1a. What do you think about the new public spaces and the Table Park in our plans?

Neutral

1b. Tell us more here.

I was expecting a bit more of the table park area - it's no about the quantity of green spaces (we already have a large park next door), but quality

2a. Do you agree with our proposal to prioritise public transport, walking and cycling over car ownership and access?

Satisfied

2b. Tell us why here.

I think it's a great idea but in the short term I wonder about how many will still have a car & have friends/family with cars coming in, where do they go?

3a. What do you think about our plans to bring culture to the site?

Satisfied

3b. Tell us more here.

Still looking for the "wow" though but like the idea for a cultural space back in EC

4a. What do you think about our approach to bringing jobs and opportunities to Earl's Court?

Satisfied

4b. Tell us more here.

Think more about the demography in 10-20 years: more single (40% plus) households; mix of young professionals and young pensioners (50-60) still part time engaged

5a. What do you think about our proposed mix of homes (for sale, for rent, homes for students and older people) and community spaces?

Happy

5b. Tell us more here.

Very exciting! Would like to see more innovative communal spaces to work/socialise/relax/for activities.

6c. Tell us more here.

Some more innovative designs perhaps? E.g. green buildings/wood/sky bridge etc. No problem with high rises (will provide shade if summers get hotter!) but check for wind impact.

1b. Tell us more here.

Would like more greenery.

2a. Do you agree with our proposal to prioritise public transport, walking and cycling over car ownership and access?

Happy

2b. Tell us why here.

Yes. As already stated there should be an interchange between Earls Court station and mainline.

3a. What do you think about our plans to bring culture to the site?

Satisfied

3b. Tell us more here.

If it happens it would be good.

4a. What do you think about our approach to bringing jobs and opportunities to Earl's Court?

Neutral

4b. Tell us more here.

Sceptical

5a. What do you think about our proposed mix of homes (for sale, for rent, homes for students and older people) and community spaces?

Neutral

6a. What do you think about the emerging architectural designs?

Satisfied

6b. Have we put the right uses in the right places across the site?

Not sure

1a. What do you think about the new public spaces and the Table Park in our plans?

Neutral

1b. Tell us more here.

