Delivering Innovation

Hanover Square is a prime location in Westminster, with as many as six streets converging on the area, therefore, high-quality materials were a necessity on the project to reflect the area’s prestige and history.

To honour this, the team installed granite benches featuring a honed finish, delivering a very smooth surface without any gloss, plus they also designed the cast iron perimeter fence in the style of the historical fence that was replaced after the Second World War to add to the area’s aesthetic.

As well as installing a new water feature, the aging brick-built gardeners hut was also demolished and replaced in a new location with a new modular unit which enabled a new double gated entrance feature. This helped to upgrade both the security of the park and the look as it provided a balance with the existing double gates at the South end.

Alongside these gate installations, the existing park entrances were also repositioned in order to improve pedestrian access to the new planting and extensive feature lawn area, which was bounded by a new permeable perimeter footpath inside the park.

Challenges and Solutions

One of the biggest project challenges was to place and compact the general fill in order to lift the site levels in what was the wettest winter on record.

Therefore, the team needed to import, stockpile and cover the general fill material with polythene covers, so that it was able to dry out. Once dry the team placed and compacted it as quickly as possible.

Due to the nature of the materials being used, timings were also a potential problem on the contract. However, using their experience, the team knew that the granite benches may require long lead times as they were fabricated in China, and pre-empted this by placing advanced orders for the materials.

This was ordered from China in order to provide a cheaper option to the client than a European-sourced granite, before self-delivering the installation to save on additional sub-contractor fees.

Furthermore, in modernising the park layout and facilities, a great deal of time was also needed to be given to the design and selection of the new key architectural features.

In particular the new, bespoke cast iron railings and built-in footway lighting and catenaries, as they needed to satisfy the strict planning requirements of the square and maintain the ‘feel’ of the park, as well as strict tree protection controls that needed to be considered as part of the overall design to improve air and light into the park and lawn areas.

Outcomes

The project was successfully delivered, providing Westminster’s Hanover Square with a fully regenerated public park area, complete with a lawn area, fountain, granite seating and cast iron railings.