Camden aims high
The landscape architecture firm behind New York’s Highline - James Corner Field Operations - has won a competition to transform a disused railway into a park in the sky above Camden, in London.
The project is the UK’s largest green infrastructure project, and the latest in a raft of eco-friendly initiatives to bolster the capital’s green spaces.
James Corner have brought together an alliance of applied and creative specialists including vPPR Architects, London artist Hew Locke, community consultation organisation Street Space and garden designer Piet Oudolf.
The green artery will connect Camden Gardens in the west to York Way in the east, via a 1.2km stretch of railway viaduct eight metres above ground.
The walkway will run alongside an operating railway. Image courtesy of Camden Highline.
Lead Designer James Corner, of Field Operations, said: “Camden is such an extraordinary place, a vibrant, hip, and diverse community that will soon enjoy an amazingly unique, public green thread that ties its various communities together in ways both revelatory and transformative.
“We could not be more excited to work with residents and stakeholders to create a one-of-a-kind elevated park along the viaduct that speaks to the magical symbiosis of nature, culture, arts, and community.”
Site visit. Image courtesy of Camden Highline.
He’s keen to emphasise that the Camden Highline will have a different character to the one in New York, telling the Observer newspaper: “Camden has its own dishevelled, edgy, eclectic feel,” he said. “It has its own vibe and own context that we want to leverage and play on. It’s not New York, so this elevated walk should be unique to Camden.”
But it’s hoped the Camden Highline will be as popular with tourists as New York’s has been, and provide a much needed boost to a city in need of intensive care following the global pandemic.
The plan is for a plant filled walkway.
Corner (again, in the Observer) said: “When cities start to stagnate, they can go downhill really fast. This project is something that is catalysing and revitalising, keeping Camden alive as a place.
“If you have the opportunity to live in a city that’s got great parks and gardens and high lines and canals and things that bring people out of a weekend, it’s just cool – it’s something you want to be part of. You need the magic that makes people say ‘I want to live in London’.”
Concrete design plans will be put together over the next year, with a project opening date in about three years. It’s anticipated it’ll cost around $67 million, and while planning permission hasn’t yet been granted, the Government has been positive about it.
City Hall has earmarked a number of other green initiatives, including London's urban forest which aims to increase tree canopy cover in the capital by 10 per cent by 2050.
Westminster Council recently unveiled plans for a $288 million development of Oxford Street.
Marble Arch Mound.
The pièce de résistance - a 25-metre temporary hill known as the “Marble Arch Mound” which can be climbed by those wanting a unique look out over the city for six months between summer and Christmas.
Subject to planning approval, it’s hoped the installation will encourage visitors to return to the street. Designed by architects MVRDV the council says the hill will bring green landscaping and trees to an area suffering from traffic pollution. Once dismantled, the trees and landscape will be relocated to other parts of the District and local community.
