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Dominic's Contortionist bike design
Royal College of Art MA graduate Dominic Hargreaves has designed an innovative full size folding bike.
The new graduate’s invention is called the Contortionist in reference to the way the full-sized aluminium frame collapses into the circumference of its wheels.
The design has already been shortlisted for the James Dyson Award for student designers, sponsored by the entrepreneur and inventor James Dyson. The design is only a prototype at the moment but has attracted considerable interest in the industry.
Dominic is also a graduate from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, where he undertook a BA in Product Design. The self-confessed bike fanatic admits to owning 14 bikes, although many of these are in pieces to help him discover how they work.
With cycling increasing in popularity it may not be long until we see these folding bikes being walked along London’s streets.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
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Imperial College London
A futuristic £1 million rooftop ‘greenhouse’ has been created at Imperial College London to allow scientists to grow large quantities of plants for experiments ranging from developing new sources of biofuels to helping sequence the tomato genome.
The new Imperial GroDome is the only rooftop facility of its kind in London. It provides plant scientists with over 200 square metres of temperature and light controlled growing space for a variety of plant species, allowing them to carry out large-scale plant experiments.
The GroDome is the part of a development project to support plant science research at Imperial, which has also seen the refurbishment of laboratories and the installation of controlled environment plant growth rooms for smaller plants, as well as imaging labs and mass spectrometry facilities.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
The Love London Green Festival will host hundreds of free events to help Londoners save the planet. The festival aims to make the city a greener, cleaner and healthier place to live.
The festival inspires local communities to get passionate about our planet with a variety of interesting and fun events. This year the festival will be based upon the themes of green places, green living and green innovations.
Many events will even show you how to save money by protecting the environment, whether it be growing your own vegetables or cancelling your gym membership and cycling to work.
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Greenwich Park will host the Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon events.
The London 2012 Games will be the Green Games. The Olympic Park is located in an area of untapped potential and sustainability is at the heart of all building and legacy plans. A 35-tonne recycling machine is already sifting and sorting 70,000 cubic metres of industrial and domestic rubbish from under the VeloPark and Olympic Village sites.
Elsewhere, the cleaning and clearing of the Park is already ahead of plan and so far more than 90 percent of demolition material has been recycled and new habitats have been created to relocate local wildlife displaced by building works. Hundreds of tonnes of materials have been reclaimed including lampposts, bricks and manhole covers that will all be used to create aesthetic and practical features for the Park including paths, benches, lighting and water features.
The green vision for the Games continues beyond 2012, when the area will be transformed into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.
To find our more visit www.london2012.com
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
New solar powered student accommodation is to be built near Wembley Stadium.
New solar powered student accommodation
The £25 million eco-friendly accommodation will offer 435 rooms and views of London’s famous football stadium.
The landmark building will be designed to the highest architectural standards. A wealth of facilities will also be built including a launderette, student gardens and extensive bicycle parking.
When completed in 2011, the building will join a growing number of contemporary student housing projects in London which include Nido’s King Cross towers. Nido residents have access to free wireless internet, 24/7 security and a variety of social events.
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Imperial College London
Imperial College London’s new £2 million geochemistry laboratories will help tackle climate change, combat pollution and develop a deeper understanding of Parkinson’s disease.
The Mass Spectrometry and Isotope Geochemistry (MAGIC) facilities boast a newly refurbished geochemistry laboratory, the latest equipment to analyse the chemical content of materials, and a large clean room facility.
Students using the new laboratories will investigate the chemical content of materials to further our understanding of humans, our environment, the Earth and the solar system.
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Cyclist in Canary Wharf
Londoners will soon be able to help themselves to one of 6,000 bikes at 400 locations across the capital.
A new cycle-hire scheme will be launched throughout London’s central zone and within the Royal Parks. The scheme is inspired by the successful ‘vélib’ programme in Paris, which led to a massive increase in cycling.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, also wants to create 12 major cycle routes into central London by 2010. In the long-term, the Mayor will aim to increase cycle journeys in London by 400 percent by 2025.
The Mayor is a champion of cycling and believes that “a cyclised city is a civilised city”. The new cycle hire scheme will herald a transport revolution with more people enjoying the benefits of the most sustainable, healthy and environmentally-friendly transport system in the capital.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
A cycling revolution is underway in the capital. As the world gets greener, Londoners are getting fitter by enjoying the sounds and sights of London on their bikes. Cycling in the city increased 83% in the last year.
Cyclehoop
(source: www.cyclehoop.com)
Architect student and cycle fanatic Tony Lau is at the heart of the revolution. The University College London and University of Westminster graduate has invented a bike stand called Cyclehoop which has been installed across the city to deter bike thieves and help cyclists keep their bikes safe.
Cyclehoop comprises two steel hoops that can be clamped to existing street furniture, such as signposts, in a matter of minutes. Using signposts as bike stands saves installation time and money as well as space on London’s busy streets.
Tony’s eye catching design has won awards too, including a WestFocus Bright Ideas award and a finalist position in HSBC’s Unipreneur awards, providing him with the capital and business support vital to ensure Cyclehoop is a success.
Tony is now working on a project to design indoor bike storage solutions for the New York office of Google. Google liked his design and, after coming joint first in their competition, he is now preparing to talk to Google and New York City Council about his solution to cycle parking inside buildings.
From the Tube to the London taxi, the capital is a city of travel icons and thanks to design graduates like Tony, travelling in London will continue to be an aesthetic pleasure.
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
The view from a Wetland Centre lookout
Visiting the London Wetland Centre, huddled in the bend of the River Thames, it is no surprise that around 30% of London is made up of parks and green spaces. This 42 hectare site is an urban oasis and home to some rare and beautiful wildlife.
The Centre was created by naturalist and artist, the late Sir Peter Scott, who set up the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and established nine centers across the UK. These centers, including the London Wetland Centre, create and restore wetland ecosystems and work to save threatened wildlife. They provide vital habitats for wildlife including swans, geese, ducks, flamingos, otters, beavers, water voles, dragonflies, frogs and rare plant life. The WWT plays a vital role researching the behaviour, health and populations of thousands of wetland species while its Species Conservation programmes focus on the most threatened species and on the threats they face from changes in land use, climate change and disease.
The London Wetland Centre is vast. It is one of the most extensive havens for birds and wildlife in Europe and walking around the different ponds takes a few hours. Each pond represents a different habitat teeming with ducks and other wildlife. The meandering paths between the ponds make it a peaceful and relaxing day of bird-watching. If you want to experience something different, the doors of the Centre open at 4am in spring so you can hear the dawn chorus, where resident birdsong competes with those of migrating birds. Specially built hides, or lookouts, have been built in strategic positions allowing you to get close to the birds.
The Centre is a great way to feel connected to the natural world only a short distance from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
“London is a city where different cultures and thoughts meet. Living in this city, I never feel bored.
