NEWS
1 POTTED UP
A design by Dutch architects MVRDV and Van Boven Architecten reveals how a façade-less construction can be imaginatively greened. Green Villa, in SintMichielsgestel in the southern Netherlands, is a four-storey office and residential block that adopts the mansard roof shape of neighbouring buildings. Its indented exterior comprises shelves or balconies of varying depths, which support multiple potted plants selected for the orientation of each space and the need for shade, privacy or views across the nearby river. The planters are irrigated by stored rainwater. mvrdv.nl
2 OPEN WATER
The latest landscape feature in the regeneration of London’s Beckenham Place Park is the restored lake originally created by John Cator, the owner of the park’s Georgian mansion. Designed by landscape architects at BDP, the 285m x 50m lake, which is about half the size of the original, is now the capital’s first purpose-made public swimming lake. Refreshed with water from a borehole, it is kept clean by an aeration system and aquatic vegetation. An outflow into wet woodland established in the footprint of the original lake will create an ecologically rich habitat. beckenhamplace.org
3 ARTWORK MAKES A SPLASH
A new permanent artwork, Gateway, has been installed at the Scottish sculpture garden Jupiter Artland.
It's a boldly patterned swimming pool in the shape of a flower, by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos. Incorporating more than 11,000 handpainted tiles,
Gateway is sited on ley lines that transect Bonnington House, the private residence of owners Robert and Nicky Wilson. Its organic shape, akin to a drop of water that disperses in six directions, is a reference to the interconnection between the owners and their four children. jupiterartland.org
4 DESTINATION VILNIUS
London-based Buckley Design Associates has created a landscape masterplan for a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the historic centre of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Boksto 6 is a mixed-use development of six buildings around a central courtyard by London-based Studio Seilern Architects. The podium planting in the courtyard is animated with a diagonal magic carpet of perennials, grasses shrubs and small trees, surrounding a retained, 200-year-old lime tree. Additional landscaped areas include a spa garden and streetscape for a residential mews. buckleydesignassociates.com
5 BIRD’S-EYE VIEW
Plans to build a Corten steel viewing tower at Sussex Prairie Garden, near Henfield, West Sussex, have been approved and the owners have launched a campaign to raise the £60,000 needed for the project. The cylindrical tower, designed by London-based Sandy Rendel Architects, takes its inspiration from a grain silo and has two viewing levels, providing an overhead view of the garden’s interlocking arcs of naturalistic planting as well as vistas across farmland to the
Sussex Downs. sussexprairies.co.uk
6 NATURE IN THE CLASSROOM
Planning permission has been granted for a timber-built academy school at the heart of a 400-acre development of 2,800 homes in St Neots, Cambridgeshire. The £14.2-million primary school for
700 pupils, designed by Londonbased architects dRMM, has a woodland grove at the centre of its elliptical layout. The engineered timber for the construction material was chosen with wellbeing considerations in mind, as studies have shown that children who are taught in a timber classroom are calmer than those taught in a standard classroom. drmm.co.uk
7 FIT FOR THE FUTURE
Highdown Gardens, the Sussex garden filled with exotic plants by Sir Frederick Stern at the beginning of the 20th century, has been awarded more than £900,000 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. As well as enabling propagation of the hundreds of rare plants and trees that form a National Collection, the award will fund the remodelling of the original garden bungalow into a visitor centre, the creation of a new sensory garden, the opening of views out to the sea, and accessibility improvements to the entrance and the pathways. Work will start on the garden, now owned by Worthing Borough Council, in 2020. highdowngardens.co.uk
8 SAFE HAVEN
A forgotten corner of the garden at Little Harbour Children’s Hospice in St Austell, Cornwall is now home to a garden shelter designed by Darren Hawkes and funded by the charity Greenfingers. Here children can be outside while protected from the elements. The steel-framed structure on the edge of a copse is open on two sides, which creates a sense of being in the planting and connected to the landscape. Cedar roof cladding follows the curves of the steel frame to make a solid back and a gap at the base allows plants to spill into the shelter. Planting is a combination of perennials and grasses. greenfingerscharity.org.uk
9 WETLAND CENTRE FLIES HIGH
A former waste-dumping ground in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, which has been transformed into a wetland centre for birds, is one of six winners of this year’s Aga Khan Award for Architecture that will share the US$1-million prize. The Wasit
Wetland Centre, designed by Dubaibased X-Architects, was planted with indigenous species to provide the best environment for the birds that fly free in giant aviaries, shaded by angled sails. A cantilevered truss roof over the viewing gallery allows for seamless glazed façades, and six bird hides provide additional viewing sites around a lake. akdn.org