World monuments fund watch day 2014: Nine Elms architectural walk.

Spectacle took part in the Nine Elms architectural walk – part of the World Monuments Fund Watch day 2014. Here is a short edit of the event.

The watch day was launched by World Monuments Fund in 2012 to provide an opportunity for people to engage with their local communities and deepen their knowledge of local historic sites. The walk itinerary included Vauxhall and Nine Elms areas looking at sites such as the listed Brunswick House, Convent Garden Flower Market, Tideway Village riverboat community, Battersea Power Station, Battersea Dogs Home, the gas holder site and Battersea Park railway station.   The walk was lead by Colin Thom of the Survey of London and had contributions from David Waterhouse (Tideway Village riverboat community), Stuart Tappin (Structural engineer), Brian Barnes (artist and founder member of Battersea Power Station Community group)  and Keith Garner (architect).

Group photo in front of the Battersea Power Station during the World Monuments Fund Watch Day 2014

Group photo in front of the Battersea Power Station during the World Monuments Fund Watch Day 2014

 

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World Monuments Fund “Watch Day” Walk Battersea Power Station

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NINE ELMS: ARCHITECTURAL WALK
COVENT GARDEN FLOWER MARKET – RIVERLIGHT SHOW FLAT – TIDEWAY VILLAGE HOUSEBOATS – BATTERSEA POWER STATION

Lead by Colin Thom of the Survey of London. With contributions from David Waterhouse, Stuart Tappin, Brian Barnes MBE and Keith Garner.
Saturday 27th September 2014. Meet 10.20 am Vauxhall bus garage (by No.87 bus stop) for 10.30 am departure.

To book or for further information contact Sarah Meaker at World Monuments Fund Britain: sarah@wmf.org.uk 020 7251 8142.
Suggested donation of £10 per attendee

Bring packed lunch and sensible shoes. Please advise World Monuments Fund Britain on 020 7251 8142 if you have particular access or mobility requirements.

Itinerary

10.20 Meet Vauxhall bus station. (No.87 bus stop.)

10.30 Depart and introductory talk by Colin Thom about the Vauxhall and Nine Elms area including the listed Brunswick House.

10.40 Covent Garden Flower Market (GMW 1974). Space frame structure using British Steel “Nodus” system.  The building was recently given certificate of immunity from listing by English Heritage. Shortly to be demolished, so the last chance to visit.

11.10 River walk to see the “Thames Hippo” and changing skyline of London.

11.50 Riverlight housing development (Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners) to see show flat with views of river Thames and London skyline.

12.45 Tideway Village riverboat community to meet David Waterhouse owner of The Newark.
Tea & coffee will be served on the Newark and we will eat our packed lunches.

14.00 Battersea Power Station. (Gate 2 in Kirtling Street.)  Colin Thom will talk about the history of the building.  Stuart Tappin will discuss the demolition of the chimneys which has recently begun.
NB: we will not be entering Battersea Power Station but the building is visible from the road.

14.45 Battersea Dogs Home to see cattery designed by Clough Williams-Ellis. We can see the cattery from Battersea Park Road.

15.00 Gas holder site to see the collection of gas holders. These were also recently given certificate of immunity from listing and are being demolished. The “MAN” gas holder is a German design and is contemporary with Battersea Power Station. The MAN gas holder at Oberhausen in the Ruhr has been reused as an arts space.

15.30 Walk ends at Battersea Park railway station. Grade II listed Italianate station.

NB: times are approximate and may be subject to change. We do not have access to Battersea Power Station or the gas holders site.

Contributors

Colin Thom is an architectural historian working with the Survey of London, formerly at English Heritage and now with University College London. He was co-author of the recently published Battersea volumes of the Survey of London.

Stuart Tappin is an independent consulting engineer specialising in the conservation of historic buildings He is a founder of Stand Consulting Engineers. He is a member of the architectural advisory panel of World Monuments Fund Britain.

David Waterhouse has lived at Tideway Dock for 14 years and created the community now known as Tideway Village. He runs a houseboat business in London and has a small mountain hotel high in the Alps. His love of boats started when he worked for three years on Square Rig sailing ships. He spends his time between London and Switzerland.

