'WELCOME TO TOLWORTH' PROJECT OVERVIEW

OMH
Apr 3, 2020
17 min read

In this blog I will be giving a final overview of the 'Welcome to Tolworth' project, breaking down the deliverables that the group and I have produced to answer the brief as well as giving my personal opinion throughout.

Understanding the brief

At the start of this project I felt as though it was a completely new creative path that I had never stepped on to. Working closely with a community based business to develop way finding in hope to increase the publics knowledge and interaction with the Heritage of Tolworth was interesting but also very daunting.

To develop my comfort for this brief it was important to get straight into deciphering the brief and what is meant by 'heritage' as well as developing my knowledge of Tolworth and our clients that we were going to be working with.

The Brief

'Incorporating research by the Geography students to propose way finding to maintain the heritage in Tolworth.'

This is how, as a group, we made sense of the brief, for me, it definitely helped to re think the original brief and break it down to a simple form as sometimes projects seem scary and off putting at a first glance as one hasn't developed a feeling or understanding for it at that point.

Heritage

'Features belonging to the culture of a specific group (includes buildings, language or traditions).'

As a group we soon realised we had a huge task of retaining a very good understanding of what the Tolworth heritage is and what it means to the residents and if it doesn't mean anything - What do they care about and what can we do to enhance their emotional attachment to Tolworth?

Tolworth

Tolworth is a borough of London, it sits just outside of Surbiton and Kingston. Known for the having the Tolworth Tower, which at a point in history, was a very exciting building that was a beacon of prosperity and a bright future for Tolworth. However, investment dried up and Tolworth became an irrelevant suburban town, now known for having a huge A Road that cuts straight through the Tolworth Broadway.

Personally, I had no idea where or what Tolworth was, I lived in Kingston at the time so that really showed how forgotten about the town is. However my knowledge of the area started to grown when we started visiting the area - I will be going into more detail regarding this in the 'research' section.

The Community Brain (please see The Community Brain blog)

The Community Brain, a charity initiative which works with residents in areas like Tolworth to develop a sense of community through social activities such as food markets, arts and crafts workshops and fundraisers. The Community Brain really helped to incorporate an idea of using design to not just bring benefits to Tolworth creatively but to utilise design to benefit the residents and to make sure whatever we do we do it to with them in mind - As a nicely designed sign post means nothing if the community do not want or care for it.

121Collective (please see the 121Collective blog)

121Collective who are a small business made up of young creative students, some from Kingston School of Arts, focus on the idea of using beautiful architectural design to bring communities and businesses together for bigger, greater outcomes that surpass monetary success. For me, having a client like this was extremely good as not only were they really approachable and enthusiastic they also followed a very similar business model to a company that I have worked closely with called SPUD (Space Place and Urban Development). Both having very similar business objectives I felt as though it was easy for me to understand their goals and what they wanted to see from us.

Having understood the meaning of the brief, heritage, what and where Tolworth is as well as the clients we will be working with, I still needed to have a far deeper knowledge of Tolworth as an area and the heritage that comes with it.

Research

Research came in two forms, one being primary research which is the research that we carried out ourselves and the other being secondary research that was research done by a third party such as the geography students research and the clients that would help us with information throughout the project.

Initial research

To start with, as a group, we went to Tolworth accompanied by The Community Brain who took us round Tolworth to areas such as the Broadway, the Nature Reserve, Future Farms and where the Toby Jugs pub used to be. This first visit set the tone for my first impressions of Tolworth - Arriving by train I was met with a soulless building which was entirely empty, it almost seemed like I got off at a deserted station as the walls were bare, the platform was lifeless and even once I left the building I was met with a huge noisy A Road which was rather unpleasant and to top it off there was a huge pile of rubbish running along the side of the road. This showed that first impressions really do matter as I felt very negative towards the area.

CREDIT - PATEL

CREDIT - PATEL

CREDIT - PATEL

CREDIT - PATEL

However walking around more we found a sign of hope which came in the form of the green route that The Community Brain had started to create in Tolworth. Although it wasn't exactly impressive, but nevertheless it was a positive and further exploration of Tolworth proved useful as we noticed many nature spots dotted in and around the area such as the Fishponds, Alexandra park and the Nature Reserve.

