Posts Tagged ‘Design inspiration’

Last week I showed some images of my visit to the Thames Barrier Park in London.  On the same day we also visited the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which is now, for the most part, open to the public so I thought I’d share some of the photos I took along the way.

I didn’t manage to get there when the Olympics were on so I missed out on the annual wild flower meadows.  Like the Thames Barrier Park, I felt we were a little late in the year as the perennial meadows had finished but the new planting near the Olympic Stadium was looking lovely still.

Some of the images I took are a little abstract as there were plenty of interesting textures and elements including drainage channels, railings and benches.  Amazing what you see when you’re looking through the lens of a camera…

These first two images were railings/barriers over a bridge.

And this floor detail I thought was interesting – you can see the slot drain in the middle but the other metal strip detail is, I assume, part of the structure of the bridge/to hold the resin bound surface in place.

Some of the furniture was lovely including these big lounger-style benches which almost doubled up as art.

And I noticed the attention to detail at the end of this simple bench a bit further along the river…

It’s details like these that elevate a normal bench to something a bit more classy!

The next photograph was taken from underneath the Aquatic Centre – such an amazing building, designed by Zaha Hadid

And the image below was taken of the tactile wooden and steel jigsaw wall (not sure what else to call it) – each square turns to reveal a black side which can be used to make shapes or spell words.

Some of the pathways were still closed off because they’re still doing some work to create the permanent park.  I took this image whilst we walked along the Leigh river – sometimes I felt really disorientated, I certainly didn’t expect Canary Wharf to be visible from where we were standing – it looks almost as though you could reach out and touch it!

And I’ll leave you with these two last images which were taken in one of the children’s playgrounds over the other side of the park.  The autumnal grasses looked just gorgeous!

Full details of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park can be found on their comprehensive website.

(Images: Lisa Cox)

It might seem a bit early to be talking about the Chelsea Flower Show, but the designers and exhibitors will by now be counting down the weeks and making sure everything’s in place ready for the build up.  By the time the show opens on 20th May, each garden will have been in the making for well over a year. Read more

We spent an inspiring few days in the Wye Valley this weekend.  We only decided mid-week that we were going so we struggled to find a cottage that was available to rent. Read more

I often find design inspiration when I’m out and about.  Noticing hard landscaping elements is definitely an occupational hazard and normally at some point when I’m away on holiday there’ll be something I just have to take a picture of for future reference. Read more