In Conversation with Colander Associates
We spoke to Caroline Cole, founder of Colander Associates, who are managing our design competition.
CH: Firstly, can you tell us who are Colander Associates? What do you guys do?
Colander Associates are specialists in bringing people together to make amazing projects. Simply, we exist to help people with aspirations to build something special in a town or a city find the best design consultants for their projects.
CH: Can you tell us what drew you to the Camden Highline project?
We like to work on projects that add value, not just to our clients but to the communities in which the projects are located. We were drawn to the Camden Highline because it is a bottom up, community driven project that will bring huge benefits to local people and those who are working in the area, as well as to visitors who come to Camden and Kings Cross.
We also like the fact that the brief for the competition is out of the ordinary: we are looking to find a multi-disciplinary team, with landscape architects, engineers, architects, artists and other creative people, all coming together to create what we all hope will be an extraordinary and innovative design.
CH: Why should people be excited about the competition?
This is a once in a lifetime project for the design community. Yes, it is inspired by the High Line in New York but this is London, and there is an opportunity to create something truly unique for this amazing city — and where better to find such a project than in an area like Camden, that is already vibrant, eclectic and special.
CH: Why do you think it’s important that the Highline gets built?
Because of the ever-changing nature of cities — forgotten spaces get left behind as the world moves on, often creating derelict and neglected environments that detract from the urban experience. The wonderful thing about the Camden Highline is that it will take a redundant piece of the city and give it back to the people, as an accessible and shared space for all to enjoy.
As important though: one of the biggest lessons we have learnt from COVID-19 is just how precious public space is, particularly in inner cities where people often live in cramped conditions and have little or no access to outside spaces of their own. The Camden Highline will add an astonishing swathe of green public space across North London, and it will have the added advantage of being completely unique, as it is in the sky!
CH: Can you tell us about some other projects you have worked on?
As I said earlier, we like to work on different and special projects, and as a result, our work has been quite varied. At a macro scale, we helped the University of Cambridge find a number of different architects for their new urban extension to the city, and last year we worked with Lendlease finding an amazing team to help create their project for Smithfield Market in Birmingham.
Closer to home we ran an ideas competition with New Horizons Youth Centre in Camden, that challenged architects to propose innovative approaches to decent housing for homeless young people. We have even been involved with bridges: helping Wandsworth Council find designers for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge across the Thames between Battersea and Pimlico.
CH: Finally, what is your favourite outside public space and why?
That is a tricky question! I love the grandeur of the main square in Sienna, and the intimacy of Place des Vosges in Paris but, as a Londoner, I am drawn to the London parks, which never cease to amaze me. I walk a lot in London, and each park finds a way to respond to its history and surroundings, whether it is Green Park with its majestic avenues of plane trees, Lincolns Inn Fields with its formality and sobriety, Hampstead Heath with its wilderness, Crystal Palace with its dinosaurs, Regents Park with its rose gardens and concerts, each is special in its own way. I know that the Camden Highline will be yet another special addition to London’s park life.
CH: Thanks Caroline!
Entries to the design competition have now closed, so the jury will be working hard over the next month to announce the shortlists early in November. Sign up to our mailing list to stay in the loop with exciting updates. We can’t wait to share the designs with you!
You can also catch a short video interview with Caroline, filmed at our pocket park at Camden Gardens!
