ALL AT SEA
14 Feb 2017
A new initiative in London aimed at greening the city has paved the way for a new kind of park – a floating one – that will offer seasonal gardens and support local wildlife. An innovative space saver!
London is about to get its first floating pocket park as part of a citywide greening initiative. Thanks to recent approval from the local city council, a floating 730sqm green-covered platform, designed by garden designer Tony Woods of The Garden Club, is slated to open this spring at Merchant Square on the Grand Union Canal.
The large green platform, which will be the first of its kind for the City, will have a lush green lawn surrounded by nectar-rich mixed raised borders. Various textural herbaceous plants and grasses will decorate the space year-round, but the colour scheme will change with the seasons, stem colour in autumn, scented winter flowers, spring bulbs, and an abundance of colourful flowers in summer.
The park will also contain a “bespoke planting” scheme aimed at encouraging local wildlife to inhabit the space, even adding a separate pontoon area for ground-nesting birds. Apart from the feathered friends, the pavilion, which will have its own canal boat mooring, will have a capacity of up to 120 visitors and offer free Wi-Fi for those looking for outdoor workspace. The pocket park will have plenty of communal seating as well as a series of decked platforms and walkways where people can walk over water.
The park is part of the Greater London Authority’s green infrastructure initiative, which aims to improve local infrastructure, as well as green parks and water canal and riverside spaces across the city. Andrew Scrivener, Chief Executive at European Land hailed the planning approval, “Outdoor spaces are a key ingredient in any successful neighbourhood. At Merchant Square this incredible Floating Pocket Park – the first in London – will not only provide green space for our residents and a unique outside workplace for occupiers but create an oasis in the West End, offering Londoners a way to actively reconnect with the canal.”
