountain head
and courses down a rectangular, sloping granite plane embedded into softly
stepped grass banks. The scheme also provides a shallow pool at the northern
end of the feature which can be cleared by activating drainage valves,
creating a dry paved surface. In this mode, the garden can be used to
host special events in collaboration with the Hampstead Theatre and Central
School of Speech and Drama.
A borehole sunk deep into the chalk subsoil provides water for the basin
- it is treated in an underground plant room and then pumped into a holding
tank where it can be drawn off into the water feature holding tank or
be used for irrigation and street cleaning. Water is constantly re-circulated
with new top-up water from the borehole to compensate for evaporation.
Like other projects by Gustafson Porter, the presence and absence of water
suggests activity and tranquillity with equal ease. A strongly moulded
land form, together with lush planting, provide a striking context for
the water element.
The plant palette features herbaceous perennials framed by clipped structural
hedges. The perennials are collections of British native varieties mixed
with hybrids and exotics embedded in British culture (such as the English
rose). The plantings are based on collective memory - types that people
recall from childhood, encouraging acceptance of this space as a new home.
The central landform is planted with varieties of maple tree which display
brilliant autumn colour and interesting bark textures. However, plantings
go beyond the expected display of seasonal interest and play an important
role in outlining spatial volume in concert with land, form and water.
The colour palette of the shade garden along the 100 Avenue Road office
block is restricted to blues, purples and whites and contains many evergreen
species, with seasonal highlights in spring and autumn. Planting along
the west facing sunny boundary wall, is predominantly pink and fragrant,
with flowering ornamental cherry trees and roses brightening up the path
throughout spring and summer as it passes the Winchester Projects. Camden
as a borough is committed to noteworthy planting in their parks and has
been supportive of the design’s intentions.
Throughout the site, the juxtaposition of ground levels offers opportunities
for performance (athletic or aesthetic) and observation at varying scales.
Two cross-axial pedestrian paths link the major venues that enclose the
open space, dividing the site into unequal portions. Lines and groves
of trees reinforce the scheme’s organisation, framing circulation
and major open areas. A sunken sports pitch clad in reclaimed Portland
Stone salvaged from the old sports centre façade is located at
the southern edge of the open space.
With an aspiration to create an open space that is functional, progressive
and poetic, the design looks to the future of Swiss Cottage.
London Architecture
Swiss Cottage
Park : Gustafson Porter
Swiss Cottage Park - Key Features:
• Water for the water feature from sourced from borehole – environmental
aspect
• Dramatic water feature with seven 15m-long jets, a scrim creating
a sheet of water over the 40x11m fountain slab and an optional shallow
pool at the northern end of the slab.
• Sensual grassy landforms which wraps around the water feature and
create a natural amphitheatre
• Sunken sports pitch with walls clad in reclaimed Portland Stone
salvaged from the old sports centre façade – creating a continuing
history of site & environmental aspect
• A small children’s play area
• Rich palette of planting: sun and shade gardens, clipped box hedging
consisting of many different box varieties, collection of maples on landform
• High quality materials and furniture designed specifically for
the project– yellow and grey granite for paving surfaces, bespoke
metal work balustrade, bespoke oak benches
• Functional lighting
• Modern/contemporary design
Swiss Cottage Park designers - Gustafson Porter, London:
Gustafson Porter is an international landscape design practice based in
London and operating across the diverse disciplines of landscape, architecture,
engineering and design.
Gustafson Porter has collaborated with some of the leading international
architectural practices and has projects in the UK, Europe and the Middle
East, ranging from the Westergasfabriek Cultuurpark in Amsterdam to the
interior landscape of the Great Glass House at the National Botanic Garden
of Wales. The practice is currently working on schemes in London, Liverpool,
Nottingham and Beirut.
Gustafson
Porter project
Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre originally 'Swiss Cottage Swimming
Baths',
London, 1960
Basil Spence
London Architects
World Architecture : e-architect
- a guide to key buildings across the globe
Swiss Cottage
- Leisure Centre architect : Basil Spence
Buildings / photos for the Swiss Cottage Architecture page welcome:
info@e-architect.co.uk
Swiss Cottage London Architecture
- page: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt