The Royal Ballet School - BALI National Landscape Awards 2018
Award: BALI Principal Landscape Award
Category: Hard Landscaping Construction (Non-Domestic) – Under £300K
The Royal Ballet School at White Lodge, to the north east of Richmond Park, is a Grade I Listed building located in a conservation area. It has a distinctive character that is sensitive to change. The main entrance to the school, reached through a sliding gate from Richmond Park, is used for car parking and deliveries. The changes to this area needed to reflect the historic building and the surrounding landscape, as advised by English Heritage, and both the layout and materials chosen had to be sympathetic to the setting. The works undertaken by Blakedown included creating an interface between the building and the tarmacadam area, using low planting to help resolve drainage issues; the creation of a new parking area screened from view by hedging; and the opening up of views of the building and framing it with new planting. Challenges included ‘no dig’ construction under existing mature trees. The new scheme integrates beautifully with its local surroundings
“Although a relatively straightforward
scheme, Blakedown Landscapes has embraced the sensitivity of the site and its surroundings to provide an entirely appropriate and impressive entrance to this prestigious facility. The groundworks and the installation of the hard landscaped parking areas and drive, including tarmac, gravel and setts, have been very competently executed, providing a sound
framework for the soft planting.”