FCB Studios was engaged in 2005 to develop a masterplan for the majority of the Major Development Area (MDA) site in Waterlooville, Hampshire, for client Grainger plc. The northern part of the site was developed by another team. The overall development brief had been established at this stage, and a masterplan created. However neither planners nor councillors were happy with the masterplan, and FCB Studios was appointed to rework the masterplan to the development brief.
The previous iteration of the masterplan was not seen as suitably ambitious. It proposed a generic layout for the site that, it was felt, would not result in a site-specific development. It included all the required elements, including the council’s brief for open and amenity space, but it lacked ‘vision’. The open space was confined to the edges of the development and the layout did not react to the many landscape features of the site.
Our first task was to gain a full understanding of the context, both in terms of the immediate site and the wider town of Waterlooville. We found that the existing town, while being surrounded by countryside, had little relationship to it. There were virtually no public open spaces or parks for residents to enjoy. We also saw that the site itself had many interesting landscape features: the River Wallington to the north, a belt of ancient woodland along its western boundary, drainage channels and many protected trees and hedgerows. We felt very strongly that this scheme presented a great opportunity to establish a strong link between Waterlooville and the countryside, and to create new parkland for the new and existing residents. Working with the other consultants, we decided to consolidate the brief for open space into continuous parkland, in the form of a Common that could serve community needs. Working within the development brief, we reorganised the masterplan to create a wonderful central parkland instead of a series of disparate peripheral open spaces.
Our strategy was to see the existing natural features of the site as assets to be exploited, rather than as constraints.
Existing features were used to create a unique setting for a new community, establishing a strong identity and adding value to the overall development. As Sir Stuart Lipton, chairman of CABE Space, states; ‘Research highlights the increase in property and land values surrounding good quality parks.’ Creating a place with a strong sense of identity on a greenfield site can be challenging but working with the existing landscape, and not against it can deliver unique character and a real sense of place. Research into the value of open spaces has shown that it has a tangible impact on property values. A study carried out in the Netherlands by Luttik demonstrated that the value of a house with a garden bordering water can increase by 11 per cent, while a view of water can add 10 per cent to the value. Having a park nearby adds 6 per cent to the value of a house. All of these are tangible benefits that developers should be able to take into account in their business plans.
The value of trees, water and open spaces as reflected by house prices in the Netherlands, by J Luttik, was published in Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol. 48, pp161-167 (2000)
KEY POINTS
• Existing natural features of sites should be seen as assets
• People like living and working near parks and open green space
• There is a demonstrable increase in property and land values surrounding good quality parks
PRACTICE DETAILS
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
www.fcbstudios.com
