Waterloo Business Park (WBP) industrial estate has been developed in accordance with a comprehensive masterplan, designed to create a functional area with the ability to grow, adapt and evolve over time. It emphasises environmental sustainability and user accessibility, with a goal of supporting sustainable future growth. A founding principle of the WBP masterplan was to provide a range of transport options for those working at the park. In addition to private cars, public buses, cycling, and pedestrian options are all integrated into the layout of the development. The business park is also well positioned to be serviced by future commuter train use. Dedicated cycle lanes, shared pedestrian and cycle paths and on-street cycle stands ensure that a range of transport modes are provided for.
Unique in Christchurch, WBP includes a range of public open spaces including parks and recreational facilities, that encourage those who work there to be active during work breaks. It has been designed to provide a dynamic environment for businesses and the people who work within them, and in so doing promote a sense of community where thoughtfully landscaped recreation spaces and manicured tree-lined avenues blend seamlessly with innovative, functional commercial spaces. This is a development where people can work and play.
One of the challenges faced at this brownfield site was to ensure all contaminants from its previous usage. The innovative, forward-thinking team of civil engineers at Davis Ogilvie & Partners were willing to design and monitor in extensive rain gardens.
High-quality materials, generous pathways and well-maintained garden areas ensure that the streets are an aesthetically pleasing place to be. Street furniture, in a considered palette that references the colours of pipes from the freezing works, is provided at various pause points in the streets around the development, providing opportunities for workers to gather and socialise. Sustainable stormwater collection is managed in rain gardens; the use of solar power, and a well-maintained planting scheme of trees, shrubs and grasses along the streets and in the parks are a few examples of how WBP aims to better the environment.
Improvement of the social, cultural and economic context at the site has also benefitted the surrounding community and will continue to do so. There has been an increased number of people working in Hornby / Islington and the development will continue to provide economic benefit and employment opportunities in the area. Socially, the infrastructure provided as part of the WBP development encourages those who live in adjacent residential areas to visit and use the facilities. One example includes the basketball half-court in Little Waterloo Park. The court is used by workers during the week and also by those who live close by. The benefit of this is that Waterloo Business Park has life and people about in the weekends and evenings – times when traditional business parks are quiet with no one around.
Our role: urban design and landscape architecture.
