Landscape

Blindwells Masterplan

Brief
Working for SRG, the Keppie masterplanning team has designed a new settlement on this former Scottish Coal site in East Lothian.  Our architects, landscape architects and urban designers have all contributed to the plan for this one hundred and thirty hectare site using the scale and form of existing East Lothian towns as an inspiration.  There are many technical constraints on the site caused by its previous uses.  Settlement ponds and unconsolidated lagoons define un-buildable areas.
Response
The masterplan has developed to show a new settlement.  The form of the new settlement uses the un-buildable areas as a green framework within which the residential, commercial and retail elements sit.  Due to the scale of the project there is also a need for primary and secondary education and this has been designed to relate to community sports facilities.

In designing the masterplan we have adopted sound urban design principles.  We have looked at the definition of the settlement and the delineation of entrances and approaches.  These are expressed through the design itself rather than in adding elements to roundabouts or verges.  Too often this 'shortcut' to creating identity is used, usually to the detriment of the overall design.  Our sustainable approach allows us to create an identity for the whole settlement.
Outcome
The plan includes for a park and ride facility, a new rail halt, allotments and a cemetery.  The extensive woodland framework uses locally sourced species as a framework within which blocks of single species give a rhythm.  Large expanses of grassland are managed as meadows to maximise the ecological potential and to maintain the feel of the rolling landscape. We have also included an area of willow planting which grows well in the damper areas and will be used as biomass fuel in the longer term.  Our integrated masterplanning approach can revitalise proposals which may have stalled due to changes in policy or economic circumstances.  Flexibility is an essential component of true sustainability.

Team