Vantage Point
Year of Completion: 2016
Client: Essential Living
Project Team: BCA Landscape
Working closely with Essential Living, Architects GRID and interior designers Woods Bagot, the top of the building was transformed into a communal amenity facility with a wide range of indoor and outdoor opportunities for work, rest and play to help foster a sense of community and collective endeavor.
Externally there are growing areas, an outdoor kitchen, extensive seating including loungers and a range of planting habitats which creates a sheltered haven for people and wildlife. Subtle lighting extends the period of use into the evenings and external materials compliment the architecture and interiors.
Spaces were designed to be sub-divided for private exclusive hire and wi-fi boosters and power were provided to allow use of lap-tops for working from home.
Marine Hall Gardens
Year of Completion: 2011
Client: Wyre Borough Council
Project Team: BCA Landscape
Hosting a series of community engagement workshops, Shared Stories, BCA Landscape and community artist Lesley Fallais encouraged local people to get involved with the coastline regeneration programme by sharing their own experiences with the design team and each other.
Developing The Mythic Coast’s The Sea Swallow story concept of making the entire coastline an area of narrated exploration, the Shared Stories were then interpreted by the design team and Smiling Wolf graphic designers. The strong graphic results, realised in cast bronze set into glimmering, sea like terrazzo help to bring the Sea Swallow story and other local influences to life.
The gardens give the waterfront venue additional functionality through the creation of an outdoor stage with space for a crowd. Nearby, at Rossall Point additional Sea Change funding created a new public observation tower and interpretation centre, for which BCA Landscape have also designed the surrounding landscape.
Lytham Mussel Tank
Year of Completion: 2018
Client: Lytham St Annes Civic society Flyde Borough Council
Project Team: BCA Landscape
The brief evolved through community consultation to celebrate the local fishing industry’s need to cleanse mussels before sending them to market. The design uses strong geometric paving to evoke the original character of low brick plinths (on which the mussel bags were placed) and providing a seafront destination for community enjoyment. Interpretation boards on the (original) perimeter walls summarise the story of the industry and the Ribble estuary, and there are panels of ceramic tiles produced by the local Sixth Form College which illustrate local scenes. Planting areas reflect the local flora using bespoke seed mixes.
West End Gardens
Year of Completion: 2010
Client: Lancaster City Council , Morecambe Town Council
Project Team: BCA Landscape, Birse Coastal
A major new 1 Ha public park for Morecambe at West End Gardens together with a new 1.5km promenade at Sandylands as part of the £28million coastal defence scheme. The scheme is part of a wider area regeneration initiative by the West End Partnership as developed in full consultation with the local community, and was launched with a community celebration party.
The project was delivered under a partnering arrangement with Lancaster City Council and Birse Civils. BCA Landscape are delighted that the park has become the regular home for the annual Make My Day! FREE festival jam-packed with things to make and do during which the promenade is transformed into a creative theme park for the day.
It is a celebration of making and doing things which brings the community together, particularly focussed on inter-generational activities, which has been running for a number of years.
Colwyn Bay
Year of Completion: 2013 – ongoing
Client: Conwy County Borough Council
Project Team: BCA Landscape, Mott MacDonald
The Colwyn Bay Waterfront Project was initiated to address the poor condition of the existing coastal defences along the waterfront in Colwyn Bay, dating back to the turn of the 20th century.
BCAL were invited by engineers Mott Macdonald to join their coastal team working with Conwy County Borough Council in 2013 to provide public realm design as part of a £30million coastal storm defence scheme to provide long lasting and effective coastal protection for the town and its inhabitants.
The opportunity was taken to both protect the community and its infrastructure, and also enhance it, by creating a 3km stretch of the promenade from Splashpoint to Rhos-on-Sea that would attract both local residents and visitors. The works have provided a boost to the local economy, as well as multiple health and environmental benefits.
An extensive range of bespoke elements around health, active travel, sport, play, artwork, green infrastructure and biodiversity improvements have been delivered, with further phases in development for delivery in 2022.
A-Y of Manx
Year of Completion: 2013
Client: The Douglas development partnership, The department of infrastructure
Project Team: BCA Landscape
The A-Y of Manx is an artwork commissioned by Douglas Development Partnership, funded by the Town and Village Regeneration Scheme and driven forward by the Douglas Regeneration Committee. The artwork illustrates 24 subjects related to the Isle of Man, some of which are well-known and obvious such a “Manx Cats”, “TT” and “Kippers” and some which are a little more obscure such as the “Giant Elk” and “Ogham”.
The Natural Stone Awards, held once every two years, recognise excellence in the natural stone industry. The judges said:
‘The stonework brings brightness and light into the heart of the Island’s capital. The results are already lifting and enhancing the area, instilling pride and commitment across a diverse range of retailers’.
Liverpool Connectivity – Lime Street
Year of Completion: 2022
Client: Liverpool City Council
Project Team: BCA Landscape | AMEY
Liverpool Lime Street is considered the gateway to Liverpool, greeted by a confusing labyrinth of roads which are both difficult and dangerous to cross. The project aimed to resolve this issue by reorganising the way people move about the city with an emphasis on cycling, walking and trees.
Pedestrians and cyclists have been given greater priority and space whilst respecting the historical importance of the site. The scheme is surrounded by Grade I, II & II* listed buildings therefore a more conservative approach was required.
The project included over 30+ trees, 675m of segregated cycleways (linking to Liverpool’s wider cycle network), wider footpaths for safer pedestrian movements and encouragement of outdoor cafe seating. Reduced traffic signals/movement to improve the flow of traffic which in turn helps with air quality. New open public spaces for day to day activities as well as for larger public events which St Georges Hall is renowned for.
BCA Landscape and Build to Rent in brief
We have been involved in the build to rent sector since 2014, providing landscape architectural consultancy services for innovative developers and architects whose logos appear opposite.
We know landscape brings people and communities together, working with the internal amenity spaces to create that stronger sense of community and of belonging to something special with its own sense of place.
Our work delivers green and blue infrastructure, which helps to:
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- Increase biodiversity net gain.
- Achieve the required Urban Greening factor.
- Improve mental health and well-being.
- Move towards net zero carbon outcomes.
- Improve air and water quality.
- Reduce flood risks.
- Assist with gaining credits under methodologies such as:
- The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM)
- The Leadership In Energy And Environmental Design Methodology (LEED)
We have delivered services on 3,111 Build to Rent homes, with another 700 well on the way.
Our expert team can be your one-stop-shop for all elements related to landscape architectural consultancy right the planning and design phase all the way through to the finishing touches, handover and post launch. We offer our services across the UK.
We have worked ‘client-side’ and novated to contractors, mastering the technical complexities of co-ordinating landscape and building elements with the wider design and construction team.
We can also integrate your build to rent project with the wider community ‘beyond the red line’ including development of artwork themes and interventions – either in-house or in collaboration with a wide network of artists and makers.
We ensure that the schemes we implement are robust and easy to maintain, keeping down service charges and cost-in-use for replacement when things wear out.
We can deliver you and your funders excellent metrics on all aspects of the green agenda.
We champion all aspects of the landscape design through the whole process from site feasibility to tenants moving in – and beyond!
We focus on maximising amenity provision and green infrastructure to make your development stand out from the crowd.
We are working with a number of clients to gather data that feeds into their ESG metrics with some interesting results including some projects that are carbon positive.