Portfolio

CATHERINE LAIDLAW landscape architecture portfolio

Books, like landscapes, leave their mark on us.

- Robert MacFarlane

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contents

01

selected works MA Landscape Architecture 2016-2018

Urban Regeneration

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Common Ground: Castle Park

02

Housing, policy and ecology

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Landscape Strategy Cinderford Collaborative Housing Design Code

03

Edgelands

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Leckhampton

04

Urban Design

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Youth Quarter: St James’ Square

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Remediation and regeneration

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Lightmoor Colliery: regenerating rural post-industrial landscapes

06

In Our Nature

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Castle Green Contemplation Centre

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Hand drawing

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2

Castle Green Contemplation Centre Master plan

01 Urban Regeneration

Common Ground: Castle Park

Location: Bristol Themes: strategic planning, master planning, regeneration, residential, commercial

An urban common fit for a resilient city that embraces community, diversity and creativity. Lost heritage is resurfaced and combined with ecological solutions to create a vibrant and contemporary urban civic green space in the heart of the city.

The design proposals for Bristol’s largest inner city green space address issues around accessibility and legibility to create a high quality, safe and beautiful park for all of Bristol’s residents, businesses and visitors. Public and digital realms work together to create new participatory spaces to improve quality of life, bring people together, provide healthy lifestyle options, and recreational opportunities.

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2.9 Connections

Stokes Cro�

Cli�on Suspension Bridge Cli�on Downs

FEASIBILITY STUDY

Royal West of England Art Gallery

An initial feasibility study for Castle Park identified the key opportunities and restraints of the site.

Although well used and well located in the centre of Bristol, some of the main issues included lack of visual amenity, deterioration of heritage assets, and poor permeability and relationship with the surrounding urban grain.

Bristol currently has a number of different “centres”. These include the Shopping Quarter, the Harbourside, and the area around St. Augustine’s Parade. The Bristol Central Area Plan includes in its vision a single, thriving city centre. There is therefore an opportunity for Castle Park to connect these separate “centres”, and to become a destination in its own right, as well as enhance the existing cultural, social and economic activities of the city.

The diagram opposite illustrates the sites relationship to the various areas and activities in Bristol, such as business districts and entertainment regions.

Many of the major cultural elements of Bristol are located on the west side of the city. Castle Park could improve provision and accessibility to Bristol’s vibrant and cultural identity to the east of the city, connecting to neighbourhoods such as Old Market and the Dings who are in close proximity to the city centre.

Shopping Quarter

City Museum & Art Gallery University of Bristol

Old Market

Park Street

Colston Hall

St. Nicholas’ Market

Old City

The Centre Central Library

SS Great Britain

Watershed

Cultural

Old Vic Temple Quarter

Entertainment (bars, pub, cafes etc.)

@Bristol & Harbourside Aquarium Arnolfini

Retail Business Tourist Attraction Approximate 5 minute walking distance

M Shed Spike Island Bristol Arena*

Approximate 5 minute cycling distance Approximate 10 minute walking distance Approximate 10 minute cycling distance

4 Gateway/entrance issues Gateway/entrance issues

Heritage assets requiring consideration and response Heritage assets requiring consideration and response

Buildings with amenity Buildings withlow lowvisual visual amenity Permeability retaining wall Permeabilityissues issues around around retaining wall Levels alongBroad Broad Weir Weir prevent to Castle Levels along preventconnection connection to Castle Park Park CASTLE Response needed to modern earthworks and level Response changesneeded in park to modern earthworks and level PARK Feasibility Study changes in park Lack of interaction with the Floating Harbour

Lack of interaction with the Floating Harbour

Lack of legibility and connection with Old City urban grain

Lack of legibility and connection with Old City urban grain Edge and frontage issues Keyand pedestrian andissues cycle through routes Edge frontage Key views to retain and enhance

Key pedestrian and cycle through routes Permeability issues to and from wider area

Key views to retain and enhance Legibility issues through park

Permeability issues to and from wider area Vehicular domination

Figure 10. Summary of site issues

Legibility issues through park Vehicular domination

Figure 10. Summary of site issues

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PLANNING STRATEGY The planning strategy places the ruins of St. Peter’s Church at the heart of the site. Functioning as a cultural centre, the renovated building expands out into the landscape into interlinked interior and exterior spaces, while the historic Castle Moat culvert is daylighted to create a riparian environment off the Floating Harbour.

LOW E

AST

LE

STR E

ET

BR OA D

WE

NE

H LA

YBUS MAR

HIGH

STREE

R OU RB HA

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Vaulted rs e chamb

Pocket park

T

St.

