Hammersmith turning old railway track into its own Highline

A disused section of old railway track could become another Highline for London, if proposals by Hammersmith Council are carried out. If built, then it could join the Peckham Coal Line and the Camden Highline in creating pocket parks by reusing old railway infrastructure.

The section of track that’s being suggested runs alongside the existing tube lines into Hammersmith, and used to carry trains up towards Shepherds Bush, but closed just over a hundred years ago.

To gauge interest, a design competition has opened to the general public organised by local architect group West London Link and Hammersmith BID. Entries will be exhibited as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2019 at Kings Mall shopping centre, between 22nd-30th June.

The judging panel is looking for both original ideas without limits and interesting schemes that are practical. For this reason, they are offering two sets of prize money to encourage a variety of ideas that could be considered, from the fanciful to the deliverable.

Solutions they are looking for will provide Hammersmith with a special attraction that will draw people in on its own right and give the town centre something special and unique, over and above what other town centres can offer.

Access will be a major challenge as the site is hard to reach, with active railway lines (District & Piccadilly) running alongside the Highline site. Designs which have considered this carefully will be favourably judged.

The other constraint is that at the moment, the disused railway has two very large holes in it – although those would be relatively easy to fill in again, and the gap in the Highline in the arches could well be filled in to become storage space for the essential coffee bar that’ll be on top.

Access and connectivity should be to the town centre, shopping centre and riverside, as well as creating an accessible destination for all. Kings Mall could be a potential access point, as there are two existing pedestrian bridges over the railway which could connect the shopping centre to the Highline, and to King Street beyond.

The Hammersmith Highline Competition is open to all members of the public. A background in design or built environment professions is not essential. There will also be a separate competition with entries from local primary schools.

There will be two prizes of £5,000 each.

Expression of Interest

Please email Livia Caruso stating your name and whether you are able to make the site visit date on Wednesday 17th April. No further information is required at this point. You will then receive the competition brief.

There is no obligation to proceed with an entry following the expression of interest. There is no entry fee.

from IanVisits http://bit.ly/2OtYMfi