Brent Cross Town’s lush green spaces

Article posted by Coliseum, September 21^st, 2021

Image: Brent Cross Town

Argent Related and Barnet Council, who are jointly delivering the new £7 billion, 180-acre North London (UK) neighborhood at Brent Cross Town, have selected landscape architecture practice Gustafson Porter + Bowman to design the scheme’s largest and most distinctive green space, the 44-acre Clitterhouse Playing Fields.

The ‘Brent Cross Town’ stated that the reimagined playing fields will be home to a wide variety of new sport and play facilities, a new network of walking and cycle paths, designated places for picnics and gatherings, as well as plenty of space to enjoy nature.

Brent Cross Town is the neighborhood at the heart of the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration program. It is a joint venture between Argent Related and Barnet Council to develop a large-scale mixed-use development including new homes, retail and office space, as well as improved schools and green spaces in the area. Early work started on site in early 2020 and construction is also underway on the new Brent Cross West Station which will be completed by the end of 2022. Building on the strengths of this diverse part of the City, Brent Cross Town will draw inspiration from the best of London’s long-established neighborhoods with all their complexity and character.

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The ‘Brent Cross Town’ further stated that at its heart, will be a focus on sport, play, health and well-being. The new neighborhood will provide 6,700 homes, state-of-the-art workspace for over 25,000 people and pedestrian-friendly streets and squares with local shops and restaurants that will complement the offer at Brent Cross Shopping Centre. The community will be supported by first-class public transport infrastructure, a new and improved network of walking and cycle routes and a series of new parks and other amenities.

Argent Related brings together an extraordinary blend of complementary skills, access to global capital and unrivaled technical and delivery experience. Argent Related generates superior returns for all stakeholders by developing for the long term. Argent, the respected developer with a track record in creating exemplar new pieces of UK Cities including King’s Cross, joined forces in March 2015 with Related, the most prominent privately-owned real estate firm in the United States with over $60 billion in assets owned or under development including Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side, as well as The Grand and Related Santa Clara in California.

Gustafson Porter + Bowman’s design will be informed by engagement with local people and community groups, beginning in September with a series of events looking at the role the park will play as part of the new town center. Central to its design will be the partnership’s pledge to create the place in London to participate in sport and play. The playing fields will provide the best of both traditional and emerging sports, working with leading sports organizations, governing bodies and hero ambassadors to help drive female participation, and champion diversity and inclusion in all its forms.

Morwenna Hall, Partner of Argent Related, said, “All successful places are built around the things that make them unique, authentic and valued by their communities, and Brent Cross Town will be no different. The Clitterhouse Playing Fields is the green heart of our masterplan and will be designed to bring people together to enjoy its open space, provide a range of active and peaceful experiences and realize its potential as an important contributor to biodiversity. We look forward to supporting GP+B in working with the local communities to transform this space for the benefit of all.”

Neil Porter, Partner at Gustafson Porter + Bowman, added, “Gustafson Porter + Bowman is delighted to be part of the ongoing Brent Cross Town redevelopment project. Clitterhouse Playing Fields is the scheme’s largest green space, and it will create an exciting opportunity for new play, sport and family facilities for the community. We will be developing a proposal that fits effortlessly into the existing landscape, but equally breathes new life into the neighborhood. For all our projects, we seek to develop the ecology, biodiversity and sustainability, and these will be the foundation of our approach to Clitterhouse Playing Fields. Our highly experienced team of sub consultants will work with us to explore the challenges of the project, build a relationship with the local community and create a green, healthy and accessible environment for them and for Brent Cross Town.”

Argent Related is making four significant pledges for Brent Cross Town:

To create the place in London to participate in sport and play: With indoor facilities and 50 acres of parks, Brent Cross Town will provide the best of both traditional and emerging sports, working with leading sports organizations, governing bodies and hero ambassadors to help drive female participation and champion diversity and inclusion;
To make a new North London town where all can flourish. Brent Cross Town will launch a Flourishing Index which will pioneer the measurement of how individuals and communities flourish in a town center. Partnering with Manchester University and Buro Happold, this approach represents a landmark moment in designing a development for mental health and wellbeing and demonstrates that Brent Cross Town is at the forefront of people-centered design;
To be a net zero carbon town by 2030 at the latest. This will be achieved by driving down the embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure, the carbon used in energy supply and offsetting the remainder. Partnering with Vattenfall, Brent Cross Town will deliver reliable and affordable zero carbon heating to homes, shops and businesses; and
To strengthen existing connections, both locally and into Central London, connecting businesses, customers, friends and family. Brent Cross Town is in an enviable location – 12 minutes to Central London, immediate access to the M1 and five major airports within one hour. Locally, new pedestrian and cycle routes will integrate Brent Cross Town with its surrounding communities.

Argent Related has a £8bn+ development pipeline in London which includes the delivery of two major regeneration schemes featuring over 7,900 homes, over 3 million sq ft. of office space, 50 acres of parks and playfields, as well as retail, leisure, student accommodation and schools, both highly accessible from new and improved public transport connections. It is currently working in a joint venture with Barnet Council on London’s 180-acre Brent Cross South site, with the London Borough of Haringey for the Tottenham Hale redevelopment and is progressing other opportunities in London including a build-to-rent development in King’s Cross.

Argent Related’s mission is to be the greatest City builders in the world. This means developing for the long term – astutely, sustainably and with a sense of social purpose. Argent Related is delivering the places, homes, workspace and public space that UK Cities and town centers need.

Gustafson Porter + Bowman are an award-winning landscape architecture practice based in London. It has a talented team of landscape architects, architects and urban designers led by five partners. Its wide-ranging specializations allow us to engage with a multitude of projects from the urban masterplan scale to bespoke designs.

Its design process is always based on a deep understanding of a site, its geographical context and the organizations and cultures that shape them.

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