I am an experienced Artist working in Public Realm, Urban Regeneration and Healthcare environments for Local Authorities, NHS Trusts and the Private Sector.
I am a graduate of the Royal College of Art -
I work within diverse, multi-disciplinary project teams delivering major Capital Projects as well as smaller schemes funded entirely from charitable donations.
I have delivered projects in sensitive Healthcare environments such as Mental Health, Chemotherapy and Cancer working and liaising directly with all service users and clinical staff.
I offer clients multi-disciplinary skills ranging from contextual research to working with a diverse materials palette and have a broad knowledge of current practice in the built environment.
I propose to influence design processes and outcomes from the outset via contextual, site-specific research and collaborative consultation. My work focuses on place & identity, with particular emphasis on local vernacular and how this is preserved, exposed & expressed as a visual narrative, telling stories about context and place.
I am fascinated by the natural and man-made world. Geology, botany, species diversity, archaeology and astronomy: a continual enlightenment and am equally inspired by our collective human achievement in language, music, architecture - including our communities and the way we navigate & use our man-made space.
I would hope to contribute positively to your projects by bringing the minutiae of nature and human existence into focus and to reinterpret this on a larger, more visible scale, affirming the natural and human in what can sometimes be unnatural, de-humanised public spaces.
Christopher Tipping
A long day of walking streets in Chatham, trying to understand how it all works – I finally made my way along Dock Rd, past Medway Councilbuildings at Gun Wharfand St Mary’s Church, where Pepys and Dickens both worshipped; past Fort Amherst – to The Historic Dockyard.
Material use within the Historic Dockyards is often massive in form, frugal in detail and places enormous emphasis on function and being ‘fit for purpose’. This robust, economic and honest use of material and form is influential and informative and should be used as a template and contextual influence within the regeneration of the Town Centre of Chatham.
In early August this year I was commissioned by FrancisKnight Art Consultants and Medway Council to identify and scope creative public realm opportunities within the strategic Chatham Placemaking Project, which is being delivered by LDA Design.
“FrancisKnight have been appointed to work with LDA DESIGN and Medway Council on the Chatham Placemaking Project and in particular producing a creative public realm strategy to enhance the proposals and to add a sense of place and purpose to the spaces.
At the heart of the Thames Gateway, only 30 miles from central London, Medway is the largest conurbation between the capital and continental Europe. A modern place with green spaces and a superb quality of life, close to breathtaking countryside, the area has a young and culturally diverse population.
Chatham is located at the heart of Medway, with a population of 264,900 people living in the urban area in 2013. The area is world famous for its historic naval dockyard, and has also been a strategic centre for trade”.
This is a short term consultancy for me, which focuses particularly on the pedestrian route between Chatham Railway Station and The Waterfront, Chatham, via Railway Street and Military Road. This route leads on towards the Historic Dockyard Chatham – which is the subject of a World Heritage Bid –
I had up till this point never been to Chatham! I know of Chatham via Dickens and Pepys – as well as having looked at the Historic Dockyards online ! I have passed through the Medway Townsmany times on the train between Ramsgate and London, which does not really help frame a complete & honest image of the town.
This is a small sample of the visual record I made of my first visit in response to the project brief –
As you leave the Station and turn left, this leads you, via Railway Street towards the Town Centre and The Waterfront – however this route is a difficult one to navigate – if you know the town, then various landmarks map this out for you, but for a visitor, the experience is confusing and not for the faint hearted. The first 100m of this route, the car is certainly King – much to the detriment (& risk) of the pedestrian!
This view looks down Railway Street towards the Town Centre with the red brick edifice of Mountbatten House dominating the centre view.
‘Heart of the Campus’ for Sheffield Hallam University has also been featured in ‘JOURNAL ARCHITEKTEN UND PLANER’with some great images. Again, this was sent over to me by Rockpanel, who have produced some pretty wonderful PR on the project – the sort of coverage I could never achieve on my own – so a big thank you to them !
My project collaboration with Rockpanel ‘Heart of the Campus’ for Sheffield Hallam UniversityCollegiate Campus has just won a CKE ‘Special Award’ at the RISE Awards – (Research, Innovation, Sustainability & Enterprise) – in Leeds on Friday 18th September. the award is for innovation, design and creativity.
A big thanks to Rockpanel & The Cutting Room CNC specialists – also to Sheffield Hallam University and Turner & Townsendfor the opportunity!
Rockpanelsent over these images of the ‘Heart of the Campus’ project featured in the August edition of FASSADE Technik Und Architektura German architectural magazine. Apologies for the poor quality of the first image !
Shelly Goldsmith of tippinggoldsmith, Ann Carrington, Robert Bryce Muir and John Alfredo Harris invite you to view ‘Four Threads’ at Haberdashers’ Hall as part of Open House London 2015between 10am – 4pm on Saturday 19th September 2015
A short film has just been posted by Civic Voice about the recent Civic Voice Design Awards 2015. As previously posted – Margate Steps – aka Margate Flood and Coastal Protection Scheme, won the award for Public Realm.
The project was nominated by the Margate Civic Society. In 2014, the project had been awarded a Civic Award by the local group and it was on the back of this that the nomination for the Civic Voice Award was made. I attended the event with Geoff Orton of the Margate Civic Society.
This project was delivered by a large and diverse integrated design team. I think part of it’s success as a project is certainly down to the collaborative nature of the scheme and that this process was something which contributed from the outset of the works, influencing and challenging the design process at each stage.
We had our first Art Commission Phase 2 design meeting at the Whiteleaf Centre today to meet staff working in the four Wards, Opal, Sapphire, Ruby and Amber. Tom Cox of Artscapeand myself presented some first draft ideas to staff. We spread out the drawings and some paper models on the meeting room table and asked staff to comment on the work and annotate the drafts for us. This proved a rewarding process – with some of the iconography in the draft designs getting positive approval, whilst others – a definite thumbs down! –
The composite image below shows the Ward Round Rooms, which are found within each Ward Hub. This room is used for Clinical staff meetings and meetings with family and service users. We are proposing to install digitally printed wall coverings to two walls in each room.
Civic Voice shortlists 12 schemes for new design awards !
The Margate Flood & Coastal Protection Project aka ‘Margate Steps’, has been shortlisted for this new design award.
“Civic Voice – the national charity for the civic movement – has today announced its national shortlist for the best designed new development nominated by communities in the country”.
Griff Rhys Jones, Civic Voice President said:
“What I really like about the Civic Voice Design Awards is that they are national awards which have been nominated by local community organisations like civic societies, residents groups, town and parish councils and other community based voluntary organisations, rather than the industry professionals. They show that people are willing to welcome the new developments we need when they have been properly consulted and involved and where the quality of design has been of the highest standard. I look forward to meeting the award winners”