Allen & Ovary Roof Gardens

In 2005 Law firm Allen & Ovary moved into their new headquarters at Spitalfields. The building, designed by Foster and Partners also incorporated three roof terraces which were designed by Townshend Landscape Architects.

Roof gardens are becoming an ever more important aspect of landscape and the built environment, yet because they are almost always part of private buildings it is difficult for the public to experience them. Fortunately I was able to arrange a special visit to one of the roof terraces of the Allen & Ovary building.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the gardens here is the view- looking down over Old Spitalfields market and the low rise buildings of London's East End and also towards the city with it's iconic structures such as the Swiss Rae Building (The Gherkin). The gardens themselves offer some tranquility from the office environment and flow out from a cafe on the 6th floor. The space has numerous tables and chairs and also features parasoles enabling the space to be used more flexibly. Planting is fairly basic (there are limitations on the types of plans suitable for use on roof gardens) and watering is carried out by an automatic system. Light weight paving material is used which is similar in design and quality to that used elsewear in the area.

RHS Garden- Wisley

Sometimes it is great just to get outside and experience beautiful environments. One such place close to my is the Royal Horticultural Societies garden at Wisley.
I don't think there can be many better times to visit than a lovely warm sunny day in spring when the entire site seems to be overcome with literally thousands of bulbs and the trees are riddled with blossom (thought it does happen that my favorite plant- the Gunnera Giant Rhubarb is far from impressive this early in the year). This also happened to be my first visit to the garden since the opening of the new glasshouse on the site. This expands the collection of plants which can be housed here by artificially creating tropical environments.
As well as these 'false' environments within the glasshouse there are many different settings for plants which are more common of southern England including orchards, vegetable patches as well as the more traditional English flower borders. The gardens here also include features such as sculpture both in a more traditional style with wicker fruits and the contemporary with a large piece by Henry Moore.

The Cut- Waterloo

The architecture of streets can often be very mundane, but simple projects such as that performed on The Cut, near Waterloo show how simple improvements can make a huge difference to the visual quality of the streetscape.

Many of the improvements here have been subtle- replacing sections of the paving with stone slaps in place of concrete gives the feeling of a quaility finish across the street. Examining street furniture can also be a useful tool to 'clean up' the street environment. Here unnecessary signs and railings have been removed to be replaced by necessary and functional equipment. Designated crossing ares have been highlighted and in places the road has been narrowed to make it more pedestrian friendly. Other features include the planting of trees- never to be underrated in their visual ability to change the environment. Additionally areas of seating and functional bicycle storage have been provided to make the street more usable for residents.

Altogether a simple but very effective scheme which leaves this road with a finish high above others in the area.

A flying visit to T5

The new Terminal 5 building at Heathrow has received a lot of press since it was opened last year- some for it's structure and design, much more about it's functionality (or lack of to begin with), but very little about it's landscape architecture.

While the terminal and masterplan were designed by Richard Rodgers Architects the landscape architecture was in the hands of Hyland Edgar Driver. One of the main areas to be treated is the space between the terminal car park and main entrance. A number of different techniques have been used here to create a high quality space. Central to the area is a large plaza of fountains which provide motion, sound, interest and by night, lighting. Spanning out from this on either side is a planted grid of Platanus hispanica (London Plane) trees set amongst quality paving. Finally on each end is a series of stone seating surrounding planting beds featuring further trees.

What this site possesses in quality it lacks in function. Although the centrally located fountains do turn heads it is only in passing- there is nowhere to sit anywhere near this area, or amongst the trees. The only possible function here is for people to pass through the plaza on the short journey from the car park to the terminal building. Original plans are believed to have included cafes sprawling from the terminal into the space- thus injecting a life into the area which is not apparent here.

In conclusion it seems that BAA have something of a missed opportunity here. A great space, but one which is not fully integrated into the terminal and therefore is not visited.