Ben Chandler: A day out - Fresh air

Yesterday was such a beautiful day and we got up early and headed off to Dover esplanade, the drive there from our house is wonderful, seeing the landscape change from the green hilly areas of Tunbridge wells through the, well at the moment very dry and flat areas along the M20 for it then to change significantly as you approach Dover. I was surprised by the area surrounding Dover as peoples views of Dover are that is a miserable and run down place, I think the weather helped but I thought that the approach to Dover is something special, it had a sense of industry and history that I thought would not exist. Anyway, getting there about half ten meant that the light was beautiful and people were still stirring and a relaxed atmosphere was all around.

The promenade was a true success, People were using all aspects of the area, people seating within the alcoves of the twisting, rippling textured walls, people were skating along the resin bonded main promenade and kids were running along the lower walk ways. Before going I thought that the scale of the twisting alcoves would be much greater, and a sense of enclosure would be created, but I was wrong and it worked just how it was. The parallel road of Edwardian town houses gives a great back drop to the scheme, whether this was restored with the promenade Im not sure but they were fantastic. One of the main things that struck me was that there was no shelter from the sun or the rain, It was only about 18 degrees yesterday so it was fine that there was no shade but I could imagine that during the height of summer the heat along with the glare from the white walls would be quite unbearable. This really made me think about the shelter and enclosed spaces in my scheme, which was always my first area to focus on and im glad I did. Im glad I have areas that encapsulate the elements giving people a sense of connection with the landscape but also I defiantly need the areas I have design for people to be able to view the landscape with out being to exposed.

Another thing that struck me was the lack of planting, I really think that with the added textures of planting this scheme would really come alive, although I truly like this scheme and the concept I found it fairly static, mainly because of the lack of movement that plants would give. The amount of trees that were planted was worrying as this would also provide some shade in the later afternoon.

Overall I really enjoyed this space and It brought to life a sense of what Im trying to create, as in people feeling free enough to sit and relax and enjoy the landscape that surrounds them and being part of it rather than an element of scheme that is not focused on what true makes a space work, the area that it sits within.