*

Cultural centre

Hig h cel Stree ars t

SUBTERRANEAN

Public square

Courtyard/ public gardens

*

st

lla

Ba

Amphitheatre/ flexible open green space Meadow

Community gardens Community gardens

Mul�faithCoppice centre

Orchard

ac y& Pla s ing en or rd o a g M ed se

l ve tra e �v

al

Coppice

Mixed play areas

en�

Pe ter Va s Chu ult rc s h

*

d Resi

Tor Meadow

n garde

VIN ES TR

STREET LEVEL

EET

G IN AT O FL

Flexible co-living residential buildings frame the site on the west and east side, with live/work opportunities. Vehicular domination is relegated, with a car-free zone creating greater permeability with the Old City area and the Shopping Quarter.

Resi.

e Peac

ROOF LEVEL

IR

RC

The vision for the site aims to build on Bristol’s participatory tradition by creating a diverse range of spaces which can be utilised and managed in different ways, and which combine heritage assets with sustainable innovations. A web of activities is created that take advantage of the different levels in Castle Park. Street level, roof top and subterranean spaces feed into one another to create interconnected, overlapping, multi-use environments.

The medieval cellars below High Street are utilised for micro and start-up businesses, while the vaults beneath the park become performance and exhibition venues. Productive, contemporary green roof spaces relate to the activities below ground.

Resi.

Resi.

MASTER PLAN The master plan places Castle Park as an “urban common”, creating opportunities to provide housing and energy solutions through participative citizenship and peer-to-peer production. The vision for the site utilises the digital realm’s increasing role and potential in shaping how spaces are used.

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The brief and design proposals aim to encapsulate the city’s ability to combine community, culture and creativity in order to create safe spaces for all demographics. It aims to create an environment that fosters mental and physical wellbeing, and for all to have opportunities to have access to cultural and creative resources.

02 Housing, policy and ecology

Landscape Strategy Cinderford Collaborative Housing Design Code Location: Forest of Dean Themes: strategic planning, policy, housing, green infrastructure

Planning policy was used to inform a landscape strategy for the Forest of Dean district, allocating housing over a 10 year period.

In addition to considering landscape character, GIS software was used to undertake an environmental analysis, using a data sieving process to identity potential suitable land for development.

A socio-economic analysis was also carried out to identify future trends in population and housing demand, as well as issues around education facilities for young people, and health and care needs for an increasing older population in the area.

A design code was subsequently developed for one of the housing allocations to guide development towards reinforcing landscape character and to ensure it created high quality, liveable and sustainable neighbourhoods.

A housing typology focusing on collaborative building models was chosen, in particularly cohousing, with a strong emphasis on creating community and protecting and enhancing the natural environment.

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The GIS data sieving process included selection criteria such as proximity to A and B roads, as well as restriction criteria such as excluding land in flood zones. Other considerations were then overlaid such as the regions mining heritage, resulting in Coal Authority High Risk Areas.

The landscape strategy aims to create exemplar sustainable developments that improve the importance and interconnection of the three towns around the forest core, as well as enhancing their relationship with the natural environment.

Initial suitability analysis located areas of

High potential

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Medium potential Low potential

potential land suitable for development based on several preferable attributes.

These were areas of land with a gradient of no more than 10o and on a slope with a south-east to south-west aspect.

The mapping data was further sieved by adding further selection criteria by including land that was classified as urban or poor agricultural grades. A 1km buffer zone was put around all A and B roads in the district and this acted as a further selection criteria for highlighting areas of land that met all the other criteria while also being close to existing road infrastructure.

A restriction criteria was finally added to exclude areas of land in a flood zone.

From this data sieving process other considerations were then overlaid such as Coal Authority High Risk Areas, SSSIs and Ancient Woodland and AONB in order to highlight which high and medium potential land areas did not fall into this areas

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the o the uffer

4.1

Scale and density

The dwelling density of the whole 39 hectare site is based on an average of approximately 30 dwellings per hectare. The cohousing model allows for an efficient use of land meaning development areas are of a higher density (approximately 40-60 dwellings per hectare but balanced with communal and shared facilities and large areas of green space and green infrastructure. For example, it is envisaged the Older Persons Cohousing development areas will be smaller units within two-storey buildings that are more towards the 60 dwellings per hectare figure, but border the large community green space to the east.

Green infrastructure

New dwellings

Meadow

DESIGN CODE Dwellings will be a maximum of two storeys to reflect the heights of 5.1 Sustainable drainage

Existing dwellings and roads

the surrounding existing settlements and also to preserve views and

Section showing character interlinked SuDS features, such keyreed sightbed, lines towards the River from Littledean Hill Road. as the with other green spacesSevern and travel routes.

