Jiyeon Park
Undergraduate Landscape & garden designer
Taming the untamed
Taming the untamed
Taming the untamed
Swanscombe Peninsula, Dartford, North Kent, England
Relinkage of people to natural areas with the industrial assets in Swanscombe peninsula
Site systematic mapping
Site issues & conditions
Master plan
Site conditions
Master plan
The project “Taming the untamed” aims to bring landscape users to the isolated site that retains both prosperous natural and industrial values, formulating a new theory called ‘Territorial relinkage system.’ The territorial relinkage system determines enhanced connectivity and legibility for the peninsula to attract naturally people to the design site from the peninsula, designing visual cues for users. The visual cues are designed into distinctive landscape features that serve as guidance or indicator for landscape users like the giant pylons do at the peninsula, and create underpinning infrastructure throughout the peninsula.
These visual cues are integrated into diverse habitats and landscape typologies at the site, creating relevant programmes and activities which bring people to the site. Moreover, a new planting strategy that can support the existing plantings and maximise the current habitats’ functions provides a foundation that can preserve natural areas but also builds platforms where human and nature coexists and thrive in a long term.
Swanscombe Peninsula was once a home where Britain’s first cement industry flourished for over 100 years. After the industrial use, the peninsula has remained the last remaining brownfield in the Thames estuary. Also, the site has SSSI site designation as enormous marsh areas, including about 16 types of different habitats containing valuable species such as breeding birds, invertebrates, and riparian plants. Whilst the site’s scale and geographical location make the peninsula an ecological repository, its value relatively loses attention by people because of accessibility issues to the peninsula, including the design site from the Swanscombe station.
ISO for detail areas
ISO for detail areas
ISO for detail areas
ISO for detail areas
ISO for detail areas
Theoretical Approach: Territorial Relinkage System
The territorial relinkage system is established to determine the logic of point location and functions about the relinkage. Relinkage embodies enhanced legibility and accessibility throughout the site by introducing this system, which integrates the isolated site into its broader context, the Swanscombe peninsula.
Territorial relinkage follows three steps: anchoring, stitching, and grounding; each step arranges points from the peninsula to the design site to improve legibility between the peninsula and the design site for landscape users. The points govern the location of intervention on every scale - from the regional scale (the peninsula) to human scale (design site), and points serve as visual cues, which guide visitors to the site in the manner of the giant pylons.
Anchoring creates a resilient underpinning infrastructure throughout the peninsula by two landscape features: (i) street light and (ii) amphibious lighting (lighting in the water). These two elements serve as indicator that guides people through the site safely and easily.
Stitching weaves the site through the peninsula by installing additional lighting and landscape feature in the form of bark sculptures. Stitching reconnects patch areas within an otherwise isolated site.
Grounding is applied to the detail area in the design site. This grounding system integrates the detail area with the peninsula and it supports a multi-functional landscape design and multi-valent programme with the practically designed visual cues. The cues involve around intervention of human scales, which are relevant to the programme of detail area.
The grid mapping below for the points in broader context stretches from the Swanscombe peninsula to the design site.
The starting lines of the grid is jetty on the design site, and the rest of lines are drawn at regular intervals. The three areas marked with three individual colours: purple (industrial areas), yellow (residential areas) and blue (bus stops), are set as the access points where people can access to the Swanscombe marshes and the design site .
Stitching and grounding steps of the territorial relinkage system is applied to the design, site to build a re-connection between the peninsula and the design site. The stitching adds lighting and sculptures to the three lines,which traverse water, water edge, and inland. The stitching step determines the point location within the design site through three processes for specific landscape features. The first process of stitching shows the logic of jetty sculptures’locations, which are arranged in the manner of zig-zag repetition between water edge and inland. The in-ground lighting is installed along the main circulation as cues for affordancy on the design site. The last step
utilizes grid-in-gird, which is applied to the detail area, to build a connection with the other visual cues and to support the main programme in the detail area with the functional landscape features.
Visual cues of territorial relinkage system
Visual cues of territorial relinkage system
Visual cues of territorial relinkage system
Visual cues of territorial relinkage system
Street lighting
Lighting in the water
Green chimney wall
Bark sculpture
Jetty sculpture
Layer of territorial relinkage system for design site
Detail area design - Sculpture plaza
A plan of sculpture plaza
A plan of sculpture plaza
A plan of sculpture plaza
Design Logic for sculpture seating
A plan of sculpture plaza
Planting strategy
The planting strategy considers the existing condition, climate, habitats and native plants to enhance the fragmented and degraded green spaces with the additional planting areas for wildlife and landscape users. The selected plants are resilient to brackish water, salt wind and saline conditions as the site is subject to the inter-tidal movement.
As the peninsula, including the design site, is designated as SSSI site, and the site itself supports valuable species such as breeding birds, invertebrates, reptiles, fishes and riparian vegetation, the constructed planting areas with the existing natural areas will provide enhanced habitats and refuges for wildlife. Moreover, the woodlands, which planted along the design site, will serve as a strong support system for ecosystem and human well-being in the long term.
Habitat progression
3. Meadow walks
10. Coastal grassland
9. Grassland
12. Sensory Garden