CREDIT - PATEL

CREDIT - PATEL

CREDIT - PATEL

CREDIT - PATEL

The Community Brain told us about the Toby Juggs pub, the Hollywood bowls, The Ace of Spades and the nature reserve while we were being shown around Tolworth, so we had an idea of what could be really interesting heritage sites

The Toby Juggs being an old pub which had an impressive couple of artists performing there such as David Bowie who performed his, now extremely iconic alter-ego 'Ziggy Stardust' in 1972 and Led Zeplin also performing there in 1969. This is an incredible piece of heritage that took me by surprise, but what surprised me even more is the fact that the Toby Jugs pub was demolished and is now a lump of rubble waiting for 500+ new houses to be developed on top of it.

CREDIT - PATEL

The Hollywood bowls bowling club was a point of interest when we were being taken around Tolworth as it was extremely popular, but due to the decline of Tolworth and the increase of congestion on the A Road that runs parallel to it's front door, business has never been the same since. In my opinion, the building was really unappealing and it was no surprise business had slowed down as it looked completely outdated having very little advertisement or new eye catching features that would bring in new customers. Furthermore, I knew in my mind I was not going to be focusing on this aspect of Tolworth.

The Ace of Spades Roadhouse was a restaurant that served food 24 hours a day and hosted events and having facilities such as a swimming pool, pool tables and a bar was a pioneer in the industry and was extremely exciting to the public in it's time which was around 1930. This again seemed like quite an interesting piece of history but it was lost in the history books and is now a kitchen and bathroom shop.

Finally, Tolworth Nature Reserve is a huge expanse of land that spreads from Kingston to Surbiton which also has the Hogsmill River running through it - Also having a great piece of history which is the painting 'Ophelia by John Everett Millais' that was painted in 1851 at the Hogsmill River. This was interesting as the painting is still existent and cemented in our history. As well as this the Nature Reserve is a place of natural beauty and is home to rare animals such as birds of prey and Marbled White butterflies. This was a great moral boost for me as nature is so important especially when Tolworth is constantly getting busier and more developed. However, the Nature Reserve seemed to be uncared for - The entrance sign being in a bush completely rotten away and having now other source of advertisement or signage, anyone would go past the entrance and think it led to no where.

CREDIT - PATEL

The theme of heritage being forgotten about and not preserved ran through the heart of Tolworth, even, I, having very little knowledge of the area and it's history the fact was clear that most of the crucial parts of heritage had been completely torn down physically and metaphorically.

So this led us on to more in depth research of Tolworth and its heritage.

Developed research

Visiting Tolworth (again)

Overall we went to Tolworth around 5 times. I believe this was very important for us to do so because we would get a greater understanding of what Tolworth was like day by day.

Natalie, Patel and Kawinna went to Tolworth to ask the local residents what they thought about Tolworth, what they thought regarding the heritage and what they would like to see in the area.

"(1) I don't really think about heritage you know, I mean its a mix of culture that lives here."

""(2) Well definitely not the Tolworth Tower."

"(3) Tolworth is too small to do anything like that, if they did I probably won't go."

As you can see from our responses, they were very unenthusiastic when it came to Tolworth and the heritage. The public did not have any real attachment or optimism regarding the history and I do not blame them. Through the loss of so many iconic sites, memories and buildings I believe the demolishing of the Toby Jugs pub and other sites alike, did more than just destroy a building, it destroyed peoples emotional attachment to the area.

This was backed up when asking the public what they do and why they are in Tolworth, many came back with the same answers along the lines of 'I just live here to commute into London' or 'I just work here then go back home'. This suggests that they do not care about Tolworth in the sense of looking after it because they are never there to simply enjoy what the area has to offer.

