THAMES WALK PAVILION | STUDIO WEAVE
About The Nine Elms Riverside Strategy
Description provided by Studio Weave. This new stretch of the Thames River Walk in South West London realizes the first phase of the Nine Elms Riverside Strategy, which stretches from Lambeth Bridge to Battersea Park. The strategic vision, led by Churchman Landscape Architects for Wandsworth Council, repairs and rejuvenates this section of the Thames Path, stitching together previously disparate spaces, marking the old wharves of the industrial South Bank and establishing a series of verdant gardens from which to enjoy the expansive river views. Studio Weave has been commissioned to design a pavilion as part of the Churchman redevelopment of the Thames Riverside Walk in Nine Elms. Echoing visions of a bygone industrial era of the Thames quays in Nine Elms, the Thames Walk Pavilion provides a new raised garden at Bourne Valley Wharf.
About The Thames Path Redevelopment
Working in collaboration with Churchman Landscape Architects, the aim of the project was to enhance the Thames Riverside Walk in Nine Elms whilst large-scale building work is carried out locally. A series of new planters along the Thames Path was the first stage and a primer project for the pavilion. The planters are constructed from the same proprietary metal panels as the pavilion would later be, usually used to construct water tanks. They have been sprayed with a copper finish, which will acquire a natural green Verdigris over time as they weather and change.
About The Pavilion
The pavilion provides shelter for the public, as well as for furniture and equipment to be used in Bourne Valley Wharf. As a result, the square is able to facilitate activities that complement the ongoing development of Nine Elms. The raised garden allows the pavilion to address the square while providing an additional patch of greenery easily appreciated from the ground level.
Fabricated from copper coated water tank panels, the pavilion cradles a medley of rich foliage that acts as a honeypot for creatures great and small. Hawthorn trees and a rainbow of grasses and perennials will create a home for wildlife as well as a splash of seasonal color to the thoroughfare. Habitat is also created by the cladding to the water tower forming House Sparrow terraces.
The area is known to host the House Sparrow, ‘Passer Domesticus,’ a species undergoing severe population decline. The structure which supports these panels is of steel clad in timber, inspired by industrial revolution era flitch columns.
The design of the proposal gives a nod to the industrial legacy of the Nine Elms area sparked by the industrial revolution, and to the quay structures now lost from the post-industrial bank of the Thames. Studio Weave invited print artist, Linda Florence, to design and print the colorful pattern adorning the timber. The rope-work and abstract motifs clad the supporting structure and bring vibrancy and color to the façade and undercarriage.
For more information on the Pavilion, please contact: press@studioweave.com
For the Thames Path, Nine Elms, please contact mail@churchmanla.co.uk
Project Details
Project Title: Thames Walk Pavilion
Architect: Studio Weave
Address: 217 Mare Street, London, E8 3QE
Phone: +44 (0)20 7099 1922
Website: www.studioweave.com
Location: Thames Riverside Walk, Nine Elms, London
Use: Public pavilion
Completed year: 07/2018
Main Structure: Steel
Materials: Copper finished hotpress steel section for water tanks, Screen-printed timber
Photography: Ollie Hammock
