Dr. Will Norman, London’s first Walking and Cycling Commissioner, cut the ribbon to declare the second phase of the Greening of Vauxhall Walk open on Wednesday 4th October 2017.
Dr. Norman was accompanied by Councillor Jenny Brathwaite, Lambeth Council Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment, as well as Vauxhall One Chairperson and Director of Vauxhall-based architects Base Associates, Aseem Sheikh.
Cllr Jenny Brathwaite, Lambeth council cabinet member for Housing and Environment said:
“I am proud of this terrific project. All the partners have worked hard to make Vauxhall Walk a fine example of how a centrally located, shared route can be greener and work for the local community, visitors, cyclists and the many great businesses we have in Vauxhall. The regeneration of this area has been an ambition of Lambeth’s and it is truly wonderful to see Vauxhall Walk officially open to one and all”
In 2013 Vauxhall One ran an Urban Design Competition with RIBA and the Landscape Institute for sustainable ways to improve the public realm between Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens and Newport Street.
The competition gained a staggering 200 entries from 21 different countries all over the world. Erect Architecture with J&L Gibbons Landscape Architects were chosen as the unanimous winners for their outstanding entry ‘The Vauxhall Promenade of Curiosities’. This project proposed connecting Vauxhall’s parks to the emerging Vauxhall Gallery District, primary linking Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens to Beaconsfield Gallery and Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery by a sustainable Green Trail on Vauxhall Walk.
www.ribacompetitions.com/vauxhallthemissinglink
As part of TfL and The Mayor’s Pocket Park programme, this scheme uses an ingenious SUDs scheme that reduces the risk of flooding by taking rainwater from the street drains and re-directing it into lovely planted rain gardens.
The first phase of the greening of Vauxhall Walk included transplanting the RBC Waterscape Garden to Vauxhall in the Summer and Autumn of 2014, as well as resurfacing the road outside of the Tea House Theatre and planning the first set of rain gardens in May 2015.
The second phase of the greening of Vauxhall Walk stretches from the junction with Glasshouse Walk to Black Prince Road and has seen the complete levelling and resurfacing of the highway, relaying wider higher, quality pedestrian walkways, a new quiteways cycle route and seven beautiful new rain gardens.
Aseem Sheikh Chairperson of Vauxhall One Business Improvement District said:
“We are delighted to have worked with Lambeth Council and TfL on this fantastic project which is transforming this part of Vauxhall. This is part of our commitment to improving cycling and walking routes, as well as projects that help transform Vauxhall’s public spaces and improve air quality.”
