KH Landscape

Shown above is the first page of an essay I completed during the first term of my second University year. I wanted to write about something I was interested in and also a subject that was current, what I didn't realise at the time was that researching for this essay opened up and provoked many different thoughts and opinions from me, not just about the essay topic but also climate change and my role within making the world more sustainable. Climate change is not a new idea, it has been around for many years now, but it wasn't until the start of University life that it became a big issue for me. As a child going through school it seems less of an issue, topics like this covered in school are purely academic, there is a lack of any thought given to the subject because the courses are based on right and wrong questions. At University however I have been allowed to develop new interests and explored different areas of life which has led me to become quite concerned and feeling rath...

  This page shows my initial ideas/thoughts related to the deeper meaning of Alney Island furnitecture design. I started off by sketching ideas surrounding the Severn Bore including drawing what (In my opinion) a wave sounded like and also how a wave flows around different objects in its path. I looked at precedent images and models, such as a timber wave sculpture in Maine, US and also a steambent bench, all of these images gave me an ideas as to the flow and shape of my designs.

This is one of 2 pages displaying my idea for a furnitecture project as part of my Alney Island masterplan design. The bench takes the form of a meandering and undulating wave-like shape that extends out of the concrete walkway next to it. Historical and current site materiality is used to represent various strands that will display pieces of local art and sculptures. The bench and walkway forms a huge part of the concept behind Alney Island, stretching from Gloucester, over the A430 all the way out to Lower Parting, connecting the people of Gloucester to the environment around them.

  The image above shows a range of construction details, the sections range from cycle stands and granite kerbs to timber decking and dry stone walls. The details have all been produced on AutoCAD and cover the varying landscape throughout my design as well as showing how the levels work in the area. It was important to me to use materials that reflect the site vernacular and industrial past, whilst also ensuring that they were as sustainable as possible. For this reason I have selected products such as Salix bio-engineering pond retaining wall, local Cotswold stone for the dry stone wall, sustainable hardwood timber for all aspects of the decking and also rustic coloured Yorkstone to pick up the tones of the surrounding wetland.

My dissertation subject looked into the role of urban lawns in our outdoor spaces, in particular the role of urban lawns in our city and town spaces and their cultural, economic and environmental significance/relationship with other areas of the space.  The dissertation was based entirely on secondary research and after completing initial background reading my hypothesis/initial thoughts centred around how lawns were bad for the environment. I assumed this because my initial opinion was that they were highly maintained, monoculture based planting areas with limited uses. However research into this topic concluded that actually it was often the management of these spaces that culminated in the poor environmental effects. I looked into the historical role of the lawn and how it was similar/different to grass, how it was used in design throughout renaissance, English landscape style and also how social factors played a role in the lawns development. I concluded that the most achievabl...

  The two photos above show a before and after shot of a sloping bed. We installed a series of terraced sleepers on the slope to make it easier for the clients to garden and move around the area, the sleepers are attached with a connecting piece of wood and then they are held in place using metaposts which have been concreted into the ground. Final preparation included the removal of weeds, stones and other bits of masonry and hardcore. Finally we added, forked in and then raked level imported topsoil. Extra topsoil still needs to be added to bring the final level up with the top of the sleepers and gravel board also needs to be installed around the fences to prevent soil movement.