Future
Wimbledon

Shortlisted in the Future Wimbledon competition. Exhibited by New London Architecture (NLA) at the Building Centre.

langstaffday-wimbledon-(1)

/ AIM

We imagined how Wimbledon could bring the spirit of the Centre Court to the town centre in a more meaningful way than in the name of a shopping precinct, and for the whole year rather than two weeks. We structured our ideas around the following themes and questions.

/ THEMES

/ The meaning of public space.

What does public space mean today? What will it be tomorrow?

The centre court at Wimbledon is a fascinating demonstration of the role of public space today. Focused on an event – the tennis match – there is overwhelming public demand to attend en masse to experience the spectacle first hand. In some senses, the centre court acts as public space in a traditionally understood meaning of the term.

Close by, on Henman Hill, people gather to witness not the actual event, but the broadcasting of the event in ‘real time’. The spectacle is observed at one remove and yet the desire to gather and share this, and for this sharing to be near to the original action, is another type of public experience. Across pubs in Wimbledon and London, similar gatherings take place at a further step of removal.

Across the world the spectacle is also witnessed and, in some senses, participated in, via television, radio, the internet and social media. This is public space as experienced in the virtual realm and not always at the same time. This experience would not occur without the original ‘actual’ event taking place.

The appeal of this particular public experience is created through what we nowadays call ‘brand’. The institution and identity of the tennis tournament and, therefore, the name of Wimbledon itself is so well established and recognised that it has a global reach. The local place of Wimbledon town has become a global brand.

/ A sustainable future?

How can we make good use of bad rubbish?

Responsibility towards future generations must underline any development.

Economic, social and environmental factors must be seriously understood and considered in order that the legacy we leave does not further the current environmental crisis.

Even the Wombles understood this! Sustainability must be embedded into all design decisions – not left as an afterthought.

/ Public space in the urban realm

How can we give the urban realm back to pedestrians?

A critical question facing city and town centres today is how to rebalance public space so it is focused on the pedestrian and cyclist as well as the car. Arriving by train to Wimbledon town centre, one is faced with a very vehicle-orientated set of roads and some insular shopping malls which make a variable street experience for pedestrians. On a rainy day this experience is further diminished!

/ PROPOSAL

Wimbledon aerial-perspective

/ The Wimbledon brand

We proposed to use public space as a means to facilitate town centre development by building on the Wimbledon brand.

The brand is associated with heritage and tradition as well as technology and progress. The public associates a number of specific things with the Wimbledon brand. Three obvious choices would be:
• Lawns
• Strawberries
• The British weather

We used each of these associations as inspiration.

/ LAWNS

The town centre is noticeably less green than the surrounding areas in a place famed for its Common as well as its lawn tennis club. We therefore propose a ‘greening’ of the town centre via a series of elevated nodes which provide parks-in-the-sky over critical existing public spaces or junctions. The space beneath the parks-in-the-sky can be either enclosed – for example there is potential to have a shopping centre underneath, or open – for example over a new station plaza suitable for the Crossrail station.
Wimbledon Strawberries

/ The British weather

Inverted umbrella structures, constructed of recycled aluminium and plastic, link the nodes, or parks-in-the-sky, to line the town centre area. Beneath the umbrellas the roads become ‘shared surfaces’ where priority for pedestrians is assumed although vehicle access is allowed.

On a rainy day the colourful umbrellas give shelter to the shared surfaces below and gather rainwater to be harvested for strawberry-growing and lawn-watering. On a sunny day the umbrellas are opened and their undersides exposed to the sun to gather solar energy via photovoltaics. This energy can be used to pump the harvested rainwater, or to power streetlights. Like the Centre Court roof, the inverted umbrellas are responsive to the climatic conditions to create usable and enjoyable public space beneath.

Wimbledon Grass

/ Strawberries

Locally sourced food is becoming an increasingly important goal wherever possible. We propose growing strawberries in patches of the parkland in the sky. In this way the parks contain small plots of urban farmland increasing ecological diversity whilst introducing strawberry picking as an enjoyable town centre activity.
Wimbledon umbrella

/ The Effect

This proposal aimed to create an experience that would be uniquely Wimbledon, hi-tech yet steeped in tradition. At the same time it looked to provoke happenings that would stimulate debate and change across the city and the world.
Wimbledon aerial-plan