Collaboration: Hogsmill Community Garden and Kingston School of Art

Stanley Picker Gallery are pleased to have introduced Kingston University BA Architecture to our neighbours at the Hogsmill Community Garden, and an exciting new collaboration is now underway.

Together with Head of Department of Architecture and Landscape Aoife Donnelly and the first year team, 90+ first year BA Architecture students are designing two new spaces for the garden – a sheltered work area and a children’s hideaway. Their designs are being made in response to a brief set by the student’s clients, garden representatives Julie Blythe and Alison Hood. Final proposals will be completed this summer, with tweaks, prototyping, and realisation due to take place in the next academic year, concluding with installation in Spring 2022.

This has been a valuable opportunity for the students to connect with each other and their community, and their own creativity during lockdown “working on this project… has been the best week of my life”!

BA Graphic Design students Cameron Aitken and Imogen Ashby have also stepped in to offer their skills, designing graphics for the project fundraising material, including the watercolour sketch at the header of this page. Cameron and Imogen visited the garden on their first day as residents of Middle Mill Halls and have been supporters ever since.

Fundraising

With the design and construction mapped, the Hogsmill Community Garden now need to raise money for materials. They write:

“We have a brilliant opportunity to get Kingston University Architecture students applying their skills on unique projects for us. This has been on our to do list for quite some time and is a really exciting opportunity.

But..We need to fund the materials to make the structures! At the moment, rain stops work and play because we have no sheltered space. Having a shelter means that we can continue to work at the potting table, and be a reliable venue for group activities. We love having children visiting and explore nature, and would like to create a special area they can call their own to learn, draw and play. We hope you can help – it’s an ambitious project but there’s one thing we know from our work at the garden – many hands make light work. We haven’t been this excited about a project since our fabulous composting toilet arrived in 2017! All donations, no matter how big or small, will help turn the drawings into reality.”

If you would like to support this project, please visit www.givey.com/hogsmillgarden_shelter_den

A Hogsmill Community Garden open day is planned for Saturday 29 May, and will include an exhibition of all the designs. For more information, please visit their Facebook page.

Share your thoughts on social media by tagging us on Instagram @stanleypicker or Twitter @pickergallery or by sending emails to stanleypickergallery@kingston.ac.uk