RHS Garden Hyde Hall – water champions!

Being located in one of the driest areas of the UK, RHS Garden Hyde Hall, near Chelmsford in Essex champions water efficiency, and with this in mind the new car park conceals some interesting design features that make it more environmentally friendly than your average car park.

The clever design of the car park makes good use of the undulating landscape by incorporating swales and terracing thus maximising the recycling of surface rain water as well as providing an aesthetically pleasing landscaped area.

Swales (water drainage ditches) which eliminate the need for extensive underground drainage systems, provide a low-cost, low-maintenance way of harvesting rain water. They also encourage slow water run off which aids the removal of pollutants and allows more water to be retained by the surrounding soil and plants. Similar swales will also run alongside the new approach road to the garden to replicate a traditional English landscape with swathes of grasses and far-reaching views.

The new approach road and car park also makes good use of materials by using recycled concrete aggregate from crushed construction or demolition debris which is ideal as a base layer for roads. Tarmac has only been used where essential. The car park will accommodate 400 cars and five coaches, with provision for future expansion.

Alongside the car park, the new garden entrance building also incorporates a number of water and energy efficient features such as rain water harvesting a ground source heat pump to warm the building.

Harvested water from both the swales and the building will be discharged to the garden’s 45-million litre (10 million gallon) reservoir. The reservoir was built with the financial assistance of Essex & Suffolk Water to provide the garden with all its irrigation needs and reduce the garden’s reliance on mains supply in an area with low rainfall.

The whole area will be complemented by planting of trees such as Alnus, Acer, Carpinus, Sorbus and Pyrus chanticleer to add interest, height and structure.

Development of the new approach road, car park and garden entrance building is part of the Society’s long term master planning which has been overseen by consultants ‘The Landscape Agency’. The Landscape Agency has developed a holistic approach to large scale changes to this remarkable Essex garden in a way that will enhance the visitor experience and make the most of Hyde Hall’s 360-acre estate.

Through its gardens, the RHS has the opportunity to inspire and inform visitors about the development of sustainable gardening, and highlight the challenges that face gardeners in a rapidly changing environment.

written by David Alexander, Director RHS Estates

Press Coverage 2009

Click here to read 'Vista' feature on The Landscape Agency's plans for RHS: Harlow Carr Learning Centre published March 2009.

March 2009 Update

We have just re-launched our new website, setting out the various sectors we cover. In future we will summarise news from the teams working on each of the sectors:

Heritage and Leisure
Work continues with the Royal Horticultural Society at Harlow Carr in Harrogate and Hyde Hall, Essex. At Harlow Carr, we are in the closing stages of preparing our designs for the setting to a new Learning Centre, set for construction during 2009/10. The building and its setting are on course to achieve the highest BREEAM rating ever recorded in the UK.

We continue to advise the Grosvenor Estate in connection with its portfolio of garden squares in London’s Belgravia including Chester Square, Belgrave Square and Eaton Square reviewing the current condition of the gardens, assessing recent projects, and discussing ongoing maintenance against the plans in order to work up an updated series of proposals and idea, as well as provide a fresh perspective.

We have just learned that we have been commissioned by EcoArc architects to design the landscape around a proposed new visitor centre at Abberton Reservoir, Essex. An extremely exciting commission for the practice.

We have been working closely with Cheltenham Borough Council since December 2006, when we were initially commissioned to prepare a Conservation Management Plan and Masterplan for a HLF Parks for People bid to restore and develop Pittville Park, a Grade II listed urban park in the heart of this historic and fashionable spa town. In anticipation of a HLF Stage 1 Pass, we are now tendering for the appointment of a lead consultant to deliver and supervise works involved in a Stage 2 application up to RIBA Stage E.

We continue our work in preparing Conservation Management Plans for the National Trust at Hatchlands (Surrey) and Nymans Garden (East Sussex).

At Barham Park, London Borough of Brent we have prepared a Masterplan for this popular and well-maintained park close to the new Wembley Stadium which has retained much of its Victorian character. We have now been commissioned to assist in the preparation and submission of an HLF application.

