HTA Design has worked closely with the London Wildlife Trust and their volunteers to create a beautiful, planted wildflower garden overlooking the terraces of their new learning and events centre at Camley Street in Camden, which opened this year.
Camley Street Nature Reserve provides a tranquil green oasis just a short distance from the Coal Drops Yard at Kings Cross. Having collaborated with the London Wildlife Trust on a number of projects, HTA was asked by the LWT to help them create a biodiverse habitat mosaic that was both in keeping with their ethos and also provided an attractive setting for their new centre and events. Our concept was that of nature reclaiming a post-industrial landscape, with drought-tolerant wildflowers and heathland vegetation emerging out of a mix of substrates ranging from demolition rubble, sands and low nutrient soils. We wanted to start the process and let nature take over.
Volunteers installed the garden with help from the LWT, HTA and Willerby Landscape. The volunteers worked valiantly, plug planting, carting soil, carefully manoeuvring large trees by hand up steep slopes and laboriously digging tree pits into the rubble-filled, heavily compacted bank to create this new wildlife area.
Camley Street is a truly exceptional place, and we greatly enjoyed being involved with this special project and working with so many enthusiastic and dedicated people.