The Environmental Design team provides the Authority with a professional landscape design resource which is utilised both internally and externally.
Externally, the Environmental Design team represents the Authority in ongoing discussions with a range of partners in relation to future open space enhancement opportunities. Particular focus in the future will be on the Olympic Legacy Park and future open space provision in the Lower Lee Valley.
Internally, the team provides guidance, assistance and advice on a full spectrum of design issues. This can range from the ongoing development and refinement of the strategic aspirations for the future of the Regional Park, through to detailed design, specification and delivery on site of specific enhancement projects.
Three Mills Green is the first part of the award winning Lea River Park to be delivered and is one of the series of proposed park spaces that, along with the Fatwalk, will connect the Olympic Park to the River Thames. The project has been delivered from inception to completion in 12 months led by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government through the London Thames Gateway Parklands and Olympic Fringe Delivery Strategy funding administered by the London Development Agency. The project was also aided by the Forestry Commission’s London Tree and Woodland Grant Scheme
Three Mills Green has been transformed into a more flexible, multifunctional, exciting, playful and ecologically rich open space following £735,000 of grant funding. The improvements are part of the Mayor of London’s Great Outdoors programme, an initiative to rejuvenate the capital’s parks, squares and roads ahead of and beyond the 2012 Games. The site has been transformed through;
- retaining and enhancing an open space in the form of a 105m diameter flat circular grass disc with the capacity to host events of a range of scales and types;
- remodelling the landforms within the site (utilising 10,000m³ of site won material) to increase the diversity and interest of the open space experience. These areas integrate opportunities for informal sports and play as well as enhancing the ecological and landscape values through new tree, shrub and meadow grassland. The new landform includes mounds to the south east and south west corners of the site and a more complex mix of hills and hollows in the north of the site, including the creation of a large sculpted terrace rising up to 5.0m on the northern edge of the grass disc. This earthwork provides space for informal seating to support events;
- strengthening the convergence of key routes into the site with the realignment and upgrade of the route along the western boundary and the provision of a circular route around the grass disc. A series of bound gravel and mown grass paths provide access and opportunities to explore the site;
- improving visual and physical access into the site through the removal of fencing and barriers to access on the western boundary;
- restoring and relocating the existing Three Mills Green Memorial from the north of the site to a more prominent position, reinterpreting the actual site of the tragedy;
- delivering a programme of activities along the western boundary and route of the Fatwalk, including the introduction of recreational elements including table tennis tables and a petanque pitch;
- providing a variety of seating opportunities, including an extensive river edge wall, picnic tables, benches and stools;
- increasing the diversity of the open space, including opportunities for recreation by creating a multifunctional and playable landscape;
- enhancing the biodiversity values throughout the site by planting 45 semi-mature tree specimens, 375 trees, 1,400 shrubs and 16,000 square metres of wildflower grassland;
- and in doing so remediated the site from significant asbestos contamination.
Proposals for Three Mills Green have been masterplanned and detailed by Churchman Landscape Architects, incorporating Fatwalk designed by 5th Studio. Works have been delivered by English Landscapes Ltd.