state of play
michael's sent another email to the head, suggesting that a few of us drop round to the school to show them what we've come up with so far, so this would seem to be a good moment to take stock of where we are.
complementary use of space:
our central idea is to find a way for the school to fully exploit their rooftop without depriving the children of their playground. therefore we are looking at structures/street furniture that are retractable or which leave the majority of the space free for the children to play in.
green space:
this area of london is horribly short of green space, leading to the idea of some form of roof garden. however, this might seem to get in the way of the kids using the roof to play football/kiss-chase, so we get to the idea of a retractable rooftop allotment (a hanging garden might also be feasible, but raises lots of issues about how it would be tended, what clearance would be necessary, planning issues, etc.).
retractable allotment:
our core idea. this ties together elements of vertical city farms, hydroponics (possibly), complementary usage, urban greenery, retractable structure (c.f. retractable seating but with fewer, deeper layers), as well as being a great learning resource for the school: e.g. each class has its own plot which they have to tend, teaching them about biology, the environment, diet, etc. in short, it's got everything. we need to do a bit of research into what plants/vegetables you can grow with very little head room - lettuce, carrots and cabbage being obvious examples.
enclosure:
supplementary to the rooftop allotment, it would be nice if we could make some form of enclosure for the roof, whether temporary or retractable, to clearly define it as a new space, rather than just an object in the same space. this would provide further benefit in terms of maximising this resource (the rooftop) by allowing it to be used in all weathers. for more details on this, see earlier blog titled 'enclosure'
feel free to add to this if I've missed anything