Revisit the Sculpted Landscape Concept: The early concept sketches of the Table Park from Summer of 2022 are worth returning to. The landscape-led approach in architecture is part of a lineage: The Table draped with verdant hill and dale, the logistics hub below deck, and cultural centre as if by excavated recalls Earl’s Court House at the end of the 18th Century; in the early 1900s Antoni Gaudi would terrace the side of Carmel Hill for Park Guell, include viaducts of planters and nesting for birds in its walls; the Table’s raw shape prompts an association with Hans Hollein’s provocative photomontage ‘Aircraft Carrier City in Landscape’ from 1964, a prescient prototype of Kings Cross’s Google HQ ‘landscraper’; in 1971 architecture as sculpted land would be the runner-up proposition by 23 year-old Will Alsop for the Pompidou Centre competition; Foreign Office Architects would reprise this idea for Yokohama International Passenger Terminal in 1995; its evolution continues to this day, manifesting most fully in Singapore’s ‘City in a Garden’ strategy. London can do likewise. Increase the Public Realm: Similar in surface area to the private gardens of Philbeach Crescent, or a spliced off corner of Brompton Cemetery the Table Park is not quite meeting expectations. It is acknowledged that the proposed slopes west, vistas north and south, the routes from several directions, and Creative Boulevard extending like a pedestrianised Regent Street, contribute to the expanse of the public realm, and as an approach it improves on the Farrells masterplan. Nonetheless it preserves little of the length and breadth of cityscape currently viewed from the ECDC hosted Table tours, or what might be seen from neighbouring vantage points. In the draft there are two main ground levels, about 8 meters higher on the RBKC side. Most of the public activity has been concentrated at these levels with little public access above them. The drawings show mid-level terraces on the tall buildings, and roof gardens atop others, but little indication from the draft that these spaces would be or remain open to the public, in the way Policy D9 of the London Plan encourages. Hopefully cues can be taken from the likes of the cross laminated timber walkway of Acme’s Pavilion in Stratford, routes that are invitations to climb and dwell, buildings that signal elevated spaces are for everyone. Or perhaps the landscape itself could be raised, as the elevated footpaths of Seville’s Metropole Parasol begin to suggest; even some of Will Alsop’s ideas for a reimagined Bradford as urban and rural juxtaposed are applicable here, its buildings raised on stilts several storeys above ground level, extending the public realm beneath them, and his park with its 10 optical illusions, perhaps alluding to Capability Brown’s 18th Century landscaping tactics to set up extraordinary views and panoramas. To provide more public realm some buildings in the framework may need to be slightly taller or bulkier: if the result is a more generous and welcoming piece of city, this is acceptable. Elevate, Excavate, Cover and Connect the Public Spaces: The modern experience of a public urban square, park or avenue is multi-storey: suggestions in the draft indicate possible designs along these lines. Cultural destinations like the Design Museum and Tate Modern, and sophisticated retail forms like Selfridges and Westfield are indoors, but their atriums enable them to be experienced as external public realm. London embraces this indoor/outdoor ambiguity: for example, Selfridge’s Dolly’s Cafe’s simulates an alfresco terrace on the lower ground floor at the base of the department store’s 4 storey atrium; on the rooftop of the same building is Alto By San Carlo with actual alfresco dining, but ironic in that it resembles an Italian city’s ground floor courtyard. Places are not always as they seem or where we expect them to be. This quasi condition is not deception: it’s London’s genuine and idiosyncratic character developing upwards. Programs are arranged not only horizontally, but also vertically. Access is in all axes: from basements to viewing areas, we circulate via escalators, lifts or grand staircases, traversing internal bridges, discovering occasional moments when being inside feels like being outside, and then vice-versa. This prompts a moment to wonder: what if the Table Park extended itself upwards i.e. an outside atrium, a park open to the sky but expanding its territory up and through the buildings around it? For example a bridge might connect the western side of the Table to the podiums leading to the roof terrace of the community hub; then what if the Table’s west slope could be sheltered by intersecting domes, like Cornwall’s Eden Project, a waterfall and winter garden within; perhaps we dig downwards as well as build upwards: what if the disused pedestrian subway and ticket hall, which up until 2005 had connected Earl’s Court station directly to the Exhibition centre could be transformed into a Lowline garden below ground, continuing what New York’s Delancey Street experiment had begun? This readymade excavation, like the legacy of the Table and the Depot, is perhaps another gift; add to these high line walkways connecting sky gardens, a rooftop umbraculo and planted mid-level terraces, like a vertical 21st century version of Kew Gardens at EC, signalling the aspirations of London’s new green neighbourhood. Build Over The West London Line: Barcelona’s Jardins de la Rambla de Sants, an elevated garden built in 2016 at a cost of 120 million euros, extends 800m and encloses 6 railway lines, features 2 ramps, 5 lifts, and 4 escalators. Set to continue 5km across 3 more municipalities, this project is a bold demonstration that decking over railway infrastructure is not exclusive to a city’s financial districts. The West London Line presents an opportunity to address what Studio Egret West, based on their 2019 research and exhibition, might refer to as a Fault Line. Even the Farrells and Capco masterplan had featured the the culverted Countess Creek referencing Lost River Park, which in consultation with WSP planned to deck over the railway almost completely up to the West Cromwell Road, recognising the benefits to the neighbourhood even if the cost would have been significant. The conditions to deliver this within the current framework seem serendipitous: the West London Line’s operator Network Rail, along with TfL, has stated its intention to cooperate with local councils and the GLA to deliver new homes, workspace and neighbourhoods; WSP could now continue what was begun with Farrells and Capco, further the research contained in their government-commissioned Out Of Thin Air document, and build on the experience of their recent projects like Principal Place and Royal Mint Gardens; enclosing the railway line aligns with the core principles of RBKC’s emerging new Local Plan by delivering on green, liveability and inclusivity; the cost of railway decking seems like a justifiable investment in the context of an overall budget for the current scheme reportedly at £8bn, comparable to Battersea’s £9bn. Add More Water: The water features of the Royal Parks of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and Holland Park are social gathering points: The Serpentine, Round Pond, Italian Gardens, Diana Memorial Fountain, Hyde Park Lido, Kyoto Garden and Sibirica Water Sculpture. Illustrations in the EC draft depict a couple of modest bodies of water, one over the existing steps of the former exhibition centre, the other a bridged pond opposite the Depot. SLA’s detailed design, particularly for the Warwick Road entrance is eagerly anticipated, but overall there is a sense that increasing the blue in the balance of the Blue Green Infrastructure would address the current lack in the Earl’s Court area. Detail the Privately Owned Public Space (POPS) Policy: Like Royal Parks, the use of and freedoms within privately owned public spaces can be constrained by regulations set by the landowner. Assurance has been given, aligning with Priority One to open up the Exhibition Centre site, that public spaces will be open 24 hours and not be gated. In this respect the model is similar to Hyde Park currently: but at Earl’s Court could a Speaker’s Corner exist, photojournalists allowed to gather, or peaceful protests granted the right to assemble or march through? It could be said that to create a better piece of city and to work out its blueprint according to Priority Three, such freedoms should be available, rather than curtailed. POPS regulation therefore requires careful consideration, along with planning permission conditions like Visitor Management Plans, negotiated with the local authority to ensure inclusive, no purchase required public access to specific privately owned spaces: 20 Fenchurch Street’s Sky Garden is an example of this, but presumably similar arrangements resulted in free access to The Garden at 120, and the Rooftop of One New Change overlooking St Paul’s. Furthermore, the funding for maintenance of EC’s public spaces also needs clarification, ensuring a balance is struck to avoid over-reliance on commercialisation and funfair culture. Hyde Park’s self-sustaining charitable public corporation is perhaps a good example.

