Lancaster West has become a living example of how multiple green infrastructure interventions can work together. Across the estate, you'll find rain gardens, SuDS planters, living walls, green screens, nature gardens, parklets, street furniture and ornamental planting, each responding to a different challenge but contributing towards the same goal of creating a greener, more resilient place to live.
Following the Grenfell tragedy in 2017, the government proposed a transformation of the area into the "model social housing estate for the 21st century" and outlined key aims of enhancing greenery, community and quality of life.
We've been working with the Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea since 2020, bringing a diverse range of green infrastructure features that has made Lancaster West one of London's most compelling examples of community-led urban greening.
A map of some of our projects in the Lancaster West estate area
Managing water naturally at the Lancaster West Estate
Many spots in and around the estate have been highlighted as being at risk of surface water flooding. We designed and tailored SuDS infrastructure to these areas to introduce greenery, reduce pressure on the shared local drainage network and boost climate resilience.
How the terraced rain garden helped manage rain water at the Lancaster West Estate
The pedestrian area at the Lancaster West end of Clarendon Road suffered frequent flooding due to poor drainage and rapid runoff along a sloped grass border adjacent to residents' properties. To tackle this, we expanded and reshaped the border by 8 sqm to create a large terraced rain garden that featuring a diverse planting palette to create a space that is both vibrant and practical.
SuDS Planters at the Lancaster West Estate
An above-ground solution in and around two large apartment blocks, Allom and Barlow House, is helping capture and slow roof runoff. Seven large-scale SuDS Planters were installed across the blocks. Connected to gutters by downpipe conversions, the SuDS features are now regulating roof runoff and providing relief to local drainage networks while introducing 80m2 of new green space across the buildings.
Bringing nature into everyday spaces at the Lancaster West Estate
Integrating greenery into everyday life has been a priority for the Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team. Making use of hard-landscaped spaces by overlaying or retrofitting them with greenery can have bring positive benefits for both people and the environment. Incorporating planting onto a building's exterior provides habitat for pollinators and wildlife, boosts biodiversity and can improve carbon capture, making streets cleaner and safer.
The Lancaster West Estate living wall
To visually enhance an overlooked underpass area of the estate, we transformed four brick walls with living walls and installed custom steel planters to revamp the outdoor communal area. Over 1300 plants were used to add vibrance, structure and create an inviting space for residents to enjoy and relax in. Serving as visual focal points, the living walls remodel the space into an architectural statement that softens the hard urban environment and gives residents a green, welcoming corridor to move through everyday.
Creating community spaces at the Lancaster West Estate
Areas that feature high rise apartment blocks like Lancaster West are often faced with higher populations and limited communal green spaces. Finding ways of creating shared spaces that prioritise greenery and accessible resting space is becoming increasingly important as towns and cities become more built up and populated. We worked with the council to identify small pockets of space to integrate green infrastructure and make these areas work harder for people and the environment.
Bramley House nature garden
At Bramley House, we transformed the paved courtyard into a relaxing community nature garden. Fitted with large raised timber planting beds, a pergola and gabion bench seating, the nature garden provides a space for residents to gather, relax and enjoy the outdoors. A diverse planting palette and tree integration brings colour and calm to the courtyard as well as future shade and canopy cover.
Before installation
After installation
Solar Parklet at Kensington Leisure Centre
Kensington Leisure Centre is another key area in and around the Lancaster West Estate. Though a community space in itself, the leisure centre was lacking outdoor areas to rest and use as a third space. We designed two parklets that serve different purposes, a renewable energy amenity parklet and a community parklet.
The solar parklet is fit with solar panels, USB charging points, lighting features and a green roof, making waiting and lingering in the space more comfortable, practical and sustainable.
The community parklet is a larger structure that features more seating, positioned in front of a community noticeboard. Its design and positioning makes it well suited to community use and engagement while enhancing greenery and local biodiversity.
Lancaster West Community Parklet
RBKC Solar Parklet
Strengthening the Lancaster West Estate public realm
In a densely populated area, public spaces play a vital role in defining identity and creating culturally welcoming spaces for residents and visitors. Every intervention in Lancaster West contributes to a public realm that feels cared for, considered and worth spending time in.
Oil drum planting near the Lancaster West estate
Beside the cafes, restaurants and small businesses that line the estate's local high street, a series of vibrant oil drums bring colour and character to the public realm. We refreshed the Lancaster West oil drum planting, using a diverse planting scheme that includes grasses and perennials for colour, height and texture.
Adding plants to the space, restored the drums as a colourful and eye-catching focal point for residents and visitors passing through the area. A more visually interesting space translates to a more engaging and attractive area to spend time in.
What the Lancaster West Estate tells us about green infrastructure
The Lancaster West is an example of how green infrastructure is not just about individual projects and features, it is the combination of of multiple interventions across the space. From managing surface water to creating community spaces and greening everyday infrastructure, every feature contributes to a place that feels genuinely better to live in. It is the kind of transformation that takes time and collaboration, coming together over a span of years.
Our work on the Lancaster West Estate is not over, with more projects in the pipeline, we look forward to continue building an even greener community.
