The Royal Parks Foundation heralds in the New Year with a fanfare of Trumpets

Associated media

The newly installed Tiffany Drinking Fountain brings music to London’s Royal Parks to welcome in the New Year

The Royal Parks Foundation ceremoniously greets the arrival of a notable New Year in the British calendar, with the launch of the Tiffany Drinking Fountain, affectionately known as ‘Trumpet’.

The Trumpeters of the Life Guards help announce the installation of this new public drinking fountain, located in front of the magnificent backdrop of Kensington Palace in Kensington Gardens.

This drinking fountain has been made possible following a generous $1.25 million gift from The Tiffany & Co. Foundation to the Royal Parks Foundation (USA), a charity established to enable America to support the natural history and heritage of London’s Royal Parks. Fernanda Kellogg, Chair of the Board of The Tiffany & Co. Foundation commented:

‘We want to help conserve the natural heritage of London’s Royal Parks. 2012 will see a huge influx of visitors to London and we are delighted that through Tiffany – Across the Water, we’ve been able to enhance the Parks and provide free drinking water for so many of these visitors’.

This uniquely shaped drinking fountain is one of two British designs chosen from an international competition, to find ‘The Ultimate Drinking Fountain’ for London's eight Royal Parks. The panel of judges selected this design, by Ben Addy of Moxon Architects, because of its formal clarity and elegance.

The drinking fountain design competition is one element of Tiffany - Across the Water, which focuses on restoring water features across the capital’s eight Royal Parks. It was launched by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, in the summer of 2010. He commented:

‘For centuries water fountains have provided a cooling, civilizing presence to quell the heat of the city.  Today drinking fountains are at a record low, so this generous donation from The Tiffany & Co. Foundation is cracking news for some of London's most precious assets, the Royal Parks. I hope we create a great new icon to help make drinking fountains an everyday sight, providing refreshing gulps of water for parched people on the go.’ 

Alongside the installation of this unique public drinking fountain, Tiffany – Across the Water has also helped re-create a magnificent 20-feet-tall plume fountain in St James’s Park and will help restore the much-loved 19th-century Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens, as well as making improvements to historic drinking fountains to benefit the Royal Parks’ 37 million visitors each year.

Over the course of 2012, a number of these drinking fountains will be installed across London’s Royal Parks and will be available to buy for installation in other locations around the world. The Watering Holes drinking fountain by Robin Monotti and Mark Titman, also selected as a winner in the international design competition, has been installed in the Green Park and is due for completion by spring 2012.

Sara Lom, CEO of the Royal Parks Foundation, said:

‘2012 is a momentous year for Britain, for our capital city and for the Royal Parks, with the numerous sporting events and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee taking centre stage.  As the charity for London’s Royal Parks, we want to celebrate this special occasion and welcome in the New Year with a ceremonial flourish. Perfectly positioned in front of Kensington Palace the Tiffany Drinking Fountain will benefit the seven million visitors expected to visit Kensington Gardens in 2012.’

Visit www.SupportTheRoyalParks.org for further information about Tiffany - Across the Water.