Natalie and I went to Tolworth again later on in the project which was a really good idea as, going by bus this time and getting off at Alexandra park (to start our to be route) we found out that Tolworth was a really nice place in certain areas, especially when avoiding the busy A Road and the Broadway. Walking round the quiet, idilic scenery that consisted of beautiful parks and quiet roads changed my option of Tolworth and I realised that there was a huge amount of potential that could be done regarding making a route revolving around nature and getting the public to explore this incredible side to Tolworth.

CREDIT - MINE

CREDIT - MINE

CREDIT - MINE

CREDIT - MINE

CREDIT - MINE

CREDIT - MINE

Geography student research

We decided to focus on the group who produced ' Hurrah for Heritage' as it had detailed historical research and content. They carried out great research and also found what the community consider to be heritage and what they want to preserve, suggesting 5 sites. However as I have mentioned previously, the one main point we took away from them was that Tolworth USED to have lots of fascinating heritage but now they're all torn down.

I think the Geography group that produced 'Hurrah for Heritage' did extremely well in delivering a huge amount of content on what Tolworth USED to have. This was a difficult point in the project as we knew we needed to use their research and suggestions as they had clearly invested a great amount of time into it and of course the brief told us to use the geography students research to help with our deliverables. However I strongly believed that we had to do something more drastic than to just follow their suggestions of the old heritage sites - Again, these are no longer the once iconic sites they used to, they are now corporate company building that offer no light onto what they once were, meaning we would be navigating the public to essentially a Pharmacy a kitchen/bathroom shop and a fenced off building site.

The lack of still standing heritage sites birthed the idea of needing to create a concept that revolves around bringing back old heritage that had been lost and forgotten.

Creative process

Initial concepts

Equipped with a far better knowledge of the project including Tolworth and its research I started to come up with ideas that connected the elements of bringing back the lost heritage, starting to create new heritage and the use of nature - As the Nature Reserve and surrounding parks were by far my favourite element that Tolworth had to offer.

Green route application (see 'initial application' blog)

As soon as this part of the project started I instantly came up with an idea of creating an application that would navigate the user to and from a destination by directing them through the least polluted, greenest way possible. After visiting Tolworth I could vividly remember the huge A Road that runs straight through the heart of Tolworth which is extremely busy, noisy and congested which is an eye sore, ear sore and creates high amounts of air pollution which damages the planet as well as the publics mental and physical health. This application would hope to answer this problem but it would also act as an incentive for people to stay in Tolworth for longer and explore the nice areas that it has to offer. As our research suggested that a lot of the public in Tolworth leave or go through Tolworth to get somewhere else, so having an application that didn't focus on the amount of time it takes to get to the destination, but in fact focusing on the experience you attain from taking the nicest route possible, could see people spend more time in the area, which is a benefit for Tolworth overall.

Due to it being an application that people would use it could also have the ability to become a social platform which could have benefits such as:

A community page to host conversations and to share thoughts and events.
Notifications to let users know if there is a sale or offer at a shop in the Broadway.
Sharing news and updates on council/development projects.
Groups in the community such as nature enthusiasts could use it to share pictures of wildlife or letting each other know a certain animal has been seen in and around Tolworth.

This concept was strong and my group got behind it however we felt, referring to the research, the the audience who would download the application would not be big enough resulting in most people not using or being aware of it. This is because a lot of the demographic in Tolworth are commuters so with this in mind the application idea stopped. However the idea of navigating the public around places of natural beauty and in fact using nature as way finding remained and created the foundations of which we built our project around.

CREDIT - MINE

CREDIT - MINE

SPUD collaboration (see SPUD collaboration blog)

As mentioned previously I have really good links personally with SPUD (Space Place and Urban Development) which is a charitable organisation that, just like 121Collective, revolve around using architectural design, educational programmes, workshops and fundraising the creations of social spaces in the hope to better society.

Again, as soon as I realised the potential of the Tolworth Nature Reserve and our main objective to create new heritage by building from the old I was set on collaborating with SPUD to bring The Observatory to the Nature Reserve. The Observatory being an award winning pair of small structures that act as an observatory for nature lovers, a place for artists to reside, a social hub and an educational system for local schools - I knew I had to get this involved with our project.

