The Almere Landscape
Softening the ‘grid' of Milton Keynes through landscape design
Overview
This project has transformed a vacant brownfield site in the centre of Milton Keynes into a mixed-use development of 294 homes for rent, a 44-bed apart-hotel and a range of flexible commercial and community space at ground floor.
The landscape design for this Build to Rent project focuses on providing attractive residents’ amenity spaces, creating a legible entrance to the development, and softening the ‘grid’ of Milton Keynes.
The public entrance square ties into the existing garden city design principles of Milton Keynes and caters for a variety of uses with café breakout spaces, flexible seating and a central lawn with a series of planted areas that provide a rich and verdant setting for the built form.
Along the roadside, retained trees and ‘Porte Cochère’ structures reinforce the wider pedestrian circulation and improve the legibility of the entrance.
In line with the Build to Rent model, The Almere includes a range of residents’ amenity spaces. Externally, these include a sheltered podium garden with children’s playspace, flexible seating options, open lawns and intimate garden spaces, and provides a seamless visual connection through to the internal amenity spaces and beyond to the public realm.
This garden is complemented by two rooftop south-facing terraces at the 11th and 14th floors, complete with an outdoor kitchen, seating areas, pots and planters, and expansive views across Milton Keynes.
