Cutty Sark Gardens (Design)

Space Type
An Urban Riverside Square
Location
Greenwich
Award
Civic Trust 2000


Designers
Timpson Manley Ltd., Dewhurst McFarlane and Partners. The Cutty Sark is a major tourist attraction and World Heritage site. The area around the ship has been improved and transformed to create a square worthy of its status.
The space is a setting for the ship itself, a viewing platform for the River Thames and a point of transition (as the ferry terminal and Brunel’s rotunda are built within it). The square consists of an area of elevated decking with a red painted entrance wall and signage, interpretation boards built into the distinctive timber boundary fencing and an area with banners and columns.
Generally the materials are man-made but there are traditional stone setts around the Cutty Sark which reflect the historical status of the ship.

Judges’ views

“This important riverside space has been transformed by a simple yet highly effective hard landscaping scheme using wood decking, yorkstone paving and well-engineered handrails and street furniture. The severity of the design forms an admirable setting for the strong lines of the Cutty Sark and nearby Gypsy Moth, while ensuring that this busy riverside area is an appropriate gateway for visitors to this historic town”.