Ebbsfleet Public Realm Hard Landscape Guide

Use this guidance to inform the specification and detailing of hard surfaces in Ebbsfleet public realm projects to achieve characterful, affordable, durable and sustainable hard surfaces and street furniture.

Ebbsfleet’s streets and public spaces should celebrate the richness and beauty of the local cultural landscape

The Hard Landscape Guidance sets out a design approach to the specification of materials and street furniture that interprets and reflects the cultural heritage and landscape of the Ebbsfleet area.

The hard landscape guidance builds on the landscape character assessment in Section 2 to provide a consistent hard materials strategy that enhances Ebbsfleet’s existing sense of place. The aim is to balance this consistency while also taking into account the 4 landscape character areas and the management and maintenance requirements for the 6 public realm typologies.

This section includes a materials palette for the hard landscape materials and signage as well as guidance on management and maintenance of the hard landscape for the 6 public realm typologies.

The management and maintenance tables sets out the life cycle expectations for hard materials, furniture, and site furnishings for each typology, to allow this to be incorporated into the stewardship planning for the public realm.

How to use the Hard Landscape Guidance

This hard landscape strategy is intended to be used in the Design Process Step 2 and Step 3 ( See Section 1)

The guidance should be used in conjunction with;

Section 2 : Landscape Character Overview

Section 4 : Worked Examples

For example, Section 2 should be consulted upon to identify the character area, and then Section 4 provides typical plans for each of the 6 public realm typologies and guidance on the appropriate location, arrangement and quantity of specific materials and street furniture that are to be used. The guidance in these sections is then further developed in the Hard Landscape Strategy to clarify the colour palettes, material qualities, and design considerations for the hard landscape within the public realm. Items considered within the hard landscape strategy include paving, street furniture, walling materials, play on the way, and signage.

Attention to detail

This section provides general rules of thumb for the integration of drainage, utilities, manholes, signage and lighting within each of the public realm types. These rules of thumb should be taken into account in step 3 of the design process and form a part of the design audit evaluation within that step of the design process.

Management and maintenance

The section concludes with a series of pages outlining the management and maintenance requirements for the hard landscape. The management and maintenance requirements are organised by typologies in a series of tables that provide a general description, life expectancy, outline maintenance / management specification, and an anticipated frequency. Additional management and maintenance requirements specific to street furniture, play, and lighting have been provided at the conclusion of the chapter.

It is expected that these management and maintenance tables are first reviewed in step 2 of the design process. At this stage the design team should review and confirm the life expectancy and management requirements align with the design guidance for each typology within their project area. Then in step 3, a more thorough review and analysis of these tables should then be carried out as part of the establishment of the material palettes. It is expected that during this step the team evaluates and demonstrates the design meets the life expectancy and management requirements through the analysing of alternative options. Further details of how this fits into the overall design process can be found in Chapter 1 of this document

Life cycle analysis and stewardship

The life cycle expectations and maintenance requirements within this chapter were developed as part of a general life cycle costing analysis. This analysis was carried out on the landscape surface level of each of the 6 public realm typologies and has included input from capital costing and life cycle costing experts to develop a suitable and realistic hard materials strategy for Ebbsfleet Garden City.