Could Hammersmith Gain a New York Style Highline?

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Competition winners' ideas include rooftop park, biodomes, aquarium and greenhouse

A disused railway line and viaduct in Hammersmith town centre could be transformed to create a New York style skyline, with a sustainable rooftop high urban park, biodomes, huge fishtanks with greehouse space above, an aquarium or even a swimming pool.

Those are some of the inspiring ideas produced by the winners of a competition run by Hammersmith BID and West London Link asking for ideas that rethink how the space could be used to make it an attraction for residents, employees and visitors.

The 300 metre long site, which sits between existing railway lines that run adjacent to King Street. It runs on a brick viaduct high above the bustle of Hammersmith’s streets, but it has become overgrown and fallen into disrepair.

The competition to transform the line was inspired by New York's famous High Line.

Following 200 expressions of interest, the Hammersmith Highline competition received 63 entries all brimming with different and innovative ideas.

The two winning entries are titled fish and chips and Hammersmith Hi-Line.

Hammersmith Hi-Line draws on Richard Jackson’s experience as a landscape and garden designer. His winning entry reimagines the area as a sustainable garden space including a promenade, stepped seating area and a boardwalk.

The winning features include:

The Hi-Line, New York: an elevated linear park using native American plants and showing the value of the green spaces in city spaces.
Future Food: a demonstration space for hydroponic food production with solar panel roof. 
The Hammersmith Hi-Line: a repurposing of a viaduct into a promenade with wild and natural planting close to the Lyric Theatre. 
The Biomes: glasshouses offering an all-weather public space, including a café, space for public use that would be home to Mediterranean and tropical plants.

The judges described the idea as "An ambitious proposal, with lots of interesting ideas regarding new ways of growing in an urban setting. Good educational value."

Architectural firm bauchplan came up with a concept called 'fish and chips: escape from the urban hustle-bustle'. Their idea reimagines the space with water and nature themes using green space and clever vegetation to limit noise and control the microclimate.

The winning features include:

A connected highline: bridge networks from Kings Mall for pedestrians, runners and cyclists. 
A liveable highline: a space for water-based activities, an urban field and an aquarium. 
The blue abyss: a series of large-scale fish tanks with greenhouse space above where activities can take place. 
An ecological highline: an ‘aquaponic system’ which collects water from nearby buildings and connects to the fish tanks and green houses.

The judges feedback said the design "offers many programming opportunities. Also, its sustainability element drew me in. The aquarium idea was also creative."

The judging panel included representatives from the New York Highline; the Royal College of Art; local tech firm chimni; Chartered Practice Architects; Medidata and Hammersmith BID.

The disused line as it is now

July 8, 2019