Gillespies wins St Cuthbert’s Garden Village landscape competition
Gillespies, in collaboration with Umbrellium, Brooks Ecology and the talented Hilary Barber, has won a competition to design a ‘Greenway and Park’ that would connect the different communities within St Cuthbert’s Garden Village - the largest project of its kind in the north of England.
The two-staged “Start with the Park” Greenway competition run by Carlisle City Council, The Landscape Institute with sponsors United Utilities, forms the centrepiece for the proposed St Cuthbert’s Garden Village and aims to encourage recreational and active travel to boost connectivity within the garden village.
Gillespies’ proposal for The Greenway is inspired by the dramatic natural and man-made linear landmarks that form a part of the physical and cultural landscape and is celebrated through the articulation of a bold ribbon feature. The ribbon flows along the entire length of The Greenway to create a sculptural art installation, creating a strong identity and sense of place and acting as a multifunctional unifying element that links the landscape, recreational facilities, and communities together.
The park has a ‘light touch’ approach, where the existing man-made agricultural landscape is sensitively regenerated to become wilder, more biodiverse and resilient to climate change whilst still retaining its cultural identity and function. This is a natural park that focuses on creating a mosaic of habitats to repair damaged ecosystems and contribute to establishing a nature recovery network for the wider Carlisle area.
This carbon-conscious, sustainable and nature-led park encourages an equitable co-existence between people and the natural environment whilst also promoting the health and wellbeing of its residents. Minimising the level of intervention- retaining and conserving rather than redeveloping; promoting low embodied carbon materials, carbon ‘drawdown,’ circular economy solutions, active travel and growing food locally.
Our proposal proposes a comprehensive water management strategy that is integrated into the landscape in such a way as to maximise habitat creation opportunities, recreation and amenity.
Social sustainability is vital to creating a self-sufficient place where residents are given a sense of ownership, identity and social equality. Our approach sets out a stewardship model that demonstrates how Community Supported Agriculture, land management, community events, forums and amenities can be delivered, operated and maintained in a viable and sustainable manner to empower and enrich the lives, health and wellbeing of its residents.
The judges described The Greenway Ribbon as “an innovative and professional approach to a landscape-based placemaking project.”