2a. Do you agree with our proposal to prioritise public transport, walking and cycling over car ownership and access?

Satisfied

2b. Tell us why here.

Reduce Car Ownership but Maintain Availability of Use: According to City Monitor on-street parking in London takes up 14 square kilometres of space, the equivalent of 10 Hyde Parks. The average car is parked 95% of the time. 56% of Londoners own a car, in LBHF 38% and in RBKC 37%. In the face of these statistics, it is sensible to reduce the number of cars overall, reducing the need for parking by ensuring that the cars in circulation are in almost constant use. Ownership by individuals would naturally decrease but freedom of movement and convenience of access to cars would be maintained, whether through car sharing, ridesharing or taxis, and possibly driverless versions of these in the future. Battery swap stations for EVs would be preferable to on-street charging stations, and Japanese style Giken underground silos with automated lift systems for vehicles not in circulation would save street-level space, making it available for more active modes of travel like walking and cycling. Make the Pedestrian Experience Extraordinary: A walk to and from work, school or leisure should feel extraordinary: a path lined with flowers that extend up a building’s facade, a footbridge in the sky that is also a garden, a ramp that passes behind a waterfall to emerge on a valley floor, a moment to sip morning matcha in the shade of a lotus-like umbrella, surrounded by buildings rising like pine-topped hills and steep mountainsides terraced with edible plants. Perhaps as we zig-zag up the stairs to our destination, herbs and leaves within reach of the banister, we catch a smile from a familiar passer-by in a maglev lift as it pauses to shift from vertical to horizontal travel. Support Cycling but Solve Bike Clutter: To preserve the advantages of cycling and micromobility, as well as a park-like pedestrian experience, a separation of these modes is required. If the uptake of cycling is predicted to be significant enough require more than standard Sheffield Bike Racks, Giken underground bicycle storage silos may offer a solution to maximise usable public space. Make Public Transport Attractive: WSP concluded that underground station upgrades would be needed for the added EC footfall. Improving and integrating stations, bus and coach stops as though extensions and gateways to the new EC framework would respond to Priority Three, ‘create a better piece of city’, and signal the green credentials of this new neighbourhood. Balancing conservation of heritage assets should not preclude an open attitude to less familiar approaches. Even a bus stop can be both ecological and experiential. They could transcend the mundane, perhaps in ways that the Chinese architecture firm, 100 Architects, suggest with their Lotus and Azalea Eco Bus Stops. Explore Innovative Logistics: 77% of all freight in the UK is moved by road and 30% of all vehicles in central London are for commercial freight. EC’s intention to offer a city blueprint that rationalises logistics and explores alternatives is supported. A consolidation centre, say at Milton Keynes, might serve to reduce the number and/or size of freight trucks making delivery to EC. Drawings from Summer 2022 seem to suggest in the case of the RBKC freight drop off in a hub beneath the Table Park, but few additional details have emerged since then. Whether goods delivery, waste management and servicing take place above or below ground will impact significantly on the experience of the public realm. A system below the public realm seems the ideal option to create a Venice-like pedestrian condition above, recalling the utilidors pioneered beneath Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. However, unlike the Florida ground level on which the utility corridors were constructed, EC has to contend with with overground and underground lines, as well as problematic inclines. So could a completely different approach be taken here? Might off-peak use of the Piccadilly, and District and West London Line be used to deliver consolidated batches of freight, as explored in dRMM and WSP’s competition entry for XCO2’s Future of Last Mile Logistics in 2018, proposing freight carriage via existing underground tunnel infrastructure? Or perhaps inspiration can be taken from Hawkins\Brown's Fast>Fwd entry for Property Week with its warehouse roofscape and automated stacking system. At EC’s could goods could be stacked downward in underground silos to free up space above? Upgrade Waste Management: The Automatic Vacuum Collection System (AVAC), a pneumatic garbage disposal system invented in Sweden in the 1960s has been adopted in Seoul, Barcelona, Bergen and now mandated in Singapore for new developments larger than 500 apartments. It efficiently routes food waste to biofuel conversion, sorts recyclables and incinerates non-recyclables. It seems there are no plans to adopt such a system at EC. Alternatives that might improve on London’s waste management system have not been proposed either, or for how by-product synergies and circular economy strategies implemented at EC might help achieve operational efficiencies and Zero Waste To Landfill.

