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Liz Lake Associates Residential Design Team is at the forefront of public realm design for both residential and mixed-use schemes. We provide comprehensive landscape design services from preparing public realm strategy frameworks and concept sketches

through to preparing detailed construction drawings and monitoring implementation on site. Working as part of the professional design team, each project requires a unique approach that responds to our client’s initial brief; the proposed design of the adjacent built form and surrounding context in order to deliver meaningful & memorable spaces.

Our objective is quite simply to design people-friendly spaces that enrich the public realm. These spaces contribute towards creating aspirational places to live, thereby delivering an enhanced sales environment and increased sales values, whilst creating a long-term legacy for local communities. The following case studies past and present show what is possible when a client has the vision to look beyond the norm.

Liz Lake Associates Residential Design Team is at the forefront of public realm design for both residential and mixed-use schemes. We provide comprehensive landscape design services from preparing public realm strategy frameworks and concept sketches

through to preparing detailed construction drawings and monitoring implementation on site. Working as part of the professional design team, each project requires a unique approach that responds to our client’s initial brief; the proposed design of the adjacent built form and surrounding context in order to deliver meaningful & memorable spaces.

Our objective is quite simply to design people-friendly spaces that enrich the public realm. These spaces contribute towards creating aspirational places to live, thereby delivering an enhanced sales environment and increased sales values, whilst creating a long-term legacy for local communities. The following case studies past and present show what is possible when a client has the vision to look beyond the norm.

Liz Lake Associates offers the following expertise:

Landscape DesignUrban Design

Residential Landscape DesignLandscape PlanningLandscape and Visual Impact Assessment

Expert WitnessHeritage Landscapes

Ecological ConsultancyNature ConservationLandscape ManagementArboricultural advice

Public ConsultationSpecialist ConsultancyGraphic and 3D DesignTraining and Communication

An informal serpentine path meanders along the central axis of this linear space“ ”

Academy Central, BARKING, EAST LONDON

Client | Taylor Wimpey East London |

Location | Barking, East London |

Architect | Biscoe & Stanton |

Elliptical granite bench set within grass mounding

The view along the axis of the ‘spine landscape’

The view from an apartment balcony

Taylor Wimpey East London is building 936 houses and apartments on the former site of the University of East London. All 13 apartments buildings will have either a green or brown roofs and the public realm includes a number of innovative areas of public open space, including ’the spine’ landscape.

ApproachThis north-south aligned linear amenity space provides a green link from Mayesbrook Park to the south, into the heart of the development. The design has a harmonious fluid informality which can be seen as a piece of modern art when viewed from the upper floor balconies. The informality of the design contrasts with and complements the strong lines of the adjacent architecture. A serpentine path meanders along the central axis of the space. Open areas can be used for picnics and barbecues by residents, while sunken, more intimate spaces will provide communal meeting spaces suitable for quiet sitting on the low elliptical-shaped granite benches. Shallow grass mounding to the back of these meeting areas and elsewhere along the length of the spine will create raised lawns, thereby increasing opportunities for informal passive recreation and imaginative play. Swathes of wildflower grassland and indigenous species of trees and hedgerows will also help to promote biodiversity. OutcomeConstruction of the adjacent apartments has begun and the spine landscape will be laid out during 2013.

The urban courtyard at Capital Square won the What Housing Awards 2006

Gold Award for Best Landscape Design

“”

Client | Barratt Eastern Counties |

Location | Chelmsford, Essex |

Architect | PRP Architects |

Landscape Contractor | Oakview Landscapes |

Fountain Contractor | Miles Waterscapes Ltd |

Capital Square is a mixed-use development of 108 luxury apartments, retail units, and a day care nursery, built around two landscaped courtyards. A Section 106 Agreement with the planning permission required a water feature within a mixed-use urban square. The brief was to provide a calm space that would create a communal area for residents as well as appealing to the wider community. The square is overlooked by the balconies and winter gardens of the surrounding apartments.

ApproachThe western courtyard is a contemporary urban space with flanking rows of trees and seating overlooking the pavement fountains. The primary design objective was to create an exciting but safe fountain courtyard with hard landscape detailing that both resonates with and complements the surrounding architecture. The amorphous fountain splash zone is paved with silver grey granite setts which reflect the glass blocks in the adjacent winter gardens. The hardwood slatted and galvanised steel benches reflect the detailing of the surrounding balconies. The buff paving matches the adjacent rendered walls and anchors the relationship between the two. The fountain jets and trees are uplit, introducing a different dimension to the night time environment.