For me this was a no brainer as the benefits speak for themselves. The Observatory came to my local town in the New Forest a few years ago and they are such an attraction to the public it is incredible, they draw people of all ages to them as they are so interesting to look at. As well as this I took part in the education workshops that SPUD host and I spent hours drawing and creating inside them, which believe it or not was very rare for me to do as at that point in life as I was not as creative as I am today but because my good friend (the connection to SPUD) worked for Mark (the founder of SPUD) I was inclined to go and I am truly glad I did.

Although the process of getting The Observatory to Tolworth requires investment in both time and money, the benefits outweigh those costs. The ability for The Observatory to bring people to an area so easily is exactly what the Nature Reserve needs. Although it is beautiful, it is quiet and has been forgotten about so bringing these small structures to the Reserve would bring a new lease of life that would see not just nature lovers, but schools, artists and curious members of the public coming to visit. Even though The Observatory is a temporary structure, the legacy of it will live on through the artwork created by the artists that would take residency there. Furthermore because the structures will bring people back to the Nature Reserve, I would hope that this would reignite the love for the nature in Tolworth resulting in the community using it more and taking more care of these green areas. This is exactly what I mean by 'building on the old, forgotten heritage and creating new heritage through nature and creativity'.

I believe both of my initial ideas were very strong and set my group onto a project that had a great identity, narrative and huge room for development.

CREDIT - NATALIE

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

Developing these ideas

Deciding the key features of our route

Our idea to navigate the public using nature and creativity was in good shape however we had to make sure the sites on our route were just as good. We knew we wanted to include as much natural green space as possible such as the Nature Reserve, The Fishpond, Alexander park, Six Acre Meadow, Hogsmill Open Space and Tolworth Recreation Centre but it was crucial we included facilities that were of interest to the community.

The train station is obviously a very important aspect to any location as it is the first entrance point for visitors when coming in to Tolworth. This was of great interest to us as, as I mentioned previously, the train station needs a lot of development so including it on our new green route could be a turning point for it.

The CornerHouse is a community run creative space which hosts many workshops and local residents are extremely fond of it. This was a great addition to our route as it is really popular with the locals but it also helps us to support a creative centre which adds depth to our 'nature and creativity' ethos.

The Subways that runs underneath the A Roads and connects Tolworth together through these underground tunnels are of great important to the town. Furthermore the start of the green route created by The Community Brain runs through it so it makes perfect sense to combine our vision and create a beautiful flowing route that will be so useful for the public.

Farm of Futures was also a perfect feature for the route as it is The Community Brain's and 121Collective's own project which consists of a large allotment that is home to many vegetables and Bees when in season. As well as this they both host great workshops and social events so having this on the route is brilliant as it benefits the community and spreads awareness for our clients as well.

With our points of interest decided it was time to develop our way finding.

CREDIT - PATEL

Biophilic design (see biophilic design blogs)

It was important to make sure our way finding was useful for the public - Will they notice it? Can they tell if they're on the right path? But to also bring the benefits of nature that I felt so strongly about from the very beginning. The advantages of using aspects of nature to way find are huge such as helping to absorb carbon emissions that are so dangerous to our health and to our planet. Natural way finding can also benefit humans mentally as research shows being surrounded by natural elements help with stress, anxiety and enhance creativity and happiness.

For me this was an incredible way of guiding the public round Tolworth and to our points of interests as they will be benefiting from the journey - The walk to the location will be just as beneficial and enjoyable as where they are going to.

I wanted to specifically use moss panelling, wildflower meadows and wall climbing plants to be used as way finding features to guide the public along the route as they are extremely adaptable, beautiful and can be applied on a small or high financial budget.

Artwork throughout

As said previously in The Observatory section, we would love artists to reside in The Observatory to create artwork of the surrounding area. This would create beautiful pieces of art that showcase Tolworth's Nature Reserve to the public I believe this would also feed into the idea of creating new heritage from the old and invite new talented artists to visit the Nature Reserve and Tolworth as a whole in hope to find inspiration.

