Tavistock Crescent Park Playarea | 200
Location
Tavistock Road, London
Type
Playarea
Year
1999-2002
Client
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The ‘Open’ design is envisaged as a new concept in Urban Parks. It will have no dark or hidden corners, and will be inviting rather than secretive, thus removing local concerns regarding security and crime. The existing ‘sunken garden’ element of the park was retained and improved by removing the existing built-up areas, resulting in simpler lines that create a more welcoming space. A new avenue of trees on the upper terrace of the park frame the park and create a more pleasant walk along the Crescent. From All Saints Road a wide set of steps, opening up the view of the sunken terrace, and a ramp stretching across the whole width of the upper end provide easy access for the disabled and those with young children in buggies. From the Portobello Road end a canopy becomes the entrance ‘arch’ and signifies a new era for Tavistock Park
Details designed by artist, Alistair Lambert, the playscape is a unique kind of play space meant as a place for exploration and fun aimed at all ages. The artist’s design is based on a series of Tangrams (chinese puzzles). The tangram shapes are expressed in the layout of the plan, in the three-dimensional pieces and in the patterning of the surfaces. There are five ‘zones’ within the landscape comprised of timber, rubber or paved surfaces with stone, concrete and timber sculptures creating new space to charge the imagination.
The project received the 2003 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Environment Award. Councillor Tim Ahern, Chairman of the Assessors Panel, wrote that the park “was regarded as an excellent space which has alleviated a number of social problems while significantly enhancing the standard of amenity enjoyed...”
