February 2020
We were lucky enough to dodge the rain at Lubbesthorpe last week when we visited site to look at the installation of our detailed design in the northern part of Feature Square.
As you can see from the photographs the paving is looking great, we’re really happy to see our design intentions around legibility and route hierarchy translating well on the ground.
There is still lots of work to do on the wider project which include play areas, parkland, sustainable drainage, on plot planting and wider green infrastructure proposals. We’re looking forward to the commencement of the next phases of the scheme.
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October 2019
New Lubbesthorpe Primary School officially opens.
A key milestone for the scheme has been achieved with the grand opening of the first school on Friday 4th October. The school is already an important hub for the establishing community and currently has 40 reception age pupils who will be joined by other younger children over the coming years as the housing development continues to grow. FPCR worked closely with the architects and project team, providing detailed designs for the formal landscaping, including rain gardens and seating, to the school frontage as well as the playground and open space areas to the rear of the building where the focus is on more naturalistic elements such as meadow grassland with mown pathways and a willow tunnel, perimeter tree planting with bird and bat boxes together with hedgehog boxes, bee and bug biomes and log piles offering homes to a variety of wildlife! A separate fenced zone with raised allotment beds and orchard planting has also been created for the children to become involved in growing edible produce.
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July 2019
FPCR went to look at the progress of the first Feature Square in New Lubbesthorpe as the area is nearing practical completion. We’re really happy with the work that’s been done with only the finishing touches to paving, installation of lighting and planting of the rain gardens and trees in the square required before the Primary School Contract Area is complete. There has been a huge amount of progress since we were last on site, it’s so exciting to see our designs coming to fruition.
A walk around the site showed how the Green Infrastructure is doing, we’ve been involved in much of the on-plot soft works as well as the public open spaces. You can see from the photos that everything is looking great, the marginal and aquatic planting around pond 1 is particularly lush at the minute. This area is both a diverse and effective ecological habitat as well as a lovely open space for residents to look out over and stroll around.
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January 2019:
The construction of the first Primary School in New Lubbesthorpe is well underway. FPCR have undertaken the design of both the school grounds and the adjacent feature square which will form the first pedestrianised centre of the new town. FPCR have worked closely with Rodgers Leask to provide sustainable urban drainage solutions which work in harmony with the setting whilst also reflecting the ‘green nature’ of New Lubbesthorpe.
It’s safe to say we are excited for how well the building work is coming along and were looking forward to seeing the finished article with our hard and soft landscape design. Something we hope to update you on in the future.
Below is an indication of what the rain gardens alongside the new primary school will look like once it has been completed:
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Autumn 2018:
New Lubbesthorpe, site of the first Sustainable Urban Extension in Leicestershire, has won Infrastructure Project of the Year at the ProCon Leicestershire awards. It has been recognised for the infrastructure put in place since construction began, including a new bridge over the M1 and new road network and a sustainable urban drainage scheme including ponds and public open spaces.
FPCR continue to provide landscape, ecology and arboricultural services as well as previously co-ordinating the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) work. The Practice also produced the Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity Framework and Management Plan and the Arboricultural Assessment, along with the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, Ecological Assessment and Waste Assessment for the Environmental Statement.
Phase One of the strategic employment site is largely completed, of which FPCR were appointed by ERB Drummond Estate to prepare the Green Infrastructure Package, detailed landscape design for the Reserved Matters Application including part of the community parks network and green links together with significant structural landscape planting. Around half of the 400ha site will be dedicated as green space taking the form of extensive new parklands, encompassing the Lubbesthorpe Deserted Medieval Village (a Scheduled Monument) and Lubbesthorpe Brook, as well as new informal and formal public open space, including new sports fields
New Lubbesthorpe has also been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2019 LGC Awards for best Housing Initiative nationally, with the winner announced in March.
Councillor Sheila Scott, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing Strategy, Economic & Community Development, said: “I am proud of the hard work and commitment of our partners and officers to ensure a sustainable development for the residents of New Lubbesthorpe and the district.
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November 2017:
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October 2016:
A significant urban extension west of Leicester, within Blaby District, New Lubbesthorpe will generate 4,250 new homes together with a secondary and two primary schools, a district centre, two local centres and a gateway employment area as well as a further strategic employment site.
Around half of the 400ha site will be dedicated as green space taking the form of extensive new parklands, encompassing the Lubbesthorpe Deserted Medieval Village (a Scheduled Monument) and Lubbesthorpe Brook, as well as new informal and formal public open space, including new sports fields. New road infrastructure includes two new bridges crossing both the M1 and M69 motorways to connect the development with Leicester to the east of the M1 and to provide a link between the new housing and the strategic employment site located south of the M69.
FPCR have provided landscape, ecology and arboricultural services and co-ordinated the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) work. The Practice also produced the Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity Framework and Management Plan and the Arboricultural Assessment, along with the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, Ecological Assessment and Waste Assessment for the Environmental Statement.
Following outline approval, FPCR were appointed by ERB Drummond Estate to prepare the Green Infrastructure package for the first phase of development and detailed landscape design for Reserved Matters Applications including part of the community parks network and green links together with significant structural landscape planting.
