Granary Square is part of King’s Cross, the largest urban redevelopment in Central London at the moment. Pears, cherries, tomatoes and other edibles are growing there, for the pleasure of the eyes, just a few yards away from Central Saint Martins’ creative powerhouse.
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Follow the map below and the numbered pictures to find your way. Garden delights from picture 6. Photos taken on Tuesday and Wednesday 10th and 11th June (click on the pictures to enlarge them).
Granary Square and its close surroundings, King’s Cross, London. 250×160 square meters area, Google Map accessed 22nd June 2014. Zoom in and out at http://goo.gl/maps/WDFXO .
1. Before going to the garden that is not a garden, let’s take a look at surroundings. A few meters away: Granary Square’s spray pools are very popular on sunny days.
2 Fluid traffic on the towpath. Regent’s Canal.
3. The Guardian’s headquarters. Kings Place building. seen from Regent’s Canal.
4. Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, seen from Regent’s Canal.
5. Back into Granary Square, towards our garden delights.
6. The garden delights place is in fact the terrace of a restaurant / bar.
7. And there is a second one next to it.
Plants and trees grow in containers.
Containers are smaller in the second restaurant. They contain only herbs, such as mint, dill, sage, rosemary, thyme.
Grain Store opened in 2013. Right: young fruit tree trained to grow in one plane (espalier).
Cranes are not far. King’s Cross redevelopment is in full gear around Granary Square and Central Saint Martins.
Three baby pears right in the middle of the picture.
Just one cherry.
Staked tomato vines…
… and green bean vines.
Advanced staking system…
… Bee gathering on thyme next to one of these cones made of woven willow.
When responding to a Central Saint Martins consultation for the design of its third floor private terrace in 2012, I suggested we should use containers on wheels…
… Mobile containers with fruit trees and bushes enabling to shape and decorate the space according to various needs. Read my article ‘Terrasse d’Eden’, 22nd November 2012 (in French).
And last but not least, today’s article was made possible thanks to a Central Saint Martins BA Graphic Design member of staff who kindly lent me his camera. No doubt that between 18th and 22nd June, dates of the 2014 second degree show of the college, some visitors enjoyed a refreshment at the garden-like terraces on Granary Square after a deep dive into the sometimes controversial but certainly thought-provoking outcomes of final year students’ bursting creativity. Image: screenshot 22nd June, source Central Saint Martins BA Graphic Design 2014 Degree Show website.
Les Jardins d'ici 