Our site is Queens Circus, a roundabout at one of the main entrances into Battersea Park, at the junction of Prince of Wales Drive and Chelsea Bridge Road.

The centre of the roundabout is a raised grass covered mound (52 metres across and around 2 metres high) around this traffic teams day and night travelling to and from central London, public access onto the centre though not forbidden would be difficult.

In terms of traffic this is a busy place. In the mornings and evenings the site is approached by long queues of traffic hastening to and from central London. It is also a main entrance into the park for people on foot, this unfriendly junction is a barrier to accessing the park.

The surrounding structures that define this space, a petrol filling station, a Victorian railway viaduct, towering gas storage holders, together create an incoherence – leaving an impression of an insignificant place in a rundown area.

This area in the shadow of Battersea power Station is dominated by elevated railway lines creating a maze of tunnels and arches. For many this is a place passed through quickly in a car on the way to somewhere else. The platforms of Battersea Park Station overlook the site area, there appears to be a possibility of creating a second entrance toward the park -using this space.

The site and the surrounding area has come to be dominated by traffic. The experience of the environment for the pedestrian, for people going to work or out shopping, or for children going to and from school is that their world is dangerous, noisy and polluted -this site is part of that problem.

The site was created 150 years ago as part of the design of Battersea Park. Envisaged as a large formal open space at the junction of two key routes, similar to Regents park. The park and surrounding development replaced Battersea Fields, an area supplying fruit and vegetables to London and some of the best agricultural land in England.

Location