Floating Viewpoint for Camley Street Natural Park
Coming autumn 2013.jpg&w=515&h=345&f=jpeg&q=90&hash=5bf38f3ddb94c1dc04f58484c786f03c "Concept render of Habitat Island, courtesy Aarti, Ollila & Ristola")
Concept render of Habitat Island, courtesy Aarti, Ollila & Ristola
View from Camley Street Natural Park onto the Regent's Canal
The Architecture Foundation and The Finnish Institute in London are happy to announce their collaboration with the London Wildlife Trust to appoint an emerging Finnish architectural practice to design and deliver a permanent Floating Viewpoint structure for Camley Street Natural Park in London’s King’s Cross.
The structure, which will be built and launched in 2013, will be designed to serve as a viewing platform and additional workshop facility for the London Wildlife Trust’s popular Camley Street Natural Park. The nature reserve, which sits alongside Regents Canal, welcomes 30,000 visitors a year and acts as an invaluable study centre for many local London schools. Camley Street’s new floating structure will allow the London Wildlife Trust to expand its educational remit by hosting additional workshops to examine and monitor the canal and its associated wildlife. The park provides a natural habitat for birds, butterflies, amphibians and a rich variety of plant life on its unique two acres of wild green space right in the heart of London.
Three emerging Finnish architectural teams, Erkko Aarti & Arto Ollila; Esa Ruskeepää Architects (ERA); and Heikki Muntola & Toni Österlund, were invited to submit a proposal for the Camley Street Viewpoint that responded to this unique site. Following this competitive process the commissioning partners along with a panel of jury members selected Erkko Aari & Arto Ollila's 'Habitat Island' as the winning proposal. The jury included Marcos Cruz, Director of the Bartlett School of Architecture; Owen Pritchard, Deputy Editor, Icon Magazine and Ken Trew, Project Director, Argent.
Erkko Aarti & Arto Ollila will be joined by Designer Mikki Ristola to deliver the final design, which will be built in 2013 for Camley Street Natural Park in London’s King’s Cross.
The three practices competing for the commission were selected from a long list of eight practices nominated by Finnish architects Ville Hara (Avanto Architects), Vesa Oiva (Anttinen-Oiva Architects) and Samuli Woolston (ALA Architects). The nominators who are themselves key representatives of new generation of architects working in Finland took part in the New Architects: Finland_UK Exchange Programme curated by the Finnish Institute, The Architecture Foundation and the Museum of Finnish Architecture in 2012.
Viewpoint Video: Ideas Behind The Floating Platform Viewpoint Video: Ideas Behind The Floating Platform from The Finnish Institute in London on Vimeo.
Camden area manager for London Wildlife Trust Phil Paulo and the Finnish architect Erkko Aarti, explain the benefits, uses and the idea behind the floating platform.