The London Trip 2014
12th November 2014
Between 20 and 22nd October a group of 25 first year and conversion students on the Design Studio 1 module, took part in a precedent study trip to London with tutors and course leaders Allan Mitchell and David Booth.
On the way we stopped at Northalla Fields, a public park constructed using the demolition material from the old Wembley Stadium and White City.
We stayed in the Generator Hostel, close to King’s Cross where we were met by former conversion student Antony Bdzola. Anthony works for Applied Landscape Design who are responsible for much of the detailed design and site supervision on many of the spaces around King’s Cross, including the new Plaza at Granary Square and Cubitt Park.
Applied Landscape Design also detailed the design of Jubliee Gardens, built on a roof deck above Canary Wharf station, a tranquil oasis in a bustling part of the city.
On Tuesday we visited Katheryn Gustafson’s memorial to Lady Diana Spencer in Hyde Park, a beautiful granite and water sculpture with an amazing range of cascades and rills which are meant to reflect the character and life of Lady Diana.
We then walked down Exhibition Road, a new ‘shared space’ with high quality paving and detailing, running from Hyde Park down to South Kensington Tube station. On the way we stopped off to look at the Courtyard in the V&A Museum designed by Kim Wilkie.
We then visited the Battle of Britain Memorial, designed by former University of Gloucestershire student Paul Day, (who also produced “The Meeting Place” in St Pancras Station).
And then onto the South Bank, where we visited the new park alongside the London Eye, Jubilee Gardens, designed by West 8.
Along the South Bank we stopped off at The Tate Modern and the beautifully detailed gardens to the new prestigious residential development at Neo-Bankside, designed by Gillespies.
Before crossing the River to look at the display of ceramic poppies at the Tower of London, we stopped at More London, with hard landscape and fountains designed by Townshend Landscape Architects and Potters Field Park with its herbaceous gardens by Piet Oudolf.
On Wednesday we visited Thames Barrier Park designed by Alain Provost, who also designed the new East Side Park in Birmingham.
Before finally stopping off at the RHS gardens at Wisley on the way home.