3a. What do you think about our plans to bring culture to the site?

Neutral

3b. Tell us more here.

Create a Global Destination of Urban Farming: Would a tourist from abroad venture further west than the Natural History Museum or further south than the Design Museum and Olympia? Would a walk along the Chelsea Embankment take a detour north to EC? The commitment to form a hub of climate tech research & development is timely and relevant, and could very well restore EC’s international appeal. A culture of sustainability was explored in Studio Egret West’s concept for the transformation of Smithfields into a synergy of hyper-local agriculture with freestanding food kiosks. Featuring a rotunda Physic Garden, controlled environment underground urban farms and cultural event spaces, it’s an extraordinary proposition, an ambitious trade, food and showcasing framework. The Train Shed houses a smaller version of it and is the most intriguing cultural offer in the draft so far. Encourage Farm-To-Table, Even at the Office: In 2010 Kono Designs helped realise Japan’s largest direct farm-to-table office building for recruitment and consultancy firm Pasona. Featuring 200 species of greenery, including fruits vegetables and rice grown and harvested for the cafeterias using both hydroponic and traditional soil-based methods, it aims towards Zero Food Mileage, a more sustainable food distribution system, and education of the next generation of farmers to reduce Japan’s reliance on imported food. Adopt Biomimicry: Biomimicry, the study and copying of nature, is a culture of design and production based on efficiencies observed in biological systems, guided by the principles of Closed Loops, No Waste, No Toxicity, and would serve all four of EC’s framework’s priorities. Advocates include: research programmes like the UCL-based centre for Nature Inspired Engineering; urban farming start-ups like Grocycle who exhibited at the V&A; circular economies proponent, architect Michael Pawlyn, formerly on Grimshaw’s Eden Project team and now with Haworth Tompkins on a 700 hectare garden community masterplan east of Colchester. Enable Sustainable Lifestyles: An ecological awareness will give rise to different choices in our daily lives and EC ought to enable these. Whether the world’s longevity and happiness Blue Zones identified by Dan Buettner could inspire the environment and lifestyles for those who live in, work in and visit EC is a question that warrants nuanced debate, but EC should enable the exploration and invention of ways to thrive. This concern was raised after noticing three steakhouses and one burger restaurant in the CGI of The Table Park on page 21, and given the high environmental impact of the beef industry, the number of them seemed inconsistent with a culture underpinned by Green Tech and R&D. Foster a Unique Cultural Identity: The success of EC will be dependent on distinguishing itself from the White City Innovation District, Olympia, Design Museum and Albertopolis, as well as be complementary to them. Anchoring EC with Green Tech and R&D seems intuitively the right decision and should attract a synergy of organisations around it. Without knowing who these companies and institutions might be or the specific business or research they would be undertaking, it seems sensible to reserve judgment at this stage. Bring Culture on Tracks: As mentioned in answer to question 2a above, the use of existing underground and overground lines could offer logistics opportunities, but could also facilitate the arrival and departure of cultural events in a way that could be more flexible and less disruptive than conventional means. Illya Rastvorov’s proposal for transforming a Copenhagen rail depot into a public park illustrates a similar concept. Make Eco Fun: An ecological movement may not maintain its momentum on science, politics and economics alone. A culture of play must also be part of this endeavour. Festivals, festivities and gatherings in celebration and night time activation, while being mindful of disruption to nocturnal fauna, will enable hedonism and sustainability to thrive equally.

