The Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Garden occupies a site in Regent's Park that was, for decades, home to the Royal Parks' glasshouses, used to grow planting for all eight Royal Parks across London. When that operation moved to Hyde Park Nursery, the site was left disused, opening up the opportunity to design a new garden in the centre of the city.
The result is a two-acre garden that has transformed a disused plant nursery into a tranquil landscape with significant benefits to nature. Where glasshouses once stood, a new garden now sits within one of London's finest landscapes.
Price & Myers were the civil and structural engineers on the project, working with lead designer and landscape architect HTA Design and architect Tate + Co to deliver the scheme for client The Royal Parks.
At the heart of the garden stands the old water tower, partially demolished and reimagined as a viewing platform. Its basement now houses a rainwater harvesting tank that collects and attenuates rainwater that falls on the garden. A cantilevered platform extends from the tower, decked with steel salvaged from the nursery potting tables in the glasshouses.
We also worked with blacksmith Ian Thackray on the fixings for the decorative cladding that wraps the tower, its motifs of thistle, leek, shamrock and rose representing the UK's four home nations.
In the meadow and other areas of the garden, concrete from the demolished glasshouse foundations was crushed and reused as aggregate within the soil. This was one of several strategies used to increase the biodiversity of the site, at the centre of Regent's Park.
Price & Myers' civils team worked closely with HTA to design the sub-bases for the garden's terrazzo paving and other paths that criss-cross the garden. They also provided cut and fill calculations that enabled the re-use of as much material in the new garden as possible, and they delivered the below-ground drainage that underpins the garden.