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

Murals

We believed it was important to remember the heritage that had been lost. As mentioned before, the Toby Jugs pub was such a strong part of Tolworth's history and it is such a shame it was demolished. So as a group we decided to create a mural that remembered the great artists that performed there.

The style of which the mural is done is really impressive, designed by Kawinna, she did a great job in creating a visual that is clear and bright. She also incorporated the moss panelling to go with the mural which again helps with air pollution and keeps the continuity of our concept going. Kawinna also introduced the copper coloured railing into her design - Which came in later and I will go into more detail about this. Kawinna also created 3 murals for the subway showing the wildlife that can be found in the Tolworth Nature Reserve such as the Roe Deer, Fox and Linnet Bird which pushes our nature and creativity ethos even further.

CREDIT - KAWINAA

CREDIT - KAWINAA

CREDIT - KAWINAA

CREDIT - KAWINAA

Patel also created a mural for the train station that illustrates the nature found in Tolworth. The mural is a landscape drawing of a beautiful forest with wildlife and The Observatory nestled in-between the trees. What is really clever is the wildlife and The Observatory are in the colour of the copper that would become another huge part of our project. We wanted it to be at the train station because as I said before, it is the first point where visitors or residents see when they come to Tolworth.

CREDIT - PATEL

'Same routes, new ideas' (please see 'Same routes, new ideas' blogs)

To round up our entire project I really wanted to create a logo and slogan which told the story of our concept quickly and effectively. This is when I came up with the slogan 'Same routes, new ideas.' which touches on the idea of creating new heritage from the old and forgotten.

I then came up with a logo that was a 'T' that looked like a tree. I believe this worked really well as it encompasses nature and creativity. After further development of this idea, I soon realised that the 'T' could also work for the signage as we had way finding features in the form of biophilic design and murals, but no signage, so this was a perfect solution.

I really wanted to use copper as the material as it goes so nicely with the green of nature and almost looks like a tree trunk in a more aesthetically pleasing way.

As soon as I mentioned this idea, the group loved it, especially Natalie as she is a real hands on creative and instantly wanted to have a go at making it, so we decided she could develop it and she did really well with both finding more information on the use of copper - Which unfortunately isn't as doable as I first thought due to it being extremely expensive, but Natalie found a great alternative in the form of coloured aluminium (suggested by 121Collective) and delivered excellent visuals of the tree inspired copper signage.

I was very pleased that my idea was so well liked with the group and it became the project title. Looking back I wish I developed the logo more and created it in a 3D format however time was precious.

CREDIT - MINE

CREDIT - MINE

Conclusion

In conclusion 'Welcome to Tolworth' was an extremely broadening project which, at first, seemed quite daunting and somewhat uninspiring. This was due to the initial briefing and first visit of Tolworth, however breaking down the brief and developing a great understanding of Tolworth, the heritage and what needed to be delivered completely changed my opinion of the brief.

Areas such as the the research stage and finding out many of the most interesting pieces of history of Tolworth are now non existent was demoralising however the initial ideas of the project such as the application and the collaboration with SPUD to bring The Observatory to Tolworth soon sparked my motivation.

Working with Natalie, Patel and Kawinna was really advantagous. I think we worked extremely efficiently together as we all had great roles to play in this team. Sometimes I am extremely broad, far fetched but also vague at the same time which can make my ideas less believable or actually doable, but the three girls really helped to keep my ideas and the project on the straight and narrow. For example re writing the brief was extremely helpful for me and gave us all clarity throughout the project. Furthermore, going to Tolworth lots of times was definitely a group effort as sometimes I can be inclined to not even go to university let alone another town, so having these very focused girls really helped me to keep up with the pace of the project.

Overall I am extremely happy with 'Same routes, new ideas.' I believe it is a very strong project that consists of an even stronger ethos of remembering the old heritage that was once there and building up from it and create new and exciting heritage through nature and creativity, in the hope the residents of Tolworth can buy into it, invest their time into it and feel proud about their area and the heritage they are now and will be a part of.