4a. What do you think about our approach to bringing jobs and opportunities to Earl's Court?

Neutral

4b. Tell us more here.

Ensure Corporate Missions are Ambitious and Aligned: The companies, organisations and institutions that occupy EC should align with the EC framework priorities: by contributing to a better piece of city; showcasing their world-class ingenuity; addressing the climate emergency. They should aim to exceed Environmental and Social corporate Governance (ESG) standards. Provided this is the case, the jobs and opportunities should in turn be moral, ethical and fulfilling. Ensure Corporate Culture is Accessible, Permeable and Engaging: Corporate lobbies should feel less like security gates, more like exhibition spaces for showcasing new technologies and engaging the public. This is an opportunity to demystify, trial, discuss and debate the various forms of Climate Tech, AI, Chat GPT, Robotics, Urban Agriculture and other technologies as they emerge and develop. Encourage Local Employment: For example, John Lewis Stratford hired locally by guaranteeing up to 400 places for those who complete pre-employment courses at their assessment centres, reducing reliance on commuting, increasing active modes of travel and improving quality of life.

5a. What do you think about our proposed mix of homes (for sale, for rent, homes for students and older people) and community spaces?

Neutral

5b. Tell us more here.

Explain the Reasons Behind the Proposed Mix: Architects’ Journal reports 4500 homes on 10 Ha, 35% affordable, plus 3500 student accommodation units. The student accommodation provision is substantial, equivalent to the student body of the Royal College of Art (2645) combined with the Royal College of Music (890), or a fifth of Imperial College (17,000) but seems consistent with what is considered the world’s number one student city. The multi-generational mix within the EC community is welcome. Controversy is likely to surround the 35% affordable housing, below LBHF’s target of 50%. It is acknowledged that this is a site with costly challenges, but the pursuit of viable solutions to make more affordable housing should continue. Add Details of Community Sports Facilities: Other than the extension of the Aisgill basketball court to full size, and the children’s adventure play area in front of the Community Centre, no other provision seems to have been detailed. It seems that a Lido would be popular, whether indoor, outdoor or both. Add Details of Community Growing Spaces: Community Farming, traditional and hopefully high tech as well, have been presented an option for the Community Centre podium, but greenhouses and opportunities for wild foraging routes might also be considered.

6a. What do you think about the emerging architectural designs?

Neutral

6b. Have we put the right uses in the right places across the site?

Not sure

6c. Tell us more here.