Brian Barnes MBE is an artist and mural painted based in Battersea. He was a founder member of Battersea Power Station Community Group in 1983.

Keith Garner is an architect based in Battersea, working on the conservation of historic buildings and landscapes. He is also interested in making buildings more accessible.

 

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Spectacle interviews Tideway Village co-founder David Waterhouse

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Tideway Village: now in a construction site

`We recently interviewed David Waterhouse, resident and co-founder of Tideway Village. Tideway is a small community of houseboats (which includes the award-winning Battersea Barge venue) moored in and around a disused colliers dock that once served Battersea Power Station. David established Tideway in 2001 with Rainer Cole, who applied for a mooring in the previously empty dock at the same time by sheer coincidence.

David’s boats and two others are moored at the end of Nine Elms Lane, which runs through an industrial area that is now being turned into real estate by the Berkeley Group as part of the vast Nine Elms development. Since 2008, when it first came to light that the area would become a residential development, Tideway Village has been under threat.

Although the Tideway boats all have 15 year mooring rights – renewable with the Port of London Authority (PLA) –  they need permission to access the boats too, from whoever owns the land which borders the dock. Tideway is ostensibly bordered by the Thames Path – public land, controlled by the council – however a three foot wall between the path and the river is owned by the Berkeley Group.

Initially, the developers tried to deny residents access to their homes, in order to remove the boats. They intended to put a floating garden in their place, which David said would have killed all the aquatic life underneath. Tideway residents were not consulted or even notified about this. When they found out they launched a campaign to save their homes, including holding an open day and protesting outside a Wandsworth Council and Berkeley Group meeting. An e-petition gained 2000 signatures, including many people who had performed at or attended the Battersea Barge venue. If this hadn’t worked, David would have tried to invoke residents’ right to use the historic slipway at Nine Elms Pier which the boats are currently moored beside – this  has never been officially closed up.

Thankfully it never got to this, by campaigning and by challenging the common misconception of houseboat communities as people who just turn up (Tideway residents pay council tax and have a license to be there), David was able to persuade the Berkeley group that the community is serious and responsible and negotiate continued access to the boats. As a result, he believes they will be able to stay – he said he is currently tentatively optimistic about the future.

Having convinced the Berkeley Group that his community can fit into their vision of the waterfront, David now has a ‘relationship of a sort’ and a ‘good understanding’ with the developers, but before establishing this he suffered a lot of stress. Tragically, Rainer committed suicide in 2012, David believes the uncertainty of their situation was a factor in this.

David also acknowledges that the character of Tideway Village will change dramatically now. At first it was ‘very much a backwater’, an extraordinary, forgotten area, given how central it is. Having the space to themselves allowed the Tideway community to throw parties and hold open days, which won’t be possible anymore with blocks of flats overhanging the boats. In addition to this, David currently lives with near constant construction noise and access to the boats is restricted by the building work, which has closed part of the Thames Path .

Although David is happy that Tideway has a future, he lamented the fact that the Port of London Authority has never positively incorporated houseboat owners and moorings into the way it coordinates the river. He explained that it is extremely difficult to get moorings in London and believes that other places in Europe have all done more with their waterfronts in this respect. For this reason, he described the PLA as having “presided over the death of the Thames”. It has become a feature of the river, he said, that boats are frequently removed.

However David believes houseboats can be successfully incorporated into communities and is excited that Tideway now has the opportunity to prove this. David thinks Tideway could become to the Thames what Little Venice is to Regents Canal – it is a very special space, he explained, central London’s last functioning tidal dock in a landscape that was once full of tidal docks.

Tideway Village will be a stop, and David a speaker, on a walking tour organised by the Battersea Power Station Community Group and sponsored by the World Monument Fund on the 27th September.

David has also agreed to participate in one of our 4 day training courses, so Tideway Village may serve as a ‘real life project’ for future Spectacle trainees.

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See our Battersea Power Station project pages for more information and videos.
Or visit PlanA our general blog on urbanism, planning and architecture.

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