Royal Parks - Older People's Play Working for the Royal Parks, for whom we have undertaken several other projects under a four-year framework agreement, we have now been commissioned to conduct a feasibility study into the creation of a play area for 'older people'; ‘older’ being defined in this context as anyone over the age of 50!

Closer to home we are delighted to have been recommended to the Churches Conservation Trust to work up a Management Plan for the magnificent Grade 1 listed Christ the Consoler church, set within the grounds of Newby Hall, near Ripon. The Trust cares for 340 churches of historic importance throughout England which have become redundant but merit preservation. The churchyard of Christ the Consoler appears to have been to a planned design with weeping beech trees set originally at each corner of the churchyard. The Trust is commissioning a survey and report to ensure that the churchyard and its planting is preserved for future generations.

Estates and Gardens
Newcastle-based architects, Reid Jubb Brown, have commissioned the practice to masterplan the landscape around a visually striking new country house designed by Reid Jubb Brown on a private estate near Rothbury, Northumberland.

Planning permission is currently being sought from Alnwick District Council under planning clause PPS7, which permits new design in rural areas as long as it is of exceptional and innovative design. Patrick James of the Landscape Agency is well-placed to oversee this commission as he acted as Expert Witness three years ago at a landmark Public Inquiry, successfully arguing in favour of a new country house at Lowther Park near Penrith, and just within the Lake District National Park. The Landscape Agency’s brief is to present a landscape strategy for the wider historic estate, a Masterplan to convey the setting of the house within the landscape and demonstrate how the proposed new building would enhance the existing landscape.

Please Click Here to see a local newspaper feature about this project.


Environmental Planning
Our team of qualified ecologists are increasingly being asked to carry out ecological surveys to assist developers in attaining highest possible BREEAM ratings for their developments. BREEAM is a voluntary code for measuring the ‘green-ness’ of construction projects, taking into account a wide range of factors such as energy, materials, landscape planting and ecological habitat. There are various BREEAM systems covering different categories of buildings such as schools, offices, sustainable homes and residential sites. We have recently been commissioned to carry out such an ecological assessment for a residential development on Hagley Road, Edgbaston on behalf of Shaylor Developments.

Elsewhere, we are undertaking an assessment of gorse along the highway corridor of the M2 in Kent with the aim of identifying fire control management requirements.

Tree and Woodland
Work continues on major woodland operations on projects at the Nyn Park estate in Hertfordshire, Melbourne Hall, and the Wootton Estate, both in Derbyshire.

Graphic and Web Design
Since completion of the company’s glossy new brochure and fully interactive e-Christmas card late last year, the Design team have been working on a complete re-design of the existing website which went live in early March.

I look forward to updating you on our projects later this spring.

Patrick James
Managing Director

December 2008 Update

Christmas is no longer the mere blip on the horizon it once was, but before we tuck into our turkey and pull our crackers, we have a few projects to complete!

Our new brochure, designed inhouse by Mike Bolingbroke, our brilliant graphics designer, had been some weeks in design and production, but finally hit the mailbags in October, I think we gave the postman here on Clifton Moor a nervous breakdown and a bad back with our bulging mailbags but we still have a few left – if you would like to receive one, do get in touch at enquiries@landscapeagency.co.uk

Our marketing efforts have resulted in a good range of new enquiries, both from previous clients and brand new ones, which is excellent news for us all in the current economic climate.

Work continues this month for the Royal Horticultural Society at Hyde Hall, Essex where we have designed the setting for a new visitor arrival facility. A major new building, with exhibition space, ticketing, retail, catering, offices and outdoor gathering spaces is approached along a new access road sensitively laid over the rolling landscape of the wider estate. A new 400-space car-park has been designed with an entirely sustainable drainage system of open bioswales, taking surface water to a reservoir and ultimately to the garden irrigation system. Minimal visual impact, the responsible collection of water, the deployment of low-impact materials and processes and the preservation of the rural Essex vernacular have driven this successful project, set for completion in August 2009.

