New Watering Holes Drinking Fountain Gets the Lick of Approval from Dogs

The Royal Parks Foundation, the charity for London’s eight Royal Parks, has been onsulting with dogs to see how they react to a new fountain design, named Watering Holes, which has been created with support from the Tiffany & Co Foundation and caters for thirsty humans and canines alike.

Using a polystyrene mock-up, canine visitors and their owners were asked to test the first prototype. Following their feedback, the designers made a minor adjustment to enable dogs to drink from the fountain without fear or difficulty.

A shallow scoop has been carved into the lower watering hole, allowing dogs to lap with ease (as if from a bowl). At the final consultation with The Royal Parks’ fourlegged friends, the new design appears to be a huge hit.

Watering Holes is one of two British designs chosen in 2010 from an international design competition to find ‘The Ultimate Drinking Fountain’ for London's eight Royal Parks, launched by the Royal Parks Foundation and The Tiffany & Co. Foundation in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

As there is no off-the-shelf drinking fountain suitable for The Royal Parks Grade I listed landscapes, there was a need to find a simple, practical and aesthetically pleasing design that was functional for all users.

The first Watering Holes fountain will be installed in one of The Royal Parks later this year, alongside the other winning design Trumpet, by Ben Addy at Moxon Architects.

More fountains of each design will be added later. Sara Lom, Chief Executive of the Royal Parks Foundation comments;

“We are delighted to have the lick of approval from Royal Parks’ pooches. This new drinking fountain will benefit millions of visitors including runners, walkers, riders and cyclists, as well asdogs. We are hugely grateful to the Tiffany & Co. Foundation for their amazing $1.25 million grant which is enabling us to restore and renew water features across the 5,000 acres of The Royal Parks.”