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ACACIA ROAD

westminster city council

Acacia Road is a detached house located within the St John’s Wood Conservation Area of North London. R-LA was instructed to develop a landscape design to sit alongside the proposed erection of a new two-storey house plus basement and integrated garage. 

The landscape proposal includes a large decking area that is surrounded by densely planted perennials, grasses and small shrubs that are broken up by an informal garden path which meanders through the grounds. The existing trees and the levels of the site were a crucial factor in this project. The boundary trees needed replacing and whilst they sit in soft landscape, a root space underground soil cellular system is required under the permeable paving in order to optimise soil conditions for maximum root growth and tree health. Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck’ has been proposed as a suitable narrow street tree to replace the existing trees as this species will still provide a level of privacy from neighbours, but as the client has a pollen allergy, the low OPAL rating of Fagus was an important factor.

The design approach used interactive 3D parametric modelling to enable the client to visualise the proposal in an effective way, particularly when considering the choice of street trees and the views from neighbours to assess the visual impact of the proposal.

Planning permission was granted and construction is under way.