Following on from my parameter studies which were completed earlier this week, I have started to relate the investigation to massing. The sketch below is based on the idea that form/ programme will be concentrated around each set of piers, with a pedestrian link spanning between. The piers will provide the structure from which barges can dock and be tended to; with produce being transported vertically up to the pedestrian level where it can be sold to the general public. Each pier would have differing characteristics dependent on the produce which has been harvested at water level. Some could for instance, be charecterised by the servicing of the barges whilst others would revolve around the activity of trading produce.

Above is an initial sketch of one of these docking stations.

An updated infrastructure plan….

I have spent most this week on ’site’, in and around the area of Blackfriars, London. Blackfriars has two operational bridges at present, the earliest of which is the road and foot bridge (the furthest one on the left in the video), built in 1769 and the other, the rail bridge is used by Thameslink and was built in 1886. The pilars in between the two indicate where the original 1864 bridge stood and are what I intend to inhabit as part of my proposal. By the mid 20th century, the original bridge was considered too weak to carry modern trains and so was demolished in 1985.

Blackfriars are the only bridges in central London to have a direct north south orientation; providing the framework for potentially the ideal urban growing environment.

The video above was taken from Ludgate House, an office building opposite the site. Thanks must go to Katherine Hayes from BD who booked out one of the meeting rooms, without which I wouldn’t have been able to film. What I think is highlighted in the film is the amount of activity which surrounds the site. The static piers depict the remnants of the old London Chatcham and Dover Railway, whilst in stark contrast, the rail and road bridges carry a hive of activity. Perpendicular to all this lies the Thames, a means to ferry passengers from east to west London. These components all contribute to the sites characteristics of an orthogonal and nodal transport interchange.