Crystal Palace Park, London Urban and landscape redevelopment with integration of historical relics and fixtures

After many years of decay and problematic development, the once famous park where Joseph Paxton rebuilt the Crystal Palace in 1854 is to be rebuilt. Before the palace burned down in 1936, this site was the world's first and largest amusement and recreation park.

It is now one of the most important projects for the regeneration of south London.
The masterplan incorporates the differently characterised parts of the park, and makes detailed proposals for the existing historic relics, for buildings such as the National Sports Centre, for the new entrance buildings and glasshouses, a museum, utilities etc. Integrated is an ecological water system built from different circuits, powered by gravity and solar energy, with a different aesthetic and acoustic expression in each part of the park.
Technical systems become aesthetic park elements.



The Master Plan
Central theme in the creation of the master plan for Crystal Palace Park is to retain the most fully preserved parts of the original park, while uncovering, working with and staging historic layers. The introduction of new layers of design, ecology and interpretation will continue the story of the site's always forward-looking development and adaptation. The aim is to envision a dynamic landscape, not to recreate Paxton's original park.

The Paxton Axis
The masterplan restores one of the most important park elements, Sir Joseph Paxton's great central axis that once connected the Glass Palace on the hill with Penge Gate at the lowest point of the park. Currently, key connections and sightlines are interrupted by wild growth and infrastructural fixtures, such as the entrance structure to the National Sports Centre.

The Italian Terraces
The former grandeur of the terraced grounds is reflected through restoration of the listed building structures and careful addition of new elements. Two glass houses, each at the end of the lower terrace, reflect the form of the former wing buildings. Together with the "tree palace" they characterize the formal part of the park. Two "sunken gardens" help to reinterpret the style and splendour of a bygone era.