This finely detailed water feature contributes to the re-imagining of the public realm and is a place of sensory experience, playfulness and delight.
The water feature is designed to function as a friendly barrier and level separator between the intensely-active food court and playground at the upper level and the outdoor terrace of Ferryman’s Tavern – a historic landmark at the V+A Waterfront. Reminiscent of a mountain stream, the shallow granite lined pool is punctuated with cubic “stepping stones” from which water bubbles and collect to form a waterfall to a lower pool.
The sensory qualities of water are equally attractive to the passer-bye, engaging and interactive to children and the ever present coastal birds. The water sparkles, reflects the sun and the splashing water creates a “white noise” to the bustling surrounding hype. The tactile qualities of the materials, particularly the use of the local Bluestone for the robust wall elements, granite cobbles and honed granite relate to the maritime context and children cannot resist a walk in the rock pools.
The water feature design arose from the opportunity for the re-imagining of the existing food court and associated public realm in the heart of the V&A Waterfront.
Originally constructed in the 1980’s, later altered to include a glazed covered walkway which bisected the space, the new vision for the food court included the extension of the existing shopping centre to include a linear double level food court, the removal of the covered walkway and the provision of generous outdoor terraces relating directly to the public spaces south of the existing shopping centre.
From the outset, the redefinition of the public realm included solving the relationship between the food court and its outdoor terraces and the sequencing of public spaces with diverse uses including a children’s activity area, the outdoor amphitheatre and the adjacent tavern’s outdoor concession area at a lower level.
The design problem was therefore around mediating the level change, creating a separation of active uses and providing a permeable and visually engaging edge condition.
This was not an easy assignment even if you are a skilled landscape architect with a demanding corporate client who doesn’t quite know what they want!
Access to the water is extremely limited in the Waterfront due to the high quaysides and the idea of bringing water up to the pedestrian level and providing the opportunity to engage and interact with it was put forward as the design concept.
The water element was conceived of as a series of shallow trays, one at each level with the idea that like rock pools on the seashore the area could be explored and negotiated through a series of steppingstones and rock faces. The sensory experience is heightened by the glistening water, the splashing sounds of the water flowing between the pools and the interaction and participation of people and birds.
We have great pleasure in adding this place of pleasure and delight to our ‘extended temporal garden’ which form part of a landscape architects repertoire of work in the public realm.