OutcomeThe BALI Award adjudicators described Capital Square as a “stunning urban courtyard”. The scheme is popular with residents and won our client a number of prestigious national housing sector/landscape awards, including the What Housing Awards 2006 Gold Award for Best Landscape Design.

Capital Square Fountain Courtyard, CHELMSFORD, ESSEX

Looking across the fountains towards the second courtyard

Uplighting the crystal water columns Night view of the fountain courtyard

“ ”Winner of the ‘Urban Green Space’ Category of the

Local Government News Street Design Awards 2007

Original sketch design by Liz Lake Associates Entrance gates The mop-headed trees provide a sense of enclosure from within the pocket park

Albany Gardens, THE HYTHE, COLCHESTER

Albany Garden is a residential scheme of 211 new town houses and apartments. The pocket park forms a focal point within the heart of the development. ApproachThe client brief was to design a calm and inclusive urban green space for passive recreation that would provide a communal garden for residents whilst appealing to the wider community. The curvilinear central path is part of a route that links the River Colne to the Distillery Pond Open Space. As such, the park provides an ‘island’ of green infrastructure, helping to integrate the development into the wider public realm within the Colne Harbour Redevelopment Area. The layout of the paths and seating areas; the repeated minimal palette of plant combinations; the species choice and arrangement of tree planting - all combine to create a sense of visual harmony and calm. OutcomeThe Albany Gardens Pock Park was the winner of the Silver Gilt Award for best landscape urban development in the 2005 Daily Express New Homes Award and was also the winner of the Urban Green Space Category of the Local Government News Street Design Awards in 2007. Articles on the park featured in the August 2007 edition of Local Government News and in the September 2006 edition of Green Places magazine which focused on urban parks.

Client | Barratt Eastern Counties |

Location | Colchester, Essex |

Architect | BDG Design (South) Ltd |

Landscape Contractor | Down to Earth Landscapes |

Commercial tenants cite the new garden as a major reason in their choice of location“ ”

National Extension College, PURBECK ROAD, CAMBRIDGE

When the National Extension College, an educational trust for distance learning, acquired new premises in Cambridge, it asked Liz Lake Associates to design a workplace garden on the site of a former stonemason’s yard. The brief was to create a garden for staff and visitors that responded to the site’s historic connection with stone carving. It was also to provide a setting for future sculptures that would be created in situ.

ApproachMuch of the original concrete hardstanding associated structures and machinery from the derelict stonemason’s yard were retained in situ. A series of axies were created as well as a new pool and water cascade which formed a focal point to the garden. The overall design has a playful theme with stone meteors; a pampass grass ‘sun’, a ‘floating’ boulder with central fountain and a spiral path. Our sustainable solution limited excavation, transportation and the dumping of large quantities of materials.

OutcomeThe garden is a great success and now forms the focal point for other office development on the site. Many of the tenants on the site are in design-related professions and some have said that the garden is a major reason for their choice of location.

Client | National Extension College |

Location | Cambridge |

Building design | RDA |

Sculptor | Cardozo Kindersley Workshop |

Project in 2000, just after completion Fountain pool with waterfall cascading into main pool

Retained stone saw (summer 2011)

The central pavement fountains provides an inclusive andattractive area for the residents and the public“ ”

The fountains are set within a raised star shaped cut granite plaza

Sketch aerial view of the fountain green showing the seven approach paths

The paths to the fountains cut through a gentle mounded landscape

Harlow Gateway, HARLOW, ESSEX

Our client Barratt North London already had a planning permission for 530 new houses when Liz Lake Associates was appointed to the consultant team. Our brief was to redesign the central public open-space area as part of a new uplift planning application for 750 dwellings.

BriefThe client brief was to design an inclusive, public open space, with pavement fountains and gentle mounds to provide a green oasis, where residents and the local community would want to spend time. The park forms the pedestrian hub of a new urban development which is located between Harlow town centre and the Railway Station. The design successfully helped to support an uplift planning application for an extra 190 new homes. The gentle grass mounds encourage passive rather than active use and in time the groups of trees will provide dappled shade.

OutcomeConstruction was completed in early 2009 and the park is now established and well used. The central seating area provides a place to relax and enjoy the fountains and is a popular local meeting place.

Client | Barratt North London |

Location | Harlow, Essex |

Architect | Grafik Architects |

The courtyard greatly enhanced the visual appeal& sales for the development as a whole“ ”

An early 3D concept design Stunning landscape lightning animates the space at night (photo taken during construction)

The cascade garden on completion in 2003

Ravens Lane Cascade Garden, BERKHAMSTED, HERTFORDSHIRE

Within the heart of a gated community of 43 private flats and apartments this urban garden was completed in 2003 and forms the focus of a steeply sloping parking court that is well overlooked by the surrounding upper story flats and apartments.

