Hi, I’m Catherine!

I joined MSA in September after working in small practice in London for 9 months. I graduated from The University of Nottingham in 2019 and I am currently in the Advanced Practice atelier.

I think this project should be really exciting and I am looking forward to seeing this project develop with the new members of our team!

Day 2 – We split our team into two groups. One focused on site analysis of Platt Field market garden, the other focused on general interventions that could be applied to any site. Platt Field market gardens has a variety of ground surfaces that are not easily accessible, and with an organic layout. We have identified specific problem areas and have started sketching masterplan ideas to tackle these issues:

Lack of location markers, organic layout that is not clear to navigate, large expanses of ground growing beds without wheelchair accessible planters, thin paths that would be difficult with a wheelchair or walker.

Day 2 – We split our team into two groups. One focused on site analysis of Platt Field market garden, the other focused on precedent ideas of accessible planters and transferable interventions. These are some examples of the ideas we have brainstormed re-using materials available on site. Developing the ideas identified yesterday, we explored different solutions:

Wheelchair accessible planters, fold-down tables, vertical planting, handrails, movable tool storage, hanging planters, inclusive seating arrangements, roll out wheelchair mats, raised planter layouts.

And how these solutions could be made from recycled materials:

recycled brick, left over pallets, tyres, old filing cabinets, plastic trays, old doors, plastic and glass bottles, barrels, old furniture.

Day 3 – To get a better understanding of existing interventions we researched into more precedents: learning more about existing wheelchair planters and the best dimensions, different heights of planters for different ages and abilities, table-top planters with different planting depths for roots, planter layouts for easy access, and alternative path materials and temporary ramp interventions for adaptable sites. These have helped to develop our ideas for new interventions to be placed in Platt field market gardens and be able to transfer these designs to some of the other sites MUD works in.

Day 4 – Developing our concepts ideas, the accessible planter group created a series of concepts. We have taken inspiration from the precedents and the materials found on site to create ideas centred around making cheap accessible interventions. These are focused around four different styles of planter:

Fold-down options: planting table-tops, work-top, adaptable seats, tool rests, additional pull-out drawers.

Wheelchair accessible: table-top planters, tall planter layouts, curved indentations, seated planter options.

Stackable modular options: planter sculpture, varied levels of plants, different layouts, movable planters for different seasons.

Vertical options: movable hanging planters, trellis variations, handrail planters, movable planting dividers, climbing plant dividers.