Harton Quays Park in South Shields, UK by Grant Associates

Article source: Grant Associates

Harton Quays Park, the £2.3 million waterfront park in South Shields designed by landscape architects Grant Associates for South Tyneside Council, has been awarded a specialist CEEQUAL Client & Design Award for excellence in sustainability.

Scheduled for completion in May 2013, Harton Quays Park will stretch along the River Tyne from South Shields ferry landing to the Customs House and feature curved embankments, an amphitheatre, lawns and colourful planting, a promenade, sheltered gardens and a dramatic pine grove viewing point. A curved ribbon wall made up of 144 precast concrete panels is just one of the key features of the new scheme.

Harton Quays Park Arial (c) Grant Associates

• Architects: Grant Associates
• Project: Harton Quays Park
• Location: South Shields, UK

Harton Quays Park Arial 2 (c) Grant Associates

The park is part of a wider regeneration masterplan for South Shields Riverside, joint-funded by South Tyneside Council and the Homes and Communities Agency.

‘Very Good’ CEEQUAL Award

CEEQUAL is an evidence-based Sustainability Assessment and Awards Scheme for civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping and the public realm.  The award celebrates the achievement of high environmental and social performance.

Harton Quays Park Axo Strip (c) Grant Associates

Harton Quays Park has received a ‘Very Good’ commendation as part of the CEEQUAL award assessment, thanks to the collaborative efforts of designers working on the scheme, led by Grant Associates and civil engineers Mott MacDonald.

Harton Quays Park Events Lawn to Customs House (c) Grant Associates

Peter Chmiel, director, Grant Associates, the landscape architects responsible for the landscape masterplanning of Harton Quays Park said:

“We are delighted to see Harton Quays Park receive a ‘Very Good’ CEEQUAL ‘Client and Design Award’.  Grant Associates is committed to integrating imagination, design innovation and sustainability into the landscape so it has been rewarding to work with South Tyneside Council who have been dedicated to ensuring that the sustainable aspirations for the park have been met by ensuring the requirement for CEEQUAL accreditation within the brief.

Harton Quays Park Ferry Approach (c) Grant Associates

“The park has been designed with the aim of providing additional amenity to the area, to offer a cultural focus and spaces for events and with an emphasis on promoting biodiversity. When completed, Harton Quays Park will form a key piece of the on-going regeneration strategy for the area and create an important re-connection of South Shields town centre to the River Tyne.”

Harton Quays Park Pine Grove (c) Grant Associates

The project areas identified by CEEQUAL where Harton Quays Park team excelled included:

• key public and stakeholder engagement;
• key interest on sustainability;
• public use of the park making it a destination;
• production of a sustainability framework to guide the design;
• development of a reinforced earth design to involve use of recycled demolition materials to reduce the need for supply of quarried aggregates;
• and incorporation of a Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) channel to the base of the new ribbon wall to provide amenity and improve water quality.
  

(left to right) Simon Longshaw of Mott MacDonald, Councillor Michael Clare, Lead Member Regeneration and Economy at South Tyneside Council and Will Day of Grant Associates. They are pictured on site at Harton Quays Park in South Shields holding the CEEQ

Councillor Michael Clare, Lead Member Regeneration and Economy at South Tyneside Council, said: 

“Harton Quays Park is already proving to be a major success for the Borough. The attraction of industry plaudits is recognition of our partnership working with leading organisations from the building, construction and engineering community. These appointments are ensuring the best quality results will be in place for generations of residents and visitors to enjoy.

“Harton Quays Park is a wonderful way to showcase our business and heritage assets. It will become a key component in unifying the different elements of South Shields riverside.  The waterfront park will symbolise the Borough’s vision of regeneration and enhance our future plans.”

Tags: South Shields, UK

Category: Park

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