We are extremely excited about being shortlisted alongside Richard Griffiths Architects to re-design the Stonehenge visitor experience on behalf of a Project Implementation Group led by English Heritage. Our brief is to deliver improvements for the Stonehenge World Heritage Site to be delivered in time for the London Olympics in 2012. Specific objectives are to deliver:

An improved landscape setting for Stonehenge. The A344 adjacent to the Stones, and possibly the current facilities, will be removed and returned to chalk downland, reuniting the monument with its Avenue.
A new, sensitively designed and environmentally sustainable Stonehenge visitor centre.
Better interpretation of the Stones and the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.

From Wiltshire to, well the other side of Europe…. A most unusual enquiry took two of the team, Kirsty Stevens and Stuart Postlethwaite, to one of the least known countries in Europe – Albania. We have been asked to look at an historical site, including amphitheatre, baptistery and acropolis at Butrint, in the south of the country, the site of an important Roman city and, since 1992, a World Heritage Site.

Kirsty and Stuart had an amazing insight into this fascinating country that was completely closed for almost 50 years under the communist rule of Enver Hoxha, and even now is little visited except by the most intrepid of travellers. We will now prepare initial sketch ideas for the visitor arrival at this UNESCO site, all the more interesting and challenging a project as the country has an almost entirely undeveloped tourism infrastructure. Follow the link to read more about this fascinating site. www.butrint.org/index.php

Sticking with the world heritage site theme, the National Trust has invited us to submit a tender for preparing a Conservation Management Plan for Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal. The 18th century landscape garden and abbey ruins are internationally important for their historical, archaeological, architectural and natural interest, while the combination of so many historic features representative of different periods is exceptional. The water garden at Studley Royal, laid out by John Aislabie in the 18th century, is one of the very few formal landscapes to survive substantially in its original design.

Of particular interest to the Landscape Agency is the connection between Studley Royal and nearby Hackfall, which was designed by John Aislabie’s son, William, as a picturesque garden, in complete contrast with the formality of Studley Royal. Eagle-eyed blog readers will recall that last month, the practice won the inaugural RIBA/Landscape Institute White Rose Landscape Award for our £1m Heritage Lottery Funded restoration works at Hackfall , completed earlier this year. We are currently preparing our approach for Fountains Abbey/Studley Royal and will hear next month whether our tender has been shortlisted.

The National Trust has also invited us to prepare fee quotations for conservation work at Tyntesfield, North Somerset and Sheffield Park, East Sussex.

Recently saved for the nation with a grant of £17m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and over £8m in public donations, Tyntesfield is a spectacular Grade 1 listed Victorian country house set within an estate comprising a series of broad terraces overlooking a wide valley. It has a remarkably intact mid-Victorian pleasure ground including a secluded arboretum known as 'Paradise', planted with well chosen specimen trees. The garden and park are registered Grade 2*. Conservation work on the house and estate buildings is being funded by the 2006-2012 Heritage Lottery Fund project.

Sheffield Park Garden is situated on the Weald midway between East Grinstead and Lewes, and is a beautiful 120 acre woodland garden originally designed for the first Earl of Sheffield by Humphry Repton and Capability Brown. It was the site of the first England v Australia cricket match in 1884, Lord Sheffield's team of the day including W G Grace. In 1910 Arthur Gilstrap Soames transformed the garden with clumps of lakeside rhododendrons and also introduced spectacular autumn colour with Japanese maples, nyssas and beds of autumn gentians. We have been asked to prepare a Conservation Management Plan, to enable the estate to subsequently enter into a Higher Level Stewardship agreement to assist with the funding of the parkland and woodland restoration.

Elsewhere in Yorkshire, an intriguing project takes us to Wentworth Woodhouse.
The Grade I Listed Wentworth House is one of the finest historic houses in Britain, being set within an exceptionally important historic environment with a designed landscape associated with Humphry Repton. It is also the largest stately home in Britain with a room for every day of the year, over 1000 windows and five miles of underground passageways.

Beyond the parkland with its follies, temples, striking landscape features such as
the South Terrace and other monuments, is a wider semi-rural with a number of villages with historic links to the estate. The area forms an oasis of green within the post industrial conurbations of Sheffield, Rotherham and surrounding former mining villages making Wentworth Woodhouse an historic asset of national, if not international, importance.

