An exhibition celebrating the best work of landscape scientists, landscape planners, landscape architects, landscape managers and urban designers took place at the Building Centre in London as part of the Landscape Institute’s shortlist for its annual awards. The projects to be exhibited and in line for recognition include:
- The Crown Estate London Ecology Masterplan part of an ecology project, ‘Wild West End’ to encourage birds, bees and bats back into this iconic area of London. Through a holistic approach, the masterplan provides a strategy for enhancing landscape and ecological value through green infrastructure, providing ecosystems for wildlife and creating a green corridor through Central London.
- An exceptional therapeutic environment at Maggie’s cancer caring centre in Lanarkshire, creating a garden that extends all the positive aspects of the building outside into the landscape based on the healing effects of domestic-scale gardens.
- The UK’s first woodland-based rehabilitation programme for cardiac patients in hospital grounds at Larbert Woods at the Forth Valley Royal Hospital. Staff, patients, visitors and local residents enjoy the grounds for recreation, relaxation and therapeutic activities. The grounds are used as a case study by NHS Scotland to demonstrate the active use of hospital grounds for physical and mental health actives.
- The creation of an inside outside experience at the Royal Stoke Hospital, bringing nature deep indoors by creating green movement routes such a covered walkways and gardens for break out, contemplation and recreation for patients, staff, friends and families. Inspired by Dr Roger Ulrich’s globally replicated evidence that patients with green views recover faster than those without, require less strong drugs, less frequently and perceptions of treatment improve; it also provides green views for people spending long periods in wards, dialysis and oncology.
- The Bath Pattern Book providing public realm design guidance for the City of Bath, a world heritage site. Drawing on archive evidence showing that the Georgian city was built around parades, terraces, squares and crescents, the Book brings together research into people-centred place-making with current best practice to provide practical streetscape design guidance which is now in use by the world heritage city.
- A Masterplan for Colin Town Centre, one of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement. The majority of Colin Town features in the top 6% most deprived areas in Northern Ireland with residents facing many challenges associated with low levels of income, health, low educational attainment and employment. These conditions are exacerbated by a low quality of environment and a new ‘town centre’ masterplan provides much needed focus. This project will result in a major positive impact on the lives of the 25,000 residents with Phase 1 works committed for delivery by 2018.
The shortlisted projects will be open to viewing by the public from 3 November 2016 at The Building Centre, Store Street, London until Christmas 2016.