Landscape Design

Greystar place importance on the civic life of their places, knowing that a thriving, healthy community ensures the success of their build to rent model. If people feel they belong in a place, and have made connections with their neighbours, they will want to stay. The landscape at Greenford Quay helps to overcome the often-transient nature of build to rent developments by providing spaces that bring people together.

We responded to the intrinsic features of the site, such as the Grand Union Canal, and provided character areas across the masterplan, both set within the wider landscape and corresponding to the individual buildings that were planned for the site. To reflect the need of the build to rent community, our design process focused on making space for a crowd whilst allowing someone to feel comfortable when they are alone in that crowd. This approach caters to individuals passing through the community and those who are yet to form connections. It caters for small and medium groups and for the large crowds that are drawn to Greystar’s year-round events programme.

The site sloped from the north-east to the north-west and was full of buildings that were past their useful life. These were demolished and the rubble was used to level the whole site, a circular approach that diverted waste from landfill. This allowed for large buildings without the need for awkward internal levels, creating extensive mixed-use ground floors for the local community. From the first floor upwards, this allowed us to achieve simple floor plans, rationalised to enable effective modular construction.

A macro survey of the site informed our understanding of how the masterplan boundary sits in the wider context of Greenford, and beyond that, West London. This allowed us to create a sequence of breaks in the perimeter of the site, allowing communities to pass through the new neighbourhood.

We introduced a diagonal route, running from the southeast to the southwest encourages people to make their way from Greenford Road to Greenford Station on a walkable, traffic-free route with rich planting and stopping places. A new public square is situated along this route, with a series of water jets providing water play for families in the summer months. A new ecological corridor has been introduced along the towpath, creating new east to west connections for pedestrians and cyclists. This has been designed in collaboration with ecologists to preserve an existing bat population.

The stretch of the canal that passes through Greenford Quay is a designated Canalside Conservation Area due to its industrial importance. We worked with the Canal and Riverside Trust and the project engineers to deliver the first bridge across the canal in a generation, creating a new connection across the water. Integration of the flat bridge deck was achieved by raising the canal bank at the south side of the canal as part of the site levelling process. This level change enabled us to introduce amphitheatre seating stepping down to the canal edge, creating a venue for outdoor cinema and theatre performances. New moorings were integrated into the retaining wall of the canal, activating the waterside with its own residential community.