Community centre

Reed bed

ning and ees.

Fig.19 Land use proportions Orchard

Grassland Grassland

Fig.20 Indicative scale and density section

Private garden

9 Reed bed

Traffic-free route

Communal garden

Indicative scale and showing density section Fig.36 Indicative section character of the interlinking of SuDS features such as the reed bad with other green spaces and travel routes.

Communal gardens

CINDERFORD EAST

DESIGN CODE

Terrraced Cohousing

Primary Route

Older Persons Cohousing

Tertiary Route (Mews)

Built form

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10

03 Edgelands Leckhampton

Location: Cheltenham Themes: landscape character assessment, planning policy, housing, master planning, green infrastructure

Retaining the productive and active nature of the Leckhampton area, community, biodiversity and food production are at the heart of the master plan.

Leckhampton is a district lying south of Cheltenham, adjacent to the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and designated green belt land, with the Cotswold escarpment also nearby.

Although urban residential areas border the site, the project brief required a response that considered the rural and historic character of Leckhampton in determining future land use.

Orchards are restored and new green spaces are created to reflect the historic character of the field patterns and land usage of the area. A community hub building and community supported agriculture scheme provides a ‘green heart’ for local residents.

Green roofs on the hub buildings and a swale and tree lined, vehicle-free high street provide a transition from residential areas towards the country park and outwards to the AONB.

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12

Leckhampton master plan

04 Urban Design

Youth Quarter: St James Square Location: Cheltenham Themes: regeneration, tourism, flood management,

The St. James Square is currently a large, unattractive car park adjacent to Cheltenham city centre. The brief asked for the creation of a youth quarter, comprising a youth centre, youth hostel, and workshop spaces for training and start-up businesses.

The design proposals included addressing flood risk, creating a green corridor along the River Chelt, providing opportunities for natural play, and the creation of event spaces.

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An improved waterside route and green corridor is proposed, crossing over new attenuation basins containing regional water meadow flora.

15

A new pocket park in St. Georges Mews leads to a new youth centre. ‘Graffiti’ planting beds are creating, using black backdrops to accentuate colours, while a mix of perennials and self-seeding annuals create vibrant and evolving planting beds reflective of the site character.

05 Remediation and regeneration Lightmoor Colliery: regenerating rural postindustrial landscapes

Location: Forest of Dean Themes: rural regeneration, land remediation, tourism, housing, employment, master planning

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The brief included a health and wellbeing centre at Lightmoor, as well as business and residential units, as part of regenerating old colliery spoil heaps in the Forest of Dean.

The Forest has a unique and vibrant heritage ranging from the ancient Freeminers to modern day eco-farmers creating their own communities in the Forest and striving towards an ecologically sound living.

The design process for Lightmoor drew on this local characteristic of self-creating but interdependent communities that are closely tied to the landscape.

The proposals create a regenerated landscape that limits disturbing the now naturalised man-made landforms. Utilising the spoil heap slopes and minimising their alteration are proposed, as well as sympathetic buildings and planting schemes.

The use of art in the landscape also contributes towards capturing the site’s heritage and providing a connection between the past and present.

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06 In Our Nature

Castle Green Contemplation Centre Location: Bristol Themes: community facilities, parks, urban green space, regeneration, heritage

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Castle Green Contemplation Centre is a multi-faith facility for Bristol’s diverse population. It is a space for landscape and contemplation to combine to nurture humanity’s highest aspirations.

Sited in the north-east corner of Castle Park, the centre is housed in an earth-sheltered building.

Castle Green itself provides a special and distinct urban space, a ‘clearing’ in contrast to the nearby shopping and business districts. The proposals aim to provide a flexible space suitable for religious and secular uses, allowing for the changing nature and diversity of religious activities in contemporary life.

Concept model and development

Planning strategy

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An area of Betual spp. with contrasting barks, mirror other textures and colours on the site as well as the conceptual use of light and dark. The canopy creates a gentle sense of enclosure while still allowing intervisibility between the space and the rest of the park. .

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CASTLE GREEN CULVERT Multi-faith centre with skylight down into an internal space to allow for interaction with light and framed views up to the sky.

A waterwall provides a backdrop of sound to mute surrounding urban sounds, as well as provide interesting plays of light

The Prism Pavilion provides a subtle play in colours. In contrast to the light above, a glass circular cover over the culvert below has a dark reflective surface and signals to the subterranean character and activities elsewhere in the park.

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Hand drawing

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Thank you for reading