Northstowe Phase 1 Landscape Design

Gallagher estates jointly commissioned WSP landscape architects alongside other WSP professionals including highways engineers. This allows them to take advantage of a “One Stop Shopâ€ and gives them a single point of contact for multiple aspects of a complex planning and design process.  The masterplan includes a significant amount of open space within the development which is far higher than minimum requirements and the client wanted to ensure that this asset was not turned into a defect through poor design of the interface between the public and private realm.

Northstowe is a proposed new town of approximately 10,000 homes to the north-west of Cambridge. It aspires to be an exemplar and vibrant 21st century town enabling more sustainable lifestyle choices and patterns of living. WSP have been involved on the project since 2007. Outline planning permission for Phase 1 of the new town was granted in Spring 2014 and WSP landscape architects are currently involved in the detailed design of hard and soft landscape elements including: Greenways, Sports Pitches, Orchards and SUDs Ponds.

Design flair has led to creative solutions such as semi-private zones where housing fronts on to public space. A structured, ribbon-shaped landscape framework creates a hierarchy of open spaces with partial enclosure and articulation along primary frontages. Localised traffic calming is created by extending the hedgeline into the highway to physically and visually connect the soft landscape with the street.