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National Waterfront
Date: 2005
Landscape strategy
Client: NWM and Wilkinson Eyre architects
The landscape and planting design of this historic site was inspired by the reclaimed landscape associated with the local mining industry so characteristic of Swansea and its surroundings. The pleasure gardens built on the dunes, the original rail sidings and the copper and coal industry that helped Swansea prosper, are all reflected in the design and materials. The end result is a ‘journey’ that visitors’ travel along as they approach the new museum.
The National Waterfront Museum sits within open parkland, and a central courtyard comprising cobbled paths and a formal lawn provides the setting for the museum building and visitor amenities. The site itself was once the dockside marshalling yard and the original rail lines are ‘ghosted’ by flush concrete strips running through the landscape. A formal grid of specimen trees follows the orientation of these lines, providing a visual link between the park and the existing concrete amphitheatre to the west corner of the site. A raised three-tier water feature provides a striking visual and sculptural statement at the main entrance to the building. The local slate used to clad the walls of the museum has been used again to pave the main promenade and forecourt, reinforcing the visual connection between the building and its setting.
To complete the character and appearance of the museum grounds, indigenous planting using birch trees, dense swathes of heather and clipped beech columns combine to recreate the identity of the local landscape associated with Swansea’s industrial past.