Re-imagining the Garden City | C.F. Møller Architects

Winner – Award of Excellence in the 2020 WLA Awards for the Concept – Analysis & Planning category

Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects
Image Credit: WyrdTree

Ideas competition for a 45ha masterplan, based on a re-imagination of the principles behind the Garden City Movement, emphasising a sustainable and caring community.

Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects
Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects
Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects

Letchworth Garden City is the original Garden City based on the principles developed by Ebenezer Howard. In the spirit of the original Garden City, the proposal hopes to plant a seed to create a healthy and socially sustainable community where people care for one another, and the landscape.

Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects

The masterplan is focused on a modern interpretation of the ‘Hamlet’ and is developed from the inside out, from the scale of a dwelling up to a village or hamlet.

Landscape as a strategic pivot point

Landscape is a key catalyst for the masterplan, having informed all strategic design decisions. The framework of the new masterplan is built around links and synergies between productive, performative and amenity landscapes. A wild landscape surrounds the masterplan, providing shelter from noise and wind whilst enhancing a sense of enclosure and biodiversity.

Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects

Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) have been utilised as a generator for placemaking, using many of the existing hedgerow trenches. Besides managing rainfall, SuDS are here seen as an opportunity to attract wildlife and provide closer contact with nature.

Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects

The new parkway takes advantage of the existing hedgerows and connects the site to Letchworth Garden City, providing different activities along the way. There is room for physical activity and movement within nature, as paths flow through recreation areas such as playgrounds, seating areas and sports equipment.

Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects
Image Credit: WyrdTree

Our vision is to establish a diverse community, where the individual can live safely and in close connection with the landscape. We propose an open neighbourhood that naturally fits within the environment in which it is situated, contributing positively to local life.

Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects
Image Credit: WyrdTree

The masterplan creates an inclusive neighbourhood, which consists of a wide range of housing types and activities for residents of all ages, incomes and states of health. The scheme aspires to create a circular economy with holistic living. 

Agroforestry, as a complex food production system combining trees, crops and livestock, can contribute to achieve economic value, whilst restoring soil health and contributing to an increase in biodiversity.

Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects

It would involve all parts of the community from school children to elderly, so growing becomes the medium that brings people together. Here residents can be the co-creators of a rich social life for all, coming together to create a binding, pleasurable and incentive driven community.

Re-imagining the Garden City - C.F. Møller Architects

Re-imagining the Garden City

Landscape: C.F. Møller Architects

Client: Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation

Size: 45 ha, 900 Dwellings

Address: Letchworth Garden City, UK

Year: 2019, Competition

Image Credits:
CGIs/Renders: WyrdTree
Drawings & diagrams: C.F. Møller Architects

About Damian Holmes 3253 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/