Vauxhall green space competition won by ‘Promenade of Curiosities’
by Drucilla James
credit: D1v1d
A quirky linear park has won a competition to design green links for London’s Vauxhall.
The park by London –based Erect Architects Susan Tutsch and Barbara Kaucky, which came out top in the The RIBA Missing Link Competition, is designed to reveal “curiosities” along the route -permanent and temporary installations linked to the area’s history as well as to its current industries and attractions.
The design would connect up three of Vauxhall’s existing parks and link Vauxhall to the South Bank and its rail arches to the river. Routes would be marked out by clusters of eccentrically- pollarded London Plane trees.
One of the key features of the design is the rain gardens along the promenade separating the new cycle and pedestrian pathways. These will reduce surface water run-off and will be planted to reflect the changing seasons – with flowers in spring and summer and a focus on foliage and architectural forms in autumn and winter.
The plans also include a performance space - Spring Gardens will be adapted to create an outdoor amphitheatre with a year-round series of events.
“Vauxhall One is very excited to work with Erect Architecture. This young fresh design practice is at the cutting edge of funky design for urban green infrastructure. We really look forward to seeing what they can do in Vauxhall,” said Chris Law, Public Realm and Development Officer at Vauxhall One Business Improvement District.
In total, the competition attracted 100 entries from 21 different countries and three companies made it to the shortlist. The runners-up were London Based Cedric Chausee and Charlotte Portier and Moscow-based Blank Architects.