Tag Archives: Pedestrian

KIMBER’S CHIMNEY – Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton

 

‘The SOUTHAMPTON and SALISBURY CANAL passed through a tunnel just to the left of here…almost under your feet’

 

 

Kingsbridge Lane with Civic Centre and Clocktower. Image: Massie Wilson

 

‘Can you see Southampton’s 1930s CIVIC CENTRE? The Clock Tower, Kimber’s Chimney, reaches 156 feet in height…’

 

Text – white granite inset into contrasting black granite.

Kingsbridge Lane in Southampton is a historically important and longstanding pedestrian-only route with no vehicular access. This makes the site significant to Southampton. It is a long surviving link to the western route in and out of Southampton along the coastal strand, which formed the northern shore of the River Test Estuary until the early 20thCentury. The footpath runs along a narrow strip of land between the existing railway tunnel and the historic and long abandoned tunnel of the Southampton to Salisbury Canal, which ran along what is now Blechynden Terrace, linking Central Station to the Guildhall Square &Cultural Quarter. My role within this project was to develop a contextual response to the site, which would, hopefully, influence the landscape design and regenerative design process in collaboration Simon Taylor of  Balfour Beatty Living Places , Southampton City Council and Hardscape.

Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson
Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. 14 lines of text – Image: Balfour Beatty

 

‘SOUTHAMPTON is a Sea City on the SOLENT    …with and unusual Double High Tide’. 

 

Text – white granite inset into contrasting black granite.

Aerial view of Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

 

‘Oh when the SAINTS go marching in …I want to be in that number… oh when the Saints go marching in…’

 

 

Nighttime aerial view of Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

‘In 2017 over 6 million passengers used Southampton CENTRAL STATION’

 

Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Nighttime view. Image: Massie Wilson

‘SOUTHAMPTON is a Sea City on the SOLENT    …with and unusual Double High Tide’. 

Basalt Slabs with inset text at Hardscape for Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

 

‘Jane Austen lived in Southampton from 1806 to 1809 … her house on Castle Square had a wonderful garden that hugged the old city walls’

 

Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

The granite seating and retaining walls by Hardscape are undercut along the front edge suggesting the movement of water throughout the site.

 

‘The MAYFLOWER set sail from SOUTHAMPTON across the Atlantic to America in 1620′

 

 

Aerial view of Kingsbridge Lane at the junction with Blechynden Terrace and West Park Rd, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

 

 

‘Another Chatham Line…’ drafts from the creative scope…

These are a few images taken from the Creative Scope work I am doing. These are my artworks / draft plans, created to promote the creative concept.

Chatham Creative Scope - draft artwork and concept development by project artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Christopher Tipping
Chatham Creative Scope – draft artwork and concept development by project artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Christopher Tipping

Concept

The Lead Artist proposes that these historic, physical and social influences will be experienced in the pedestrian journey from the Railway Station, via Railway Street and Military Road to Riverside. It is proposed that this concept approach may manifest itself as an evolving linear narrative, drawn out from within the pavements and pedestrian areas associated with the route. Referencing the nearby Chatham Lines, this new Town Line could demonstrate a series of distinct, yet inter-related events, thresholds and experiences along its course. As interpretive interventions, they will evoke a narrative of resonant references to Chatham itself, becoming a part of the fabric of the street. Where the Chatham Lines were built as defensive structures, this new line will be resolutely ‘enabling’.

 

The Historic Dockyard is inextricably tied to the social and industrial history of Chatham. It is a rich source of inspiration. Architectural forms, both robust and functional continue to influence the creative approach; some structures, such as the Slipway Sheds presenting striking abstract patterns and geometries. Vertical forests of timbers supporting vast and expansive roofs with rectangular glazing apertures, twisted askew by perspective. The Dry Docks are faced in massive blocks of close fitting granite. These materials are shaped by function, yet are hand crafted and bespoke features, imbued with a legacy of local and honed skills, surely a fitting inspiration for a contemporary streetscape here in Chatham.

 

Dickens writes about an enduring military presence on the streets of Chatham.

 

“They walked about the streets in rows or bodies, carrying their heads in exactly the same way, and doing exactly the same thing with their limbs”. “Men were only noticeable by scores, by hundreds, by thousands, rank and file, companies and regiments, detachments, vessels full for exportation”.

 

These closely observed characteristics, played out on the streets of Chatham until very recently, suggest that an echo of these patterns of movement and symmetric formations, displays and manoeuvres are still extant in the pavements, streets and roads of the town. Perhaps this evocative memory could be recalled in new paving finishes and interventions in the streetscene.

 

This creative interpretation not only brings a site-responsive and contemporary narrative to the project, but also dovetails with and adds to a strategic and deliberate approach to inherent wayfinding and placemaking, assisting and strengthening the pedestrian route and the local and visitor experience.

 

This concept applies to the entire Placemaking Masterplan, setting a blueprint for a programme of temporary and permanent commissions to roll out in a phased approach over the development period.

Chatham Creative Scope - draft artwork and concept development by project artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Artist's own
Chatham Creative Scope – draft artwork and concept development by project artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Artist’s own

 

Chatham Creative Scope - draft artwork and concept development by project artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Artist's own
Chatham Creative Scope – draft artwork and concept development by project artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Artist’s own