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London Crown

The Low Line Design Competition

Year

2019

Location

London, UK

Type

Competition

Organizer

Royal Institute of British Architects

Competition Website

RIBA_Logo_1da760fec40fea38eda1367e87e7e7

Reborn the early “green social infrastructure” which refers to “The London Bridge – Greenwich Railway Viaduct” model since 1836. The model consists of the world's first elevated railway which does not disturb the continuity of the on-ground urban life, the “Pedestrian boulevard”, and the multi-use space viaduct arch. The main idea is to apply the model into the entire loop of the railway viaduct on the south of the River Thames not only the mentioned part “Low Line”; Bankside, London Bridge and Bermondsey. When brushing up our legacy, the green-social infrastructure crown shape of London becomes.

The legacy

Appreciate and preserve the over 180 years of the elevated Victorian rail viaduct since it can remain the effective railway system and tend to be unlimited development in the future.

Redefine the pedestrian boulevard 

Apply the pedestrian boulevard concept to the London crown loop so that it increases more the efficient greenway network 16 Km. lengths. 

Permeable viaduct 

- Permeability for Ecological corridor: flora – fauna - watershed

- Permeability for Movement: walking – cycling – vehicle

The original green – social infrastructure

Encourage the usability of the viaduct arch for the highest benefit to support strong socio-economic which is affordable mixed-use spaces.

Ecological Corridor

The design integrates technology such as the on-ground vegetation system or transform some of the viaduct arches to be a waterways for connecting the ecology system which does not affect the viaduct structure and the sunlight redirection system brings natural light into an indoor viaduct for growing plants, saving energy from only using artificial light and also being a safe path.

Public Realm and Affordable Mixed-Use

The key point of the idea is reclamation-reconnection the path minimum 5 meters. The prefabrication modular system will both strengthen the viaduct structure and provide healthy-quality space for multi-purpose mixed-use. Folded glass gateway acts like louver window allow the natural light and air pass through.

Railway Viaduct management

The lightweight modular structure system is easy to move and adjust the usability of the railway arch which not affects railway structure and resilience. In the future, Users can access to the open sources of an occurred activities in the railway arch. AI (artificial intelligence) system will suitably match users' activity and railway arch by calculating the context data for the highest efficiency and affordable mixed-use space.

"Quality of life and environment = the shining jewel on the crown"

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