Architect:
Graham Ford Architects
Location:
The project is located at Stonebridge Lock in the Lea Valley.
The client’s brief:
Our client, the Lea Valley Canoe & Cycle Company, asked us to design a new boating facility on the Lea River. The facility was to include boat storage, kayak rental, bike rental and repair plus spaces for community activity including meetings, educational visits from schools. A Honey extraction facility was included.
The planning context:
The project is designed on green belt land and therefore we needed to provide robust VSCs (very special circumstances) to justify building in this location. These included the significant public benefits of a new facility for community events and the sustainability of the project including water recycling, power generation from the roof and super insulated design.
Architect’s response to the brief:
The architectural idea is to construct a large roof and under this roof place two containers. One container houses the boats and the other contains facilities for staff; a space for community centre activities for the Friends of Tottenham Marshes.
The idea behind the design was to create a structure that was adaptable through its modularity. For example we could add on or remove bays. The client also wanted to be able to pack up and remove the structure from the site.
Why a Pavilion?
The building is designed as a pavilion. The appeal of pavilions is associated both with their casual and informal space planning and open plan arrangements; their open structure that can be used in many ways; their permeability to the environment and the experimental nature of their construction. Pavilions take us back to the idea of camping on a site and being closer to nature.
Architectural Services Provided:
GFA were responsible for the design of this building and presenting the design to the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, the Canal and River Boat Trust, the local authority (Haringey), and the ‘Friends of Tottenham Marshes’.
