LDA Design is part of Open House London 2022 for the first time as the annual festival embraces landscape in its celebration of neighbourhoods, homes and architecture. We have three designer-led tours planned for the opening weekend – Friday 9 September.
We kick off first thing with a peek behind the barriers at under-construction Strand, which is currently being transformed from traffic bottleneck and a place to hurry through on foot into a new cultural and educational quarter, a place to visit and linger. Reconfiguring traffic flow here has created a generous car-free stretch, liberating Grade 1* St Mary Le Strand Church which had become a glorified traffic island. Cannon Ivers, LDA Design director and project lead for Strand/Aldwych, will explain the thinking behind this major change to a historic piece of the city.
At lunch , we explore the softening of London with a tour of two of our projects with Camden Council that straddle Tottenham Court Road – restored community treasure Whitfield Gardens and Alfred Place Gardens, which was once a commonplace London back street (more car park than anything else) and is now a lovely green breathing space in the heart of the West End. With Cannon Ivers.
And then at 5.00pm, LDA Design director and London studio lead, Benjamin Walker, will talk planting, people, and play on a tour of Battersea Power Station’s new public realm. From wasteland to a landscape that stands up to the iconic Power Station, Ben will give a unique insight into one of London’s most dramatic post-industrial transformations. It’s a decade-long project for us, and Ben has been there all the way.
What a day. What a festival. So much to do, see, learn and enjoy. Full festival listing here.
Photos of Strand by Furnitubes.
Photos of Battersea Power Station by Neil Speakman and LDA Design.
Photos of Alfred Place Gardens by Neil Speakman.
Photos of Whitfield Gardens by LDA Design.
