LONDON BAY | Hermann KAMTE

In 2015, we have been participate to “a folly for London competition” a contest organised by A Folly For London; a platform for articles and public engagement regarding the issues underlying the proposed Garden Bridge in central London which launched with a free-to-enter and open-to-all satirical competition for architecture of the absurd.

This means, the main goal of competition was essentially focus around criticism. And then the principal question was: “is London really needs the garden bridge proposed by Thomas Heatherwick considering the supposed cost of design, construction, maintenance?” or is this project absurd? At this time, the citric around the engagement of the city through this project was open.

But, the result was, our project has been banished and removed to the entries by the organisers because “our critic was in favour of the new vision of London, the possibility of a city which evolves regardless money but focus on wellbeing of people. The garden bridge is one of the important solutions among the possible sustainable design for future of London”   

Now let’s talk about the Mixed-Use Complex we proposed for London on the site competition.

London Bay is a multifunctional Mixed-used Complex including a commercial and leisure facilities. The design on the Thames riverbanks wants to improve the quality of lives of the people and promoting social and environmental integration.

Indeed, the idea of the transformation of a public garden space into a commercial and leisure centre is represented as the real difficulty of our design. How can we integrate people with the new piece of architecture? First, it is necessary to understand the ancient heart throughout its history then understand his connections with people.

The centre consists of a retail area, leisure centre, and indoor restaurant and finally a water park and relaxation open to the public. The experience of a leisure centre and relaxing on the Thames River is also a major tourist asset for the city. From our aquatic centre, we can admire the London landscape.

A bioclimatic process and assets like greenery,  recycled and sustainable materials as wood comes to recreate the natural environment of a garden and reduce the environmental footprint of the project.