Futurecity brokered a partnership between design conscious developer St James and the internationally renowned Royal College of Art (RCA), building on our extensive work across the Nine Elms area and the Albert Embankment Cultural Strategy, commissioned by St James in 2014.
As a result, in October 2015, the Multi-Use Public Space Competition was launched for the new public realm at Albert Embankment. It formed a part of the RCA’s series of live projects where students work with industry sponsors to deliver architectural designs and install completed projects. The winning proposal was announced in February the following year, after eight schemes were presented to a panel of judges, including representatives from the RCA, St James, Futurecity, Foster and Partners, Townshend Landscape Architecture, Lambeth Council and the GLA.
The winning entry, entitled ‘Pipe Up’, celebrates the heritage of the area, drawing on Lambeth’s historical potteries industry and the capital’s revolutionary approach to sanitation during the 19thcentury. It demonstrates outstanding creative thinking and an imaginative approach to public space as well as a particular focus on materiality which the judges applauded. The concept, designed by a team of nine students undertaking the MA Architecture Programme, will take the form of a fragmented ceramic pipe, providing a variety of uses throughout the public realm, including places to read, sit and lie.
“Through our design, we aim to celebrate ceramics’ role in the progression of London’s sanitary systems, whilst utilising the techniques of intricate decorative ornamentation for which Lambeth potteries commonly became known.
Working in the field of ceramics we have established an on-going collaboration with leading manufacturers Darwen Terracotta and Faïence, with whom we developed our 1:1 prototype. Our project aims to engage with the public in both familiar and unusual ways, using collaborations to establish a wider dialogue around the past, present and future of ceramics on the Albert Embankment.” – The winning students *
Located opposite Tate Britain, St James’ Albert Embankment represents the gateway to the Nine Elms on the South Bank regeneration area and plays an important role in extending and continuing the South Bank’s thriving cultural scene. From the outset Futurecity promoted the idea of a new creative district for London, working with the two London Boroughs of Wandsworth and Lambeth and the Programme Delivery Team to explore a culture-led placemaking approach for the developers and landowners of Nine Elms.
St James first established a partnership with the RCA in 2013, creating the dedicated StudioRCA exhibition and performance space at its 813-home Riverlight development, which was the first riverside scheme to be completed in the Nine Elms opportunity area. The partnership between St James and the RCA has been developed and managed by Futurecity.
* ADS6 students are: Aidan Hermans, Amir Afshar, Andres Souto Vilaros, Edward Crooks, Ellie Connolly, Elliot Rogosin, Magdalena Stadler, Niels Werner Hersmann, Sophie Grabiner
Photography by Noah Da Costa, © Futurecity
