Church Road, Illogan, Cornwall
This small, yet influential, greenfield development including 33 new homes, a public open space, and a footpath that links the site to existing natural woodland. This case study shows the site under construction, with the soft landscaping yet to be completed, but the design achieved a BwN Full Award (subject to post-construction sign-off) and successfully demonstrates a social housing scheme that incorporates essential green infrastructure features and encourages the health and wellbeing of its occupants.
forth valley royal hospital and larbert woods, falkirk
Winner of the 2020 Landscape Institute Building with Nature National Award, Forth Valley Royal Hospital and Larbert Woods is a modern hospital development that represents a exemplar in the design, delivery and maintenance of high quality green infrastructure, capturing the preventative health benefits of green infrastructure now and long into the future.
The Steadings, Cirencester
The vision for The Steadings is to create a vibrant new community in which people and nature thrive alongside each other, in a mixed-use development including affordable homes, housing for the elderly, employment land for commercial and community facilities, green cycle links and multi-use greenspace. This case study illustrates how the Building with Nature Standards can be applied from the design stage through to long term management and maintenance. The scheme achieved a BwN Design Award for the masterplan and a BwN Full Award (subject to post construction sign off) for the first phase of the development.
Oakfield, Swindon
The masterplan for this scheme has been developed with the ‘15-minute neighbourhood’ concept in mind, to try and provide amenities that residents would need close by, without dependency on car usage. The scheme provides 239 intergenerational homes with a mixture of tenures, for people at every stage of their life. The project team involved a Building with Nature Assessor to guide the design proposals from an early stage, to ensure high-quality green infrastructure and active travel solutions were integrated into the scheme.
Queensland Court and Gardens, cardonald, glasgow
This case study demonstrates best practice in retrofitting the green infrastructure in an urban setting. Winner of the 2021 Landscape Institute Building with Nature Award, the scheme is an excellent example of how a partnership approach, involving the community, can provide multi-functional green infrastructure that delivers natural assets for people in deprived areas, providing amenity, flood management and greater biodiversity.
Barne Barton, Plymouth
Barne Barton has been accredited with a Building with Nature Design Award for a Masterplan for 204 new homes on an existing housing estate in Plymouth.
The Masterplan envisages a complete transformation of this post-war housing estate to provide a sustainable and vibrant place to live. The quality of the design is a significant success given that the retrofitting of high-quality green infrastructure into existing places is essential to creating healthy, sustainable and liveable communities fit for the challenges of the 21 century.
vaux, riverside sunderland
Vaux, Riverside Sunderland demonstrates how better outcomes for people and nature can be achieved, even in the context of urban, high-density housing development, when a developer is committed to responding to the climate and ecological emergencies.
The scheme includes the construction of 132 new high-quality homes with a mix of types including terraced houses, stacked maisonettes and apartments, some small commercial units at key locations, and high-quality green infrastructure and public realm, with several key pedestrian routes being retained and improved.
WORLD OF WATER, hampshire
A redevelopment of a former aquarium and pond supplies business to return it to a natural and interactive state. The entire site includes 1.82 hectares of land adjacent to Fishlake Meadows Nature Reserve along the River Test, which is a designated SINC site, and the River Test an SSSI. The scheme will include a new visitor centre, café and a flexible community space. Interactive features will incorporate bird hides and wetland walks throughout new wetland and meadow habitat, showcaseing the importance of nature reserves to the wider community.
LOWER MILL ESTATE, cotswolds
Lower Mill Estate began life as a gravel quarry. The site now functions as a mixed-use development in the heart of the Cotswolds Water Park, with 575 holiday homes across the development. The scheme provides a rich network of green infrastructure, bringing benefit to both people and wildlife through a landscape-led approach to restoring this quarry site. The overall Masterplan achieved a BwN Design Award. The in-use completed phases have achieved a BwN Full Award.
GOLDEN VALLEY SPD
The Golden Valley SPD was prepared by the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Borough Councils to facilitate the vision of the Golden Valley development as a place offering diverse living options and a centre for innovative businesses. The SPD ‘provides a roadmap to achieve sustainable, inclusive economic growth and to create an inspirational place to live, work and play against the backdrop of a world-class environment.’ The SPD has a Building with Nature Policy Award.
ELDERBERRY WALK, bristol
Elderberry Walk has been accredited a Building with Nature Design Award for the entire Masterplan.
This Masterplan for 161 new homes on a brownfield site in Bristol is a fantastic example of how high quality green infrastructure can be achieved in a high density development.
GLOUCESTER SERVICES
Gloucester Services, a north and south bound motorway service area on the M5 motorway, incorporating green infrastructure including an outdoor picnic area, play facilities and habitat provision, has been accredited a Building with Nature Full Award (Good).
Widely reputed to be the best motorway service area in the UK, Gloucester Services leads with its connection to the surrounding Cotswold landscape, and delivers a tranquil setting for the benefit of visitors and employees.
silverlake, Dorset
Silverlake is a great example of how the natural landscape can be used as the starting point for site design and how that landscape can be protected into the future. The scheme has been awarded a Building with Nature Full Award (Excellent).
MEADOWbank, edinburgh
Meadowbank is an ambitious, people-first redevelopment of brownfield land by the City of Edinburgh Council. The carbon neutral Masterplan is for a residential-led, mixed use development with 596 homes (35% minimum affordable), a small amount of retail and community facilities, including an Active Travel Hub, and potential GP surgery. It is a great example of how extensive community consultation can lead to a low-car development with a strong focus on creating space for people and nature in an urban environment.
TORYGLEN, glasgow
This urban retrofit scheme in the City of Glasgow is an exemplar for how green infrastructure can be improved for the benefit of the local community and wildlife using the Building with Nature approach. North Toryglen is an area experiencing multiple deprivation and health inequalities, and this case study clearly demonstrates how the BwN Assessment process can be used in this context, improving the scheme’s design for high quality multifunctional green infrastructure.
Good Green Infrastructure
“Well-planned networks of high-quality, multi-functional green space help enhance biodiversity, make cities more resilient and contribute to the physical and mental health of people.”
“We increasingly need to look at green infrastructure, like natural flood management and soil improvement, to support traditional flood schemes. This work will also create better places for wildlife. ”