Thames Barrier Park, Docklands.
For a study of nearby Royal Victoria Square, i revisited Thames Barrier Park, being integral to my assignment as the first of three flagship projects proposed by the London Development Agency to stimulate the regeneration and development of the Royal dock region(the other being the Urban Village). Designed by landscape architects Groupe Signes of Paris and architects Patel Taylor, who were instrumental in the Royal Victoria Square project, it was completed in late 2000 and was the first riverside park to be built in London for over 50 years.
The resultant 1.25million park now fronts the River Thames next to the northern end of the stainless steel-clad Thames Barrier. The design comprises settings for different activities. The Plateau is mostly mown grassland but features contrasting open and closed views of the Thames through copses of Birch trees. This creates informal spaces in which visitors can find their own private zones.
A green trench running through the park is a reminder of the areas former industrial heritage. Cutting through the plateau, this “dry dock”, with its 5m high concrete walls, depicts the scale and and depth of the past dockside structures. In contrast to its stark form, it provides a micro-climate for the rainbow garden, a series of parallel strips of planting and paths.
Overhead views of the rainbow garden are available from the pedestrian bridges, with a water plaza forming a dramatic entrance to the north. At the river end of the dock is a Pavilion of Remembrance commemorating the local councils war dead. It is an area for sheltered contemplation, reading and relaxing. It consists of 23 irregularly spaced steel columns supporting a slatted timber roof with a large circular whole. There is also a simple Patel taylor designed visitor centre and cafe with a frame of green oak.
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