Be Bold. Maintain the Ambition: Studio Egret West (SEW), Hawkins\Brown (H\B), Acme, Sheppard Robson, Serie Architects, Haworth Tompkins , dRMM and Maccreanor Lavington are architecture’s Avengers Assembled. Added to them is the Danish landscape architecture firm SLA, considered world leading, and engineers WSP and Hoare Lea. Altogether they are an impressive collection of talent and expertise. Even a rudimentary cut and paste of work from their portfolios would create an extraordinary piece of city: SEW’s Smithfield and Rockery at the Hyde; H\B’s Gantry at Here East; Acme’s Rewe in Wiesbaden and Stratford Pavilion; Sheppard Robson’s Citicape House and Aldwych House Rooftop Pavilion; Serie Architects’ Xian Horticultural Masterplan, Porte de Montreuil and Tower of Tables; Haworth Tompkins’ Colchester Masterplan; dRMM’s Kingsdale School, Faraday House and Maggie’s Oldham; Maccreanor Lavington’s Futurehomes Passivhaus; SLA’s Copenhill, Hans Tavsen's Park and Korsgade, and Reinvent Paris; WSP’s Out Of Thin Air and for Principal Place; Hoare Lea for Coal Drops Yard and Cabot Circus. Compared with these extraordinary designs, and despite intriguing details emerging, the EC draft seems generic. Increase the Differences between Transition, Extend and Reinvent: Long may the 36 Conservation Areas that cover 70% of RBKC continue. However an OA is not an opportunity to replicate Victorian Terraces, particularly not on a site that never featured them, so the strategy of Transition that respects the crescents of Philbeach and Eardley, rather than copy them is supported. The parameter plan allows for buildings to rise hill-shaped beyond these crescents. These facades could be sloped, terraced and planted, resembling landscape formations, or ‘topographical architecture’ as the architecture firm WOHA might refer to it. This would ensure that the views from the back windows of the existing crescents are pleasant, arcadian even. Extend recognises the reassurances of continuity, but it is also an opportunity to reevaluate familiar local typologies like mansion blocks, and rigorously improve upon them to the point they may at first glance seem unfamiliar, but ultimately be recognised as better. To Reinvent at EC will be a process of designing better, sometimes unique questions before jumping to the answers and the designs. Hopefully this will allow for conclusions that challenge conventions. Reinvent Reinvention: Consider one of Will Alsop’s projects. In Canada, the local community responded to consultation on a proposed rooftop extension to the Ontario College of Art and Design, complaining they would lose their view of the park beyond. His celebrated architectural solution, which must have startled but received public agreement was to position a table-like structure on stilts, raised high above the roof of the existing building, affording a view of the park between them. Consider too his Port International Cruise Terminal at Gao Yang, Shanghai, whose gateway features 4 storey restaurant and 2 bars suspended like multicoloured fruits. He stated that this is the project he is most proud of, but one that contrasts against the risk-aversion pervading architecture in the UK. Will Alsop perhaps offers a pertinent reminder that good architecture is attitude, not style. Play with Design Codes and Collaboration: The tight medieval grain of the Design District, Greenwich Peninsula, and intentionally mismatched architecture styles but with strong overall coherence, was the result of a unique collaborative process between 8 architecture practices. Each practice contributed two buildings, designed independently and initially unseen by the others, evolving through feedback from the master planners, HNNA. For work-spaces built on a limited budget the result is unexpectedly thrilling, even prompting Time Magazine to declare it ‘one of the world’s greatest places’. It was encouraging to see an image of it on the table at April’s ECDC Masterplanning Workshop on the theme of beauty. Another example is the unbuilt collaboration between Alsop, Fuksas, Steidle and Nouvel for the European Tower at Hérouville-Saint-Clair in France, in which the architects’ contributions were also designed as separate entities, but in this case rather than side by side were stacked one on top of the other. Consider a Vertical Framework: The section sketches presented at the Masterplan Workshop 4 June 2022, page 29, began to explore different vertical arrangements of culture, workplace and homes. They were simple but powerful, bringing to mind Archigram’s influential Plug-In City, H/B’s Gantry at Here East and Abeno Harukas, Osaka by Cesar Pelli, and even thoughts of a cross laminated timber version of the Pompidou Centre, with planted terraces and a rooftop park, like in one of the original’s early iterations. They also raised a question of whether parts of the Table Park and connected public spaces could be elevated a storey or so higher to accommodate vehicle, delivery and servicing infrastructure beneath them, and therefore more broadly across the scheme. H\B’s sloped pedestrian realm solution proposed for Clapham would address the level change, incidentally reviving and vindicating Claude Parent’s career-defining preoccupation with the Oblique. Vertical arrangements also offer possibilities for mixed use stacking: some parts of the site residences could be nearer ground level with offices above, vice versa elsewhere; cultural venues could be inserted within these at various levels, from basement to roof and anywhere in-between, within or without. Continue to Connect: Phase One’s East-West connection is logical, but subsequent phases will need to address permeability north-south, the difficult hinterland south of the West Cromwell Road and access via Cluny Gardens. The narrow bridge across the West London Line north of the Table that has appeared in previous drawings, would allow a more direct connection to the elbow of the Creative Boulevard, but does not seem to mitigate the sense of straddling a backwater. Evolve Green Architecture: The late architecture critic Charles Jencks was famous for his identification of architectural movements in the 20th century and in the early 21st, presenting them in the form of an evolutionary tree. According to him, Green Architecture had many versions and subsets, a few within Post Modernism: SITE, whose model of a Best showroom being subsumed by woodland can be seen at the V&A; Ralph Erskine who designed The Ark in Hammersmith with its terraces, bridges, hanging gardens and pergolas; Lucien Kroll who envisaged the hard surfaces of his buildings covered in ivies or Virginia creepers; Ken Yeang’s vertical ecologies, like Solaris. EC, with its Green-Tech Climate-Tech mission is uniquely positioned to continue and improve on this legacy with ideas that have emerged since: sustainable materials such as cross-laminated timber; zero to positive carbon, energy efficiency, closed loops, no waste, no toxicity in construction, operation and occupancy.