ApproachThe design responds positively to the steeply sloping nature of the courtyard by incorporating two intimate seating areas at different levels, one at either end of a stepped path that follows the linear water cascade which traverses the central axis of the space. Each seating area incorporates two curved timber benches which focus on a formal circular pool, each featuring a central fountain column. A clipped yew archway forms a gateway feature at the lower entrance into the space, whilst eight columnar yews form strong contrasting vertical elements flanking either side of the steps at the upper entrance.

OutcomeThe clipped curvilinear yew hedge provides enclosure whilst lending a sculptural quality to the space, creating an oasis that is visually separate from the cars that are parked within the surrounding courtyard. The cascade garden forms an intimate, contemplative communal garden that is well used by residents. The design is particularly striking when viewed from the first floor apartments and even more so at night when the landscape lighting further animates the space. An article on this space featured in the review of the year in the December 2003 edition of Landscape Design Magazine. The sales team on site commented that “the courtyard greatly enhanced the visual appeal & sales for the development as a whole”.

Client | Laing Homes, North Home Counties |

Location | Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire |

Architect | Robert Hutson Architects |

Landscape Contractor | Acer Landscapes |

A new urban garden in the heart of Basildon’s town centre“ ”

East Square in 1965 East Square is currently underused; lacks a focus and is dominated by poor quality concrete paving

The polished concrete walls around the inclined lawn planes are a direct response to the v-shaped support columns of Brooke House that dominate East Square

East Square Urban Garden, BASILDON, ESSEX

Liz Lake Associates was appointed to prepare a detailed Public Realm Appraisal and Strategy Report for Basildon Town Centre to help deliver a new vision for its public realm as part of the biggest regeneration project in the UK in 2012. The dramatically sunken plaza of East Square is located in the heart of the town centre and comprises a largely intact set piece design from the early 1960s. East Square was originally designed as an integral part of the concept for the imposing 14-storey residential block of Brooke House and the squares key features (steps, ramp, flint retaining wall and railings) comprise part of its Grade 2 listing. East Square currently lacks sufficient activity to be really animated; it lacks a focus and features poor quality paving and street furniture.

ApproachThe master plan proposals for the town centre replace the existing buildings on two sides of the square with a new cinema and shops. The square will be increased in size making space for the proposed urban garden, providing an oasis of green in the centre of the town, thereby respecting public consultation responses which have consistently called for more green space in the town centre. Recognising the importance of post-war design, the key themes for the proposals are to conserve and be sensitive to the setting of the existing heritage asset and to re-animate the original 60s vision, to transform the square into an exciting place for the 21st century. The proposed urban garden will be robustly designed, with inclined lawn planes, a border of scented planting and seating focusing on the central plaza pavement fountains. The detailing responds positively to the original features and context of the square. The proposed urban garden will break down the scale and hard expanse of the space whilst encouraging more intimate spaces and café culture to spill out onto the square.

OutcomeThe masterplan for Basildon town centre has been ratified by Basildon Town Council and regeneration work is scheduled to begin in 2013.

Client | Barratt Homes & Wilson Bowden |

Location | Basildon, Essex |

Planning Consultants | Barton Willmore |

Architect | CZWG |

A green gem within the local urban context“ ”

Balkerne Star Pocket Park, HENRY LAVER COURT, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Client | Barratt Eastern Counties |

Location | Colchester, Essex |

Architect | Stanley Bragg Architects |

Engineer | Mouchel Parkman |

Liz Lake Associates was commissioned by Barratt Eastern Counties to prepare detailed landscape proposals for a new urban development of 202 town houses and apartments at Balkerne Heights, located just outside the Roman wall of the historic core of Colchester. A condition of the outline planning permission was to create a “pocket park” as a high-quality focal point of the main square in the centre of the development.

ApproachThe central square is steeply sloping and the design intention was to work positively with this constraint to create a dynamic public space. Local artist Anne Schwegmann-Fielding was appointed with a brief to capture the Roman history of the area through the medium of mosaic. The concept for the Balkerne Star came from fragments of a mosaic pavement found nearby. The colour range for the mosaic chosen by the artist is very simple: sienna, yellow ochre, green, blue and mushroom. It echoes not only the planting palette but also the traditional Essex colours of the surrounding buildings. The mosaic forms a central focus for the space which is surrounded by seating and bay topiary hedging further reinforcing the Roman theme by association.

