It is always a pleasant experience to discover a wonderful space right on your doorstep, particularly when you may stumble across it quite by accident. I recently discovered a space just like this within my own University at Kingston. Lurking just beyond the 'eating and drinking' area of the Penrhyn Road Library lies the outdoor reading space, a hard, restricted site with buildings dominating all four sides. However the quality of materials used in the area really does make the space very pleasant. The benches are of wooden construction and follow interesting patterns, while decking material and gravel is used to give texture underfoot. the uninspiring walls are contrasted with a collection of fantastic tree ferns which dominate the area and provide a vertical dynamic as well as some much needed green foliage.
This I feel is truly a space the University should be proud of- so why is it not publicised? I stumbled across the space quite by accident and I am sure many Library users do not know it exists. It is also perhaps a missed opportunity that the highly skilled students from the Landscape Architecture department at the University were not involved in designing the space (though I would happily be corrected if they were)- this could have been a perfect small project for the students and could have saved the University from the additional costs of hiring external designers.
This I feel is truly a space the University should be proud of- so why is it not publicised? I stumbled across the space quite by accident and I am sure many Library users do not know it exists. It is also perhaps a missed opportunity that the highly skilled students from the Landscape Architecture department at the University were not involved in designing the space (though I would happily be corrected if they were)- this could have been a perfect small project for the students and could have saved the University from the additional costs of hiring external designers.
