Bath-based award-winning landscape architecture firm Grant Associates has been appointed to design the public realm for the £70m leisure-led regeneration scheme Watermark WestQuay in Southampton.
Inspired by tidal mudflats, the strata in which Southampton was first built, Grant Associates’ landscape design will have four key components: a plaza bringing a new open space for Southampton; the ancient historic town walls that form a distinctive backdrop to the spaces; a promenade running the length of the walls; and the steps and ramps that negotiate the 7-metre level change between the Bargate and the lower levels of Western Esplanade.
Grant Associates director Andrew Grant said: “Watermark’s dramatic setting provides a wonderful framework and we are delighted to be given the opportunity to help shape a new phase of this historic piece of Southampton.”
Associate James Clarke, the project landscape architect managing the project, said: “Using simple construction techniques through bold geometric language of patterns and forms and giving particular thought to the way materials are used and implemented, we hope to create an exciting public space that conceptually references Southampton’s rich nautical past.”
The scheme is masterplanned by ACME for developers Hammerson, whose development manager Guy Wells added: “We have created a scheme which is unique to Southampton and celebrates the city’s historic walls and its maritime location. The public realm will be a fantastic addition for the city and the design has enduring appeal.”
