City oasis

‘Eco-sculpture’ brings creative energy to Clerkenwell - and Milton Keynes

Something strange and tree-like sprang up in London’s officeland over the summer. “We wanted to put back the green in Clerkenwell Green,” said Laurie Chetwood. So his architecture practice, based on the distinctly grassless square, created the wind-, solar- and hydrogen-powered structure as “a 21st century oasis, a retreat from the noise, pollution and bustle of the city”.

And what, you might ask, does it do? It demonstrates green technologies in a very public space. Its solar paneled, funneled branches collect rainwater for an aromatic garden and store solar energy to power late night ‘light shows’. But it’s also designed to interact with the people who live and work in the area.

Several thousand people paid a visit, climbing inside ‘chill out’ pods (cooled by thermal chimneys), and learning more about the technologies which power their own audiovisual explanation. In the morning, when the square was full of commuters getting their coffee, the sculpture was programmed to play ‘birdsong’. After dark, the structure was set so that passers-by triggered lights, “like a beacon that says ‘hey, it’s alright’ to loners on their way home”, explains Chetwood.

Don’t worry if you missed it there - it’s making its way around the country this autumn, including visits to the party conferences. The structure can be designed to work anywhere, says Chetwood. “The idea is that it collects energy for free, which it redistributes through its central ‘brain’. We’re offering ‘Oases’ to local councils, who can tune it to power whatever they need. For instance, we could design a more restful, landscaped model somewhere else.”

The first permanent Oasis is going up in Milton Keynes at the headquarters of Gazeley, the company behind the eco-efficient warehouse [see GF51, ‘Greening the warehouse’]. Chetwood hopes that a series of Oases in our cities will send the message that it’s time for “architecture to be both beautiful and clever.” - Hannah Bullock

10 October 2006

Hannah Bullock