In common with many large country estates, Wentworth Woodhouse has had a chequered history following World War II. The effects of industrial mining policy, the pressures caused by the use of the site as a Further Education College with associated inappropriate adaptation and new build, and the pressures of encroaching suburban development have all taken their toll.

The Landscape Agency was commissioned in association with the architects Purcell Miller Tritton to undertake a number of studies and assessments relating to Wentworth’s historical significance with the overall objective of producing a landscape masterplan to secure the estate’s long term sustainable future.

We have previously worked with the Landmark Trust advising on the landscapes surrounding some of its portfolio of buildings of unique historic interest; and have recently been asked to advise on one of its newest acquisitions – Cavendish Hall in Suffolk. Cavendish Hall is an elegant Regency house with a rustic lodge, walled garden, stable block, lawns and a small park. Our brief is to advise on practical matters such as car parking, seating areas, tree management and walks, as well as to re-design the gardens to reflect the spirit of the first quarter of the 19th century, based partly on evidence from historic OS maps. Once work is completed, Cavendish Hall will accommodate up to 10 ‘landmarkers’.

I think it just remains for us to extend greetings of the season to all our readers, and we look forward to being of service to you in 2009!

Patrick James

Press Coverage 2008

Click here to read 'The Garden' feature on The Landscape Agency's masterplans for the RHS Gardens published November 2008.

Winners at 2008 RIBA White Rose Awards

York-based landscape design and environmental planning practice The Landscape Agency has won the inaugural Landscape Award at the RIBA White Rose Awards 2008 for the practice’s restoration of the Grade I listed woodland garden of follies and vistas at Hackfall near Ripon, one of Yorkshire’s most important historic designed landscapes.

The Landscape Award is a new award category announced by the Landscape Institute earlier this year and forms part of the 22nd RIBA Yorkshire White Rose Awards. The award, presented in partnership between the Yorkshire branches of the Landscape Institute and RIBA, recognises excellence in the public realm and reflects the importance of public spaces in the architectural realm.

Patrick James, Managing Director; Jo Brehaut, Landscape Architect and Linda Lockett, Conservation Architect, collected the award at the RIBA Awards Dinner held at Leeds Victoria Hall on 24 October.

The completion in spring this year of works to restore the landscape at Hackfall to its original splendour is the culmination of almost six years’ work for the Landscape Agency and its team of landscape architects, landscape historians, hydrologists and ecologists, on behalf of its clients, the Hackfall Trust and Woodland Trust. The project was funded by a £1million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Patrick James was delighted to receive the Award on behalf of the practice and commented: “We are proud winners of this inaugural award. It is recognition of the hard work the team has put in over the past six years to reveal this extraordinary landscape to a wider public. Hackfall is well worth a visit.”

The RIBA judging panel’s comments about Hackfall were as follows:
“
Hackfall is one of Yorkshire’s most important historic designed landscapes. Conceived in the 18th Century by John Aislabie, for the next 200 years visitors including Turner and Wordsworth flocked to the area, yet it was almost lost forever due to a lack of maintenance from the 1930s onwards. Fortunately a small group of local historians had a vision to restore the gardens and appointed a team of professionals who clearly shared their passion for this landscape.

Having secured a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and in partnership with the Woodland Trust, the vision has now become a reality. Follies and grottoes have been saved, important vistas reopened and ponds and waterfalls restored whilst public access has once again been enabled.

The judges were impressed with the manner in which the landscape architects have interpreted the historic structure of the landscape and boldly felled trees where necessary to allow light back into the woodland. The bureaucratic challenges of restoring Hackfall in a landscape covered by every conceivable statutory designation should not be underestimated and the consenting procedures have been tackled admirably. The success of the project is in no small part due to the collaborative approach adopted between professionals and local volunteers and highlights the real benefits of community involvement.

Whilst the work done so far is just the beginning of a long journey for Hackfall, the established management plan will safeguard the future of Hackfall – a real benefit for the people of Yorkshire.”
Click here to view Certificate

Press Coverage 2008

Click here to read Yorkshire Post feature on The Fall and Rise of Hackfall published 11 October 2008.