Neighbourhood parks

Best practice exemplars:

GREAT KNEIGHTON NEIGHBOURHOOD PARKS CAMBRIDGE, UK

The neighbourhood parks of Great Kneighton form the primary public open space within the development. The parks align with the public realm vision for Ebbsfleet through the incorporation of play areas, the provision of seating, open lawn spaces, and the incorporation of surface water retention areas.

The quality and type of planting varies, but parks such as Roseum Garden (bottom right) include the layered, ecologically rich planting recommended within the planting strategy. Additional notable qualities include the use of timber play elements and the use of hedges to define spaces and edges.

EAST VILLAGE NEIGHBOURHOOD PARKS LONDON, UK

Mirabelle Gardens, Victory Park, and Portlands Lake East are good examples of neighbourhood parks. Collectively these parks provide a green network that increases biodiversity through the use of native plant species, sustainably collects and manages stormwater, encourages activity through the integration of play features, and provides a rich diversity of social spaces for local residents.

Additionally, the parks are also exemplary for their use of undulating topography. The topography is used to create a variety of social spaces, direct stormwater, and establish interest along pathways.

ELEPHANT PARK LONDON

At the heart of a new residential development in Elephant & Castle, a new community park has been designed to help restore nature in the heart of the city. The park’s design includes a myriad of recreational green spaces, play-able spaces, and has established 10 new routes through the development. The park and the newly established routes have helped to create a safer and more open environment for pedestrians and cyclists.

The new green spaces, the multi-purpose perennial planting, and an extensive tree planting strategy will play a crucial part in mitigating the impacts of climate change, and creating a healthy environment for residents.

QUEEN ELIZABETH PARK STRATFORD, LONDON

While Queen Elizabeth Park’s scale makes it more a city park than a neighbourhood park, it’s innovative planting strategy and play areas should be used to inform the design of the Ebbsfleet parks. A key focal point for this exemplar is the inclusion of a pictorial planting approach. This approach has allowed for large areas of the park to be covered by flowering plants with less intensive maintenance than typical herbaceous planting beds.

Queen Elizabeth Park is also notable for its integration of a variety of SuDS features, play on the way elements, and imaginative play areas that are both set within qualitative landscape and utilises those landscapes to inspire imaginative play.

Typical plan layout

Design guidance - scale & amenities

Detailed precedents & guidance

Pathways & Planting Design

Detailed precedents & guidance

Pathways

Park pathways should be designed to connect important lines of desire and improve the overall pedestrian connectivity of the neighbourhood. The pathways should provide access to the park’s amenities and be supported by benches and feature planting as in the typical plan. Depending on the character of the park, and hierarchy of the path, concrete block paving (1) or resin bound gravel (2) may be appropriate for pathways within local parks. The material choice should align with the hard material strategy in chapter 5.

Active edges

The buildings around the park should front on to the park to create the desired active edges (3). Whenever possible, front entrances should open out on to the park to encourage surrounding residents to regularly use the park (4) and adjacent streets should be severely traffic calmed to create a home zone character around neighbourhood parks. Additionally, the façades facing the park should be characterised by windows overlooking the space. This will create an atmosphere of natural surveillance and add to the overall safety of the park.

Trees

The green character of the park should be reinforced by the inclusion of a variety of tree species within the park (5). The trees should be composed to create a cohesive landscape character within the park (6), but they can vary in size, seasonal qualities, and texture to create year round interest. The selected tree species should align with the goal of enhancing biodiversity and should be selected to fit the local site conditions (e.g. soil, moisture level, winds). Please see the planting strategy in chapter 6 for further detail.

Planting Design

The planting design of neighbourhood parks should aim to enhance the biodiversity and ecology of the neighbourhood. In large pockets of planting a pictorial planting approach should be used to create areas of ornamental planting that deliver the desired naturalistic aesthetic (7). Near prominent entrances and around primary social spaces, pockets of perennial planting can be used to create expand the planting palette and create added seasonal interest (8). Please see the planting strategy in chapter 6 for further detail.

Productive landscapes

The Edible Ebbsfleet initiative and Kent’s heritage as the Garden of England should be incorporated into the design of neighbourhood parks through the inclusion of pockets of productive landscape & growing spaces. Productive landscapes within neighbourhood parks may include fruit or nut trees (9), trellis with hops (10), herbs or where supported by the local community, edible crops grown within planting beds. For further detail on productive landscapes and the narrative of the Garden of England please see the planting strategy.

Rain Gardens & SuDS

The neighbourhood parks and green grid of Ebbsfleet are to be designed to include rain gardens and sustainable urban drainage systems in a similar way as the typical plan. The use of rain gardens (11) and swales (12) will expand the storage capacity for surface water within the public realm, will help to mitigate future flooding, and should be used to enhance neighbourhood biodiversity. All SuDS features within park will require a thorough investigate of the soil conditions and will require planting design that can tolerate the expected water fluctuations.

Social areas, play & recreation

Social areas

Each neighbourhood park should include a primary social space of a minimum of 200 square metres. This space is to include clusters of seating arranged to encourage conversation and should be complemented by distinctive features such as planting beds, seating walls, pergolas or other. This primary social space may also include amenities such as ping pong tables, barbecue areas, or picnic tables to strengthen communal interaction. To complement the primary social space, additional pockets of seating should be provided along the paths as shown in the typical plan.