A high quality landscape
inspired by Garden City
principles
A high quality landscape
inspired by Garden City
principles
"Parks and gardens, orchards and woods, are being planted in the midst of the busy life of the people, so that they must be enjoyed in the fullest measure"
Ebenezer Howard
Ebenezer Howard thought people should live in places that combine the best aspects of both town and country. This has informed our landscape vision for the South Side development.
Responding to comments that have been raised through discussions with the Borough Council and consultation with the local community, we have made improvements to the outdoor amenity offer with increased public green space.
Under our revised proposals, The Weave, the central green space which runs
through the site, will be extended into the inner streets of the development. We have
taken the decision to reduce the number of parking spaces on the streets adjacent to
the Weave to accommodate this.
We have also added extended planting and grassed out areas between the blocks
with additional tree planting to soften the ends of the streets and created
opportunities for additional seating areas.
Below is the revised landscape masterplan.
The landscape masterplan has been inspired by six key objectives:
To establish a strong sense of
place which responds to the
industrial heritage context
To create beautiful and imaginative landscape spaces
To increase biodiversity
and sustainability
To establish a series of
connected and integrated
routes
To create a multifunctional
environment and high-quality
landscape setting
To deliver the social, recreational and cultural
facilities and services the
community needs
Public Space
With almost 2 acres of public open space, the South Side development is unlike any recent developments in Welwyn Garden City.
Inspired by central green of Welwyn Parkway, The Weave will serve as the spine of our landscape masterplan. It will form a green route connecting civic spaces at the heart of the development with wider residential areas and act as a multifunctional space with open grass areas, shrub and tree planting.
Under the 2021 proposals, The Weave was 7,482 sqm. Under our current proposals, the Weave is 7,839 square metres (almost 2 Acres), equivalent to the area of over 30 Tennis Courts, an increase of 357 sqm.
Residential
The streetscape will emphasise permeability through the site, encouraging people to use it as part of their daily lives. The streetscape will feature a range of planting and different tree types to characterise each street.
We recognise how important it is that residents have their own private outdoor amenity space. This is why each home will benefit from its own terrace, balcony or garden.
Our proposals also include communal podium and roof gardens for residents of each building to enjoy and will provide a variety of seating areas, raised beds for communal use and outdoor dining opportunities.
Play
The landscape masterplan has been designed so that it maximises opportunities for play for young people to exercise in a fun setting, promoting healthy living.
This includes formal and informal play areas, doorstep play areas.
We are proposing a formal adventure style play area at the heart of the development as well as informal and doorstep play, which is proposed within The Weave and podium gardens.
Planting
We are proposing a multi-layered landscape with a rich mosaic of planting types, which will provide significant uplift in vegetation and biodiversity across the site.
Our proposals include a range of ornamental and native tree and shrub planting, species rich grassland, hedgerows and climbers, and green and brown roofs.