7. Do you have any other comments?

The public engagement by the ECDC and designers is of an exceptionally high standard and has encouraged suitably wide-ranging and spirited feedback from across the local community in a way that is civilised and fun to be part of. It functions at its best and is most useful as a collection of individuals expressing their concerns and offering their ideas for stakeholders and designers to interpret and inform the scheme. As pointed out by a couple of fellow members of the local community at April’s Masterplanning Workshop, local representation is limited and might not be representative. Agreed, but this will always be the case. The sum of collected opinions is an abstraction. It is unfinished, it always will be, and pieces will always be missing. It nonetheless amounts to something significant, meaningful and potentially useful. However, local community feedback presented in the form of ranking priorities, lists, tables and matrixes can be reductive, which is why nuanced discussions, like those at the Masterplanning Workshops need to continue, to inform solutions whereby contrasting viewpoints can co-exist happily at EC. Now that there is a good overall sense now of what the local community reaction to the draft is, as divided as it may be, perhaps consideration can also be given to the success of EC as a global destination, and the opinions of our neighbours around the world.

1a. What do you think about the new public spaces and the Table Park in our plans?

Happy

1b. Tell us more here.

Creating green space in the area is a great idea to support the environment as well as to improve the life quality in the area as there are no open parks in this area

2a. Do you agree with our proposal to prioritise public transport, walking and cycling over car ownership and access?

Satisfied

2b. Tell us why here.

Having cycle lines is crucial in today's times. It is an eco-friendly and healthy way of commuting which should be supported.

3a. What do you think about our plans to bring culture to the site?

Satisfied

3b. Tell us more here.

Culture is an important element in our life and should be enforced. Having interesting theatres and concert halls would be amazing.

4a. What do you think about our approach to bringing jobs and opportunities to Earl's Court?

Dissatisfied

4b. Tell us more here.

Principally, this is a good idea but it needs to be ensured that the wider earls court area stays a resedential living area and does not turn into an artificial office space

5a. What do you think about our proposed mix of homes (for sale, for rent, homes for students and older people) and community spaces?

Neutral

5b. Tell us more here.

Mixed societies is a welcoming idea but we need to ensure to attract the right people

6a. What do you think about the emerging architectural designs?

Unhappy

6c. Tell us more here.

I strongly dislike and disapprove the idea of high buildings in the area. It does not fit to the wider area of south Kensington, Chelsea and earls court. Especially the buildings close to Phil each gardens, eadley crescent and other residential streets should not be impacted by high buildings. The height of the buildings as well as the style should be akin to the Victorian style.

7. Do you have any other comments?

Developing the area is a great idea. But the area dedicated to parks and green space should be higher. Also as mentioned above we need to ensure that the style of the buildings is akin to area nearby (earls court, south Kensington and Chelsea). This means no high buildings. Buildings should be not higher than in the streets close to it, the style of the building should also be closer to the current style.

1a. What do you think about the new public spaces and the Table Park in our plans?

Neutral

1b. Tell us more here.

Too complicated and fragmented - focus on larger more open spaces which can be more versatile. Don't try to cram too much in

2a. Do you agree with our proposal to prioritise public transport, walking and cycling over car ownership and access?

Happy

2b. Tell us why here.

Of course, but you still have to think about delivery vehicles and how you deal with delivery bikes so that they don't swarm over the paved areas and intimidate pedestrians

3a. What do you think about our plans to bring culture to the site?

Happy

3b. Tell us more here.

Absolutely - as much as you can so that you can bring people into the area to prevent it becoming an unpleasant and dangerous windswept area as wind whistles through the gaps between towers

4a. What do you think about our approach to bringing jobs and opportunities to Earl's Court?

Happy

4b. Tell us more here.

No brainer. But ti ain't going to be easy - too many better locations in London. So focus on bringing in a large educational establishment (there are many who want to establish a London campus) and complement this with affordable student accomodation.

5a. What do you think about our proposed mix of homes (for sale, for rent, homes for students and older people) and community spaces?

Neutral

5b. Tell us more here.

Forget so called affordable (but not affordable) homes for sale. Focus on social housing for rent (40% of London market rent) 1 homes for key workers 2 homes for elderly 3 homes for students 4 homes for homeless

6a. What do you think about the emerging architectural designs?

Neutral

6b. Have we put the right uses in the right places across the site?

Not sure

6c. Tell us more here.

Mock ups just look like any other computer generated graphic of a new area -there is nothing distinctive that jumps out. Be more radical

7. Do you have any other comments?

Be revolutionary, don't be shy, go create a whole new place to live in London - one which is so different from anything else that planners and architects from around the world will want to come to visit.