Lisa's slides and documents

Slides

Some fantastic images (click to enlarge)

Documents of proposals

The Lea Valley Area /Concept 

Problems 

• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Shortage of housing /Poor housing
• A derelict post-industrial wasteland covers much of the area 
• The area is divided by underused waterways,  heavily trafficked roads, the London Underground and heavy rail lines
• It is blighted with many unattractive pylons.

Opportunities

• A common strand which connects the main areas of the site is the waterways.
• The canals and rivers within the Lower Lea Valley are potentially a rich leisure, tourism, heritage and ecological resource
• The London 2012 Olympic Games will put this area in the spotlight
• The close proximity to Stratford International and London Airport
• Space for more mooring
• Waterfront tow paths and cycle routes
• Vacant open spaces exist that can make green connections with the Lee Valley Regional Park 

The Vision 

• To create a better place to live
• To create jobs and increase skills in the area
• To transform the large number of underused canals and waterways
• To create a system that links the green spaces together connecting wildlife corridors 
• Build pocket parks – increasing green spaces for people to relax (however small).

Proposals and Possibilities

• Promote a green economy
• Facilitate commuting and transporting by river
• Promote the creation of new river businesses with supporting services (freight, river taxis/bus, ferries, barges and moorings).
• Improve access to river edge/ high quality and greener waterfront
• Attract river/waterside users – such facilities include types of boating pursuits, cafés, events and exhibition spaces
• Build green pedestrian and cycle bridges 
• Build architectural ‘Energy Banks’ with technologies that use wind, solar and ground source heat (make wind turbines more interesting to look at)
• Incorporate green technologies in all new builds. Visually ‘green up the urban area’
• Facilitate water conservation and SUDS, water harvesting and reuse (redirecting money spent on water wastage)

'Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works' - Steve Jobs 

History

History

Early London history

• The Lee runs from Luton through marshland to the Thames and its link to London gave it enormous importance for transport and trade. 

• It has been altered to meet the needs of defence, transport and industry.

• The Romans built a road parallel to the waterway – Ermine Street which ran from London to Lincoln

Danes invade London

• During the 9th century the Lea formed a natural boundary between Alfred the Great’s Saxon England to the west in Middlesex and the invading Vikings to the east, in Essex who had worked their way from the east coast.

• It is said that the Danes sailed up the Lee in 895AD, only to be stranded by Alfred building a weir and embankment by the Thames and draining the river, stranding the invaders.

Mills

• By medieval times, the Lee was important for its mills. 

• In fact there were more tidal mills collected on the Lea than on any other river anywhere in the world, plus many windmills.

• In 1424, an act of parliament had instructed work to improve the Lee’s navigation. Gunpowder, flour, coal and malt could now be moved in quantity to London. 

• The 18th century saw new canalisation technology used together with new cuts and locks allowed larger barges to move goods upriver from the Thames, and through into Hertfordshire.

• Many of London’s ‘stink industries’ were now on the banks of the Lee. Here was produced the first commercially successful industrial bone china, known as Bow China.

• Later on, gasworks and power stations were to make the Lee one of the most productive, parts of London.

Toys for the boys

• By the 20th century, the Lee became home to factories like: The world’s first radio valves, Vacuum flasks, The Royal Small Arms, and the Lesney company, makers of Matchbox cars.

End of an era

• The arrival of the railways killed the canals of course. By the end of the 19th century bulk cargoes were being moved by train and then by road. And with the decline in Britain’s industries in the latter half of the 20th century, much of the Lee’s banks became shabby and derelict.