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Edmonton Green is the redevelopment of a 1970s shopping centre, residential towers, and office buildings in Enfield. The masterplan, designed by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands for Crosstree Real Estate Partners, will reinvigorate the area by developing a mix of residential, leisure and retail buildings, designed around new streetscapes and public spaces, to create a vibrant destination for the local community.
In the first of our two-part project study, we are looking at the work of our civil engineering team on this exciting and challenging project.
As the civil and structural engineers on the project, we worked closely with the client, architect, and wider design team to deliver the scheme to planning, which was successfully granted in December 2021.
One of the major civil engineering challenges with the masterplan was the presence of the culverted Salmon’s Brook watercourse which passes across and adjacent to the 26-acre site. We worked closely with the Environment Agency and the flood risk team at the London Borough of Enfield, who have invaluable knowledge of the local watercourses. As the Salmon’s Brook culvert runs through the site, flood risk, easements, and options to open up the watercourse were discussed and advanced. The initial 8-metre easement to the watercourse was negotiated down to ensure a viable scheme, whilst providing access to the culvert for future maintenance requirements. It was important to strike the right balance between wayfinding on the proposed market street, pedestrian routing and opening up the watercourse.
Due to the size of the development and its location within Flood Zone 2 and 3, flood modelling was undertaken to understand the flood levels on the site, so that building levels could be adjusted accordingly. To ensure that flood water was not displaced, site levels were developed with the architect and landscape architect to ensure that the floodable area was maintained across the proposed masterplan. This study found that bringing forward the development will decrease flood risk offsite.
We worked with the landscape architects, Bradley-Hole Schoenaich Landscape, to provide a sustainable drainage strategy tailored to the site. Across the masterplan, blue and green roofs are proposed on flat roofs and terraces to manage rainwater at source, which also contain extensive and diverse planting. Permeable paving across the site will provide filtration and improve the water quality of the run-off draining to the Salmon’s Brook. Swales and soft landscaping have been carefully integrated into the public realm, considering the expected footfall across site, which will provide amenity benefits for residents and visitors.
Our surface water drainage design closely considered amenity, biodiversity, and sustainability benefits. Providing healthy streets that are green and welcoming, with landscaping features working to attenuate water and create inviting public spaces improve amenity benefits for the site users. Extensive podium gardens provide opportunities for communal gardening, whilst also reusing water that drains to these levels. Allowing for a section of the watercourse to be de-culverted will improve biodiversity by maximising greening along the watercourse, along with the flood risk benefits.
It was a key aim of the masterplan to connect the site’s former land use and market history, whilst improving links to the surrounding neighbourhoods. The new public spaces have been designed to create vibrant hubs of activity to help bring the community together. This includes landscaped public squares, communal gardens, and green streets to allow pedestrians and cyclists to travel via green links creating safe and convenient routes.
Investigations are currently being undertaken on site; we will be submitting a Flood Risk Activity Permit to the EA to gain approval for works to the culvert and we are nearing completion of tender design for the first phase of the masterplan.
In our next project study, we will look at the work of our structural engineers on the development of four residential towers on the site.
