In 2006, HTA were appointed by Stevenage Borough Council tocreate a new vision for the Town Centre Gardens. At over fortyyears old, the 3.85 hectare park had fallen into decline and wasgenerally perceived as neglected and unsafe. The projectsuccessfully combined the restoration of the structure, characterand heritage features within the Gardens with new contemporaryinterventions to give it a renewed relevance for the future.
The Gardens are the primary open space within Stevenage andare an important example of modernist twentieth century design.They embody the hope, aspirations and philosophy of the post warera – access for city dwellers to fresh air, open space andcultural facilities set within a parkland. HTA’s approach combinedsite analysis with community engagement and rigorous historicalresearch to inform our understanding of its original development,current use and future requirements. Through our research, weidentified those aspects of the design that required retention andrestoration as well as undeveloped areas of the site where newcontemporary interventions would provide continued interest,increased use and ongoing relevance into the future.
The Town Centre Gardens are the first New Town parkrefurbishment to be funded by the Heritage Lottery. HTA played apivotal role in the project; acting as lead consultants, projectmanagers, landscape designers, architects and contractadministrators. We procured and led the design team and wereinstrumental in the community engagement and formation of theFriends Group.
The design achieves its masterplan objectives by directingmovement, enhancing connectivity, increasing use and enabling eventprogramming to revitalise and successfully adapt the existingspace. The park’s open spaces and structure have been restored, newsensory gardens created, the play area renewed and enlarged, andnew toilet facilities sensitively integrated into the landscape toattract more people to the park and encourage them to stay forlonger periods. The project has transformed the run down and poorlyfunctioning park into a well used and active place that has becomea destination for both local communities and visitors from furtherafield. The increased activity draws people to the Gardens and toStevenage Town Centre, acting as a catalyst for change andregeneration for Stevenage itself.
The design evokes the New Town Era and the modernistphilosophy underlying its design whilst being clearly contemporaryand avoiding pastiche. It celebrates 1950s materials as a referenceto when it was first created – for example, the large-scale bespokeconcrete planters in the new sensory gardens. We also designed apatterned relief to the toilet block elevation that is a visualconnection to the cast concrete relief on the nearby underpasscreated by the well know contemporary artist William Mitchell in1973. Furniture was also carefully selected and located tocompliment the aesthetic of the park, including bespoke signagethat uses the Festival of Britain font to evoke the 1950sera.
The centrepiece of the refurbished gardens is a pre-stressedgranite bridge, spanning almost 14m, with a deck thickness of only28cm and a weight of 22 tonnes. Designed by HTA and engineered inGermany by Kusser Aicha Granitwerke, it is the first bridge of itskind to be installed in the United Kingdom. In addition, the “Womenand Doves” fountain, a key feature within the lakes of the existinggardens, has been carefully restored in consultation with theoriginal artist and foundry where the fountain was cast.
1500 roses were planted in addition to new herbaceous plantingto reintroduce colour and scent in the park. Over 100 trees wereremoved in the northern and eastern sections of the park toreinstate open spaces and reveal the historic tree massing – groupsof Norway maples combined with the farmland trees that predated thepark. Understorey shrubs were also removed, suckering vegetationcleared and trees crown lifted to reinstate views and improveperceptions of safety. The work revealed the lines and bend in thepond as originally intended.
The project meets high sustainable standards with materialsprocured responsibility or reused on site where possible duringconstruction. Large areas of wildflower meadow and bulbs werecreated, marginals’ planted and native hedgerows restored. We alsoworked closely with the park staff to adapt their maintenanceregimes so that the parkland is now managed as a biodiverselandscape.
本站仅提供存储服务，所有内容均由用户发布，如发现有害或侵权内容，请
点击举报。
