Diary 4

Kia ora koutou

The sun was shining again in Wellington today for the last day of Memorial Park 3. I sure hope you have enjoyed being part of this project of national significance. And I hope also that you are able to join us in March for the fourth and final field trip in this series, where you will see the completed Memorial Park.

Audioconferences

You began the day with the final two field trip audioconferences. Rosebank School asked questions once again and first time speaking school St Bernadette's (Naenae) closed out our audioconferences for the week. Audioconference Recordings is where you go to listen again. Thanks to Russell Scoones and Michelle Knapstein for answering the questions.

Park vision

After the audioconferences you chatted with Russell Scoones about how the park will look when it is finished, and some of the features that are currently under construction. You had a look at an artist’s impression of the finished product in the Memorial Park Alliance information centre. Visit Park Designs & Development for more images to give you an idea of what Memorial Park will look like when it is finished.

Landscaping with hard materials

When you think of landscaping you may think of plants. Plants will be a large feature of the finished Memorial Park but so too is how the park will be shaped. Like the Arras Tunnel, a lot of concrete is being used to create terraces which are a key design feature of the park. You saw some of the huge concrete panels being manoeuvred into position when Russell took you onto the work site.

Also very interesting was watching the paving being laid down in front of the Carillon, another example of the use of concrete. It was impressive watching the team of pavers at work. Those of you who are keen on geometry will certainly appreciate their handiwork! Take a look at Panoramas for a wider view of the paving in action.

Tree pits

After some lunch, you met up again with Michelle Knapstein. Michelle has worked a lot with the drainage and irrigation side of Memorial Park’s design. You saw what is known as a tree pit. This is basically where trees are planted, but there is special plastic casing that surrounds each tree to make sure its roots don’t damage the surrounding paving, or that the paving doesn’t sag over time. There is also an extensive network of irrigation throughout many of these gardens to ensure the plants don’t dry out.

Rain gardens

Michelle also showed you some gardens that irrigate themselves. These are called rain gardens. The ground next to these gardens is designed so that water will flow into them when it rains. Furthermore, the particular make-up of soil helps to trap unwanted particles in the water, so that water flowing out in the storm water system is not contaminated. It is really neat to see such clever designs that help protect the environment as well. Check out the video.

See you next time!

Be sure to join us again for the fourth Memorial Park field trip in March 2015. You will see the finished Memorial Park and be part of the build up to Anzac Day 2015. I hope you can be there!

Ka kite anō

Andrew