The ambitiously named Jubilee Gardens, or the Great Lawn of Yawn as we like to call it, is set for an exciting revamp. We reported on the original plans for the South Bank park back in June. Well, now they’ve been modified after input from a steering group.
It’s fairly humdrum, as far as we can judge from the pictures, with curvy paths that call to mind the Diana Memorial Log flume - hopefully without the debacle. As always with these things, there’s hidden symbolism. The winning design from West8 is described as
A new, undulating landscape for the riverside park - evoking England's rolling hills - with edging that recalls the white cliffs of Dover.
Just needs a statue of the Queen Mum, Gawd bless ‘er heart, and we’ll have the perfect vision of Albion.
The reworked plans have eliminated two ‘design elements’: a café (the area is already riddled with them); and toilets, presumably just to annoy the nearby McDonalds, who will continue to relieve the hordes of desperate punters alighting from the London Eye.
As for events in the park:
The steering group has indicated that large events are likely to be appropriate a few times per year, but some local residents insist that the park should be a place of tranquillity at all times.
That’ll mean soundproof walls and roofing, then, as the gardens are within a camera’s flash of Tourist Central.
Sarcasm aside, Londonist welcomes the development, which is an obvious improvement on an open field.
There are several briefings and exhibitions of the plans over the coming days. For the full program, see the always excellent SE1.
