ForthQuarter Park

The Challenges

A former gas works site, ForthQuarter Park lies 4km from Edinburgh city centre, with stunning views across the Forth Estuary adjacent to the City’s greenbelt. The aim has been to create an ecologically robust landscape that supports the urban environment and responds to issues of climate, energy, drainage and ecology in a way that was sustainable for future generations. The ForthQuarter Park forms a large landscape area through the centre of the site that connects residents and workers of the local areas to the waterfront as well as linking with the greenbelt to the west and Caroline Park to the east.

Solutions

The main concept of the scheme was to redirect the existing culverted water course through the park to create a wetland habitat and natural SUD’s environment which includes natural treatment systems such as grass swales, wet grassland detention basins, constructed wetlands and storm water disposal systems. Major existing landscape elements within the site were sensitively integrated into the design and enhanced.

Key objectives for the scheme were to:

– integrate into the existing community
– integrate into future masterplan developments for the wider area
– provide a new parkland setting linking adjacent landscape areas
– provide a green focus for the development
– provide a clear hierarchy of streets, spaces, pedestrian and cycle routes
– maximise the topography by creating vistas through the site
– develop an identifiable urban form with individual character
– create a sense of permeability