Landscape Insight November 2018 | Page 10

MONTH IN REVIEW The station roof has been designed to fit in with the surrounding landscape, and to optimise natural daylight using an integrated, efficient structural form and rainwater management system.’’ Kim Quazi, lead architect at Arup LANDSCAPE PROJECTS AWARDS GUSTAFSON PORTER AND BOWMAN’S FIRST PHASE OF VALENCIA PARQUE CENTRAL APPROACHES COMPLETION GRANT ASSOCIATES PART OF WINNING DESIGN TEAM FOR AUSTRALIA’S TALLEST BUILDING Gustafson Porter and Bowman’s Valencia Parque Central project is approaching completion, with the first phase of the 23ha development due to open in early 2019. The project is one of the city’s most significant redevelopments to date and will create a new contemporary public park which “celebrates the culture of the region” and which aims to become the social heart of the city, uniting eastern and western neighbourhoods that were previously divided by a railway. Eventually it will also connect other areas of the city to a 43-hectare redeveloped southern zone. The project aims to distil the “historical, cultural and geographical uniqueness” of Valencia in a contemporary park and responds to a challenge to build a sustainable urban public space. References to the local tradition of ceramics are expressed through the design of ‘bowls’, which provide a unifying gesture with water as its overarching theme. The bowl- like spaces are created through sculpted landforms, and when completed will create spaces for art, programmed activities, the community, history and cultural events. 10 Landscape Insight | November 2018 Landscape architect Grant Associates was part of the winning team, led by UNStudio and Cox Architecture, which designed a AUS$2bn mixed use development in Melbourne, Australia. Known as Green Spine, the scheme will, subject to planning approval, see the construction of two twisting ‘green’ skyscrapers with the highest standing at 356.2 metres, making it Australia’s tallest building. The skyscraper will be topped by a publicly accessible garden space, while extended planted terraces will characterise the facing facades of the two towers as they twist towards each other. Dutch architecture practice UNStudio teamed with Australian firm Cox Architecture, along with British firms Grant Associates, environmental design consultant Atelier Ten and engineer Arup, to win an international design competition to create the landmark development for Beulah International. The scheme’s design concept centres on the planted facades and outdoor spaces that will create a ‘green spine’ that connects with the public realm and stretches from the street to the top of both towers. MASTERPLANS BARTON WILLMORE SUBMITS PLANS FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY IN BISHOP’S STORTFORD Barton Willmore has submitted a Hybrid Planning Application for a sustainable new community in Bishop’s Stortford South on behalf of developer Countryside Properties. The proposals have been drawn up following an extensive collaborative process with stakeholders and successful public consultation events. The new mixed-use development, which is currently known as Bishop’s Stortford South, will consist of 750 new homes, along with employment, retail, community space and a care home. The proposals also include a new primary and secondary school. A network of pedestrian footpaths and cycleways alongside a new bus corridor, which will accommodate an improved local bus service, will provide the new and surrounding community with efficient and sustainable modes of transport. Phase 1 of the development will consist of 142 new homes, consisting of a range of house types from apartments to five-bed homes, with 40% of the homes affordable.