Lea Bridge Gasworks
Client:
St William Homes LLP
Area:
3.4 ha (8.4 acres)
Location:
London
Type:
Residential Placemaking
573
new homes
50%
public open space
urban
squares, streetscapes & podium gardens
This urban regeneration project in the Lea Valley took inspiration from the wider ‘living’ landscape and set out to forge new links to the valley and its Country Parks, for both existing and new communities.
Located on the former Clementina Road Gasworks, the site sits just south of Lea Bridge rail station in Leyton, at the heart of the Lea Valley.
BMD were commissioned in 2019 by St William to work on a landscape design for this urban site. We started by opening up the development to nearby parkland and the wider Lea Valley, forging new links with the existing community and creating new networks for wildlife. Lea Bridge Gasworks is the result of great collaboration between the client, BMD and the wider design team, local residents, and invaluable input and commitment from the London Borough Waltham Forest. The development proposals combine a rich sequence of landscape spaces for play, recreation and movement, bringing together existing residents and a new community.
It’s a scheme which seeks to promote social and healthy living as an integrated part of a nature-led design, creating a long-term legacy for both people and wildlife. The scheme successfully achieved planning permission in January 2021.
Image caption: Illustrative masterplan for Lea Bridge Gasworks. © BMD
Placemaking
BMD established a landscape vision which has underpinned the development of five character areas within the site.
These character areas have evolved in response to their location within the scheme and the immediate landscape, townscape and historical context. This landscape vision creates a strong sense of place and has helped define the form and function of these spaces.
Stitching these character areas together is an activity trail, creating a sinuous journey through each unique space.
Elements along this activity trail will include wayfinding, promoting physical activity, informal play and interpretation revealing the site’s heritage and wildlife.
Image caption: Character area plan for Lea Bridge Gasworks. © BMD
Green & Blue Infrastructure
A Greening and Biodiversity strategy was created to minimise any negative impacts on existing ecological assets, enhance the post-development value and diversify the range of habitats on site.
Retained habitats primarily comprise existing off-site linear tree belts, which will be supplemented with proposed tree planting, species-rich native hedgerows, shrubs and biodiverse roofs. These new habitats will work with the retained tree belts to address the current lack of connectivity across the site and into the wider landscape.
The SuDS strategy has been developed with the drainage engineers to promote attenuation on-site using a variety of features; biodiverse roofs providing attenuation of rainfall at source, planted swales attenuating surface water and permeable surfaces reducing surface water runoff rates. These design proposals provide an opportunity to introduce further diversified and native planting to assist in achieving biodiversity net gain.
Image caption: Biodiversity strategy plan for Lea Bridge Gasworks. © BMD
Wider Connections
Lea Bridge Gasworks provides an opportunity to create a stepping stone between the urban backdrop of Leyton and the Lea Valley Regional Park.
BMD recognised the importance of the wider Lea Valley ecological habitat and set out to connect both people and wildlife to this ‘living landscape’. The landscape vision responded to this context and set out an approach to help shape the masterplanning process.
The development proposals bring forward a rich sequence of landscape spaces for play, recreation and movement, bringing together existing residents and a new community at key gateways in to the site.
Image caption: Enhancing biodiversity around wetland habitats. © BMD
