Bath-based landscape architecture practice Grant Associates has partnered with a housing developer on a major scheme with more than 1,350 homes on the site of the 2012 London Olympics.
The London Legacy Corporation (LLDC) has unanimously approved the plans, submitted by Get Living, for three applications in what is now known as London’s East Village.
The scheme, pictured, will include 848 rental properties and 504 student homes with a ‘reimagined’ public realm.
Once developed, these buildings will complete the original masterplan for the former Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, now home to more than 6,500 people and 25 acres of public realm, designed with residents and the wider community in mind.
The project’s vision looks to further enhance East Village, which has become a destination in its own right since its establishment in 2013 after accommodating athletes and officials during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Visitors to the new scheme will be greeted by a lush and cascading landscape aimed at boosting biodiversity by maximising softscape areas.
The planting strategy, which proposes a rich and varied planting palette attracting wildlife, will also have a sensorial effect on humans, making visible the seasonal changes, reflecting the time in a natural way and setting changing ambiences.
Grant Associates senior associate Ibrahim Diaz-Vera said: “Our central focus has been to create a truly memorable space with a humanistic vision, going beyond the mere act of checking boxes and understanding landscape as a powerful design tool.
“The principles of biophilia and the psychology of colours form the foundation of a striking conceptual language that artfully combines patterns from fashion and the natural world.
“This approach weaves together elements of beauty, effortlessly blending nature and artifice to give rise to a captivating collection of ambiences, atmospheres, and multifunctional spaces, all driven by a strong ecological narrative.”
Grant Associates, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, is best known as the lead designer of the iconic Gardens by the Bay attraction in Singapore, and also oversaw the Superbloom transformation of the Tower of London moat during the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
It employs more than 70 people from nearly 20 countries across its design studios in Bath and Singapore – the majority are landscape architects who work with architects, 3D-modellers, BIM and visualisation specialists, horticulturists, designers, IT and other technicians.