OutcomeThe result is an urban square with a tangible sense of place which was described by the Local Authority’s Town Planning Manager as a green gem within the local urban context. Although originally intended to be adopted by the Local Authority, the local residents group has taken over management responsibility for the space and it is often use for communal gatherings. There has been no vandalism of the space since its completion in 2006. In 2007 the Balkerne Star Pocket Park won the Silver Award for the Best Communal Garden in the Daily Express New Homes Garden Awards for our client, Barratt Eastern Counties. An article on this space featured in the October 2006 Landscape Design magazine.

The north-west gate Construction sectional elevations Looking north-west down the steps towards the mozaic and communal sitting area

In an increasingly fragmented society, facing the challenge of providing spaces that can strengthen social cohesion is a worthwhile aim

“”

The approach from Butt Road The north gate Looking west across the centre of the pocket park

Colchester Garrison, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Liz Lake Associates was commissioned to design the public realm for four key areas within the former Ministry of Defence Garrison Site in Colchester, which lies within a Conservation Area and includes the archaeological remains of Britain’s only Roman circus as well as the walls of a former abbey, both of which are scheduled ancient monuments.

ApproachLiz Lake Associates worked closely with the project team and the Local Authority and their consultants to achieve a diverse and interesting public realm, sensitive to the local context and the conservation and archaeological constraints of the sites. This pocket park follows the key design principles for successful pocket parks: The design style and choice of materials for the park and the built elements in the scheme complement each other in order to reinforce sense of place. The park forms a green ‘oasis’ as one of a number of open spaces, linked by high-quality public realm. Other spaces in the neighbourhood provide formal play and sports provision as well as semi-natural green space. The park has been designed to achieve a comfortable buffer from the surrounding homes, in the event of anti-social behaviour. The number of properties directly overlooking the park has been maximised both to provide an attractive outlook and to ensure adequate surveillance.

OutcomeAll four sites now have planning permission and have progressed to the next stage of development. This pocket park was built by Bovis Homes and completed in 2011

Client | Taylor Woodrow Developments Ltd |

Location | Colchester, Essex |

Architect | Peter Taylor Associates |

“ ”The axis through the development is aligned with the church in the distance

The spire of St Nicholas Church provided inspiration for the feature columns at the entrance to the pocket park

The feature gateway columns frame the axis which is aligned with the church spire in the distance

Side entrance to the pocket park

Church View Pocket Park, LAINDON, ESSEX

Liz Lake Associates prepared detailed landscape proposals for this centrally located pocket park which fulfils a role as part of a wider network of key public open spaces linked by footpaths and cycle ways in Laindon near Basildon in Essex.

ApproachLiz Lake Associates worked closely with the project architects to create a central vista through the development and the pocket park focusing on St Nicholas Church which is located prominently on a hilltop in the distance.

The spire of St Nicholas Church provided the inspiration for the detailing of the feature gateway columns which flank the main axial entrances into the pocket park.

OutcomeOur detailing of the feature gateway columns at the main entrances to the pocket park reflects the importance of the church in this view and has helped to create a distinct sense of place for this development. This public open space is well used and provides an attractive setting for the surrounding houses.

Client | Barratt Eastern Counties |

Location | Laindon, Essex |

Architect | Nigel Chapman Associates |

The fountain garden is a focal point for the development and won two gold national awards in 2010“ ”

Balls Park, HERTFORD, HERTFORDSHIRE

The Fountain Garden forms the centerpiece of a prestigious development of apartments set within the historic parkland at Balls Park in Hertfordshire (a former university campus). Balls Park Mansion is Grade 1 listed and the associated historic gardens and parkland are registered Grade 2. New apartments were developed looking inwards over the courtyards and outwards over the historic parkland. The client’s brief was to provide a high-quality fountain garden that would function as a communal space as well as providing an attractive leafy outlook from the adjacent apartments.

ApproachCar parking was arranged around the perimeter of the courtyard so that views from the apartments would overlook the cars and focus instead on the fountain gardens in the middle of the wider courtyard space. The small mop-headed trees and railings around the perimeter of the garden provide an attractive outlook from the apartments, whilst creating a perceived sense of enclosure when sitting within the space. The lighting installation has been designed to create an entirely different feel to this space at night whilst extending the hours that the garden can be enjoyed.

