Award-winning Flowerbench blossoms on Thameside Walk

The dedication and hard work of the UK’s young architectural students and apprentice stonemasons was on show on Thursday 3 December when Nick Anstee, Lord Mayor of the City of London, unveiled the Flowerbench, the winning bench design in this year’s Architectural Student Award 2009.

The design by Priscilla Fernandes, a student at London Metropolitan University, was chosen last month by a panel of judges, including Christine Cohen OBE, Chairman of the Planning and Transportation Committee at the City of London Corporation; Adam Stone of leading stonemasonry company CWO; and Michael Poultney of Albion Stone Plc.

The Flowerbench design, which has now been brought to life on the capital’s Grant’s Quay along the Thames Riverside Walk by apprentice masons from CWO and Weymouth and York Colleges (sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Masons), impressed the judges with its organic and original seating form.

Consisting of a series of independent stone blocks, each with intricate carvings of flowers and plants reflecting those found along the Riverside Walk adjacent to London Bridge, the carved stone ‘flowerbeds’ form a curved bench offering views both of the public space and out towards the river and Tower Bridge. The innovative design of the bench even allows rainwater to run off in intricate patterns rather than collect in a pool.

The judges felt that the Flowerbench design best met all the criteria required by the competition, managing to reflect the natural beauty of the Riverside Walk, the organic beauty of the stone, and also the skill involved in artisan stonemasonry.

With the winning design chosen, four apprentice masons from CWO and three trainees from Weymouth and York Colleges, have transformed the initial paper design into a stone reality. Working alongside Priscilla, the apprentices have been given the opportunity to practise and develop their stonemasonry skills, as they bring the Flowerbench to life.

Seventeen-year-old Joe Hopkins has been training at CWO for the last 15 months and, like all CWO apprentices, is working towards an NVQ qualification at Weymouth College. “For me, the greatest challenge of this project is learning to work with the speed and accuracy needed to achieve an excellent quality end result.”

Sam Elgar, also 17 years old, is enjoying the opportunity that working on the Flowerbench has given him to focus on his carving skills. He is proud of his developing skill and craftsmanship. “I’m looking forward to showing the country that stone skills are not lost.”

Adam Stone, Technical Director at CWO, supervisor of the stonemasonry and one of the judges, said: ”The project reflects CWO’s commitment to providing ongoing training and apprenticeship opportunities. It represents the ideal training scenario, involving trainees across the board - from the winning student architect to the trainee draftsman and project manager to the apprentice masons themselves. All of the trainee masons are gaining invaluable experience from working on a high profile project, learning to respond to the pressure of not only having to produce excellent quality work, but also working to a tight timeframe.“

The Architectural Student Award was first launched in 2006 by the City of London Corporation, CWO and Albion Stone plc to encourage architecture students to come up with innovative design ideas, introducing them to designing with stone and, in addition, to provide an opportunity for selected apprentice masons to develop their stonemasonry skills. The location of the bench along the Riverside Walk furthers the work of the City of London in providing more accessible links between the riverside and the City, more ‘green spaces’ to enjoy the Thames, as well as encouraging the biodiversity of the City riverside.