OutcomeThe fountains form the focal point of the main courtyard. They have been detailed in granite with a multi-tiered fountain in the upper bowl and with four bronze lion heads spouting water from the fountain bowl down into the lower pool. There is a lily-pad themed pond cover, finished in a verdigris green, which will in time match the patina of the lion-head water spouts and the copper lanterns which are suspended from the entrance archways. The fountains are surrounded by a paved seating area. There are four granite benches and the lower pool surround also provides seating opportunities. The fountain garden has been a great success and won a Gold Award for Best Communal Garden/Landscape as well as a Gold Award for the Best Garden Landscape Brownfield Development Daily Express New Home Gardens Awards 2010 for our client Explore Living.

Client | Explore Living |

Location | Hertford |

Landscape Contractor | Oakview Landscapes |

Fountain contractor | Miles Waterscapes Ltd |

A view from one of the surrounding apartments

Water spouts from four bronze lions heads into the lower pool

Close up of one of the bespoke artist designed lion heads and the water lily pod grille

A New Urban Garden in the heart of the development “ ”

Client | Bellway Homes Limited (Essex) |

Architect | RMA Architects |

Planning Consultants | Savills |

Engineers | Ardent Consulting Engineers |

CGI’s | Think BDW |

Marconi, CHELMSFORD, ESSEX

Bellway Homes (Essex) is building an exciting new mixed-use quarter in the heart of Chelmsford City Centre. A design-led scheme for 437 new apartments and houses as well as a range of flexible commercial uses are proposed on the derelict Marconi Site which was the world’s first purpose built radio factory and site of the first transatlantic radio transmission.

ApproachA broad framework for the public realm and the creation of spaces therein was defined by Chelmsford City Council and RMA Architects. Our role was to design a vibrant, legible and inclusive public realm creating a series of distinct spaces each with its own function and character. The proposed scheme will provide a new direct pedestrian and cycle route through the site which will link the train station to the south west to Anglia Ruskin University and New Street to the north east. This route delivers a key design objective in improving permeability in this part of the City Centre. A key element of the Landscape Strategy has been to ensure that this new link is clearly legible and the design solution has been to delineate the route with curvilinear lines of blue block paving with changes in direction at key movement nodes defined by radiating splashes of blue block paving. A new urban garden featuring Italian Cypress will form the principal communal amenity space in the heart of the development. A dynamic new triangular shaped piazza will provide a commercial focus for the scheme in the south western part of the site and will feature active commercial frontages and opportunities for tables and chairs to spill out onto the south facing side of the piazza.

OutcomeA full planning application was submitted in December 2012 and construction is due to commence during 2013.

Pleached trees in the Entrance Piazza on New Street, adjacent to the retained 1912 building

Commercial Square New Street trees on Marconi Road

2005 Category Winner for ‘Best Landscape Design’ – The Daily Telegraph – Your New Home Magazine Awards for Barratt Eastern Counties. Silver Gilt Award – Best Landscaped Urban Development category – Daily Express – New Homes Garden Awards for Barratt Eastern Counties.

2006 Gold Award winner for Best Landscape Design category – What House Awards for Barratt Eastern Counties. Category Winner for ‘Best Landscape Design’ – The Daily Telegraph – Your New Home Magazine Awards for Barratt Eastern Counties. Silver Gilt Award for Best Landscaped Urban Development – Daily Express – New Homes Garden Awards for Barratt Eastern Counties BALI National Award for mainly hard landscaping for Barratt Eastern Counties.

2007 Winner of the Urban Space category of the Local Government – News Street Design Awards for Barratt Eastern Counties. Silver Award for the Best Communal Garden – Daily Express – New Homes Garden Awards for Barratt Eastern Counties.

2008 Winner of the ‘Sense of Place’ category - Colchester 2020 & RIBA Architectural Awards for Mersea Homes

2010 Gold Award Winner for Best Communal Garden/Landscape – Daily Express – New Homes Garden Awards for Explore Living. Gold Award Winner for Best Garden Landscape – Brownfield Development – Daily Express – New Homes Garden Awards for Explore Living.

Awards we have won for our clients

Liz Lake Associates offers the following expertise:

Landscape Design

Urban Design

Residential Landscape Design

Landscape Planning

Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment

Expert Witness

Heritage Landscapes

Ecological Consultancy

Nature Conservation

Landscape Management

Arboricultural advice

Public Consultation

Graphic and 3D Design

Stansted Office:Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted MountfitchetEssex | United Kingdom | CM24 8AG

T: +44 (0)1279 647044 E: office@lizlake.com

Bristol Office:Kestrel Court | Harbour Road | PortisheadBristol | United Kingdom | BS20 7AN

T: +44 (0)1275 390425 E: office@lizlake.com

www.lizlake.com

Liz Lake Associates Ltd OS License Number AR189650.© Liz lake Associates 2013