Project: Pears Building, Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, London.

Client: Willmott Dixon / BMJ Architects / Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust / Royal Free Charity.

Project Brief: The Pears building is a world-class research facility within the grounds of the Royal Free Hospital, housing the UCL Institute of Immunity and Transplantation (IIT). 

Designed by Hopkins Architects & BDP, the IIT will develop revolutionary new treatments for conditions including leukaemia and diabetes.

MSS has been appointed to BMJ Architects / Willmott Dixon to resolve the technical design considerations and site co-ordination, leading community and stakeholder consultation on the Landscape strategy, Planting and public realm.

Project Outcome: The project has been designed as a sequence of public realm spaces to enhance the building setting between the existing Royal Free Hospital and Hampstead Green, a small nature conservation space and Wildlife area.

The public frontage is defined by a richly planted parterre, which steps down from the main entrance at Hampstead Green. To the Southern edge of the site a group protected London Plane trees have been incorporated into the design, safeguarded to provide a mature setting for the building. The terrace is planted with specimen trees and richly layered ornamental planting to create a soft and activated building frontage.

Above a podium car park, two courtyard spaces have been created to the rear: Heath Strange Gardens and the UCL Terrace Garden. These conjoined gardens are split level linked by bleacher seating steps. Heath Strange garden is a contemplative & memorial space and the UCL terrace acts as a viewing platform with an open southern aspect towards Hampstead Heath.

Expertise:

·     Detail Design: RIBA / LI Workstage 5 - 7

·     Construction Drawings.

·     Contract Administration.

·     Public Realm.

·     Heritage Landscape / Conservation Area.

·     Health & Wellbeing.

·     Tree Preservation Orders (TPO)

·     Planting Plans / Bio-diversity Strategy.

Status: Under Construction. 2020 Completion.

Project: Coppice Yard, Whitehorse Road, Croydon, London.

Client: Lynas Smith Architects / Filena Housing Ltd / GHR Construction.

Project Brief: MSS were appointed to prepare a residential and public realm strategy for Coppice Yard, on Whitehorse Road, Croydon.

The project brief was to redefine the landscape strategy for a new residential development of 5 residential blocks.

Project Outcome: A theme of lifestyle & healthy living was chosen to create a healthy & natural landscape setting. The key landscape components are as follows:

Access roads are defined as a shared or community spaces to create a safe network of residential streets and reduce the dominance of vehicular traffic.

Community Courtyard: The courtyard space functions as the main amenity space for the development, defining a bold visual amenity space, with incorporated Open Air Swimming Pool, Underground cycle parking, Curved feature wall and bench, an informal community garden area and playable landform, within an orchard / coppice setting.

Native screen planting surrounds the site, with a mixture of Birch and Alder trees with integrated Green Walls.

A trim trail provides opportunities for recreation with incorporated gym, obstacle and workout areas.

An integrated SUDS drainage strategy reduces the surface run off with porous surfaces, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the project.

The work undertaken by Marcus Shields Studio informed the marketing direction for the development, with the site being branded ‘Coppice Yard’ in response to the healthy & natural landscape design approach.

Keywords:

·     Landscape Architecture.

·     Concept / Developed / Technical Design.

·     Riba / Landscape Institute Workstage 2 - 7.

·     Healthy & Natural Landscapes.

·     Brownfield site renewal.

·     Native Planting / Biodiversity.

·     Community Place-making.

·     Outdoor Swimming.

·     Shared Space / Homezone.

·     SUDS / Rain Gardens.

Status: Under Construction. 2020 Completion. 

Project: Ebbsfleet Garden City Competition, Ebbsfleet, Kent.

Client: Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. Landscape Institute Competition.

Project Brief: The project required entrants to prepare ideas for Ebbsfleet, a new garden City in Kent. The brief outlined a request was for ‘an ideas competition that invites individuals and teams to showcase their visionary thinking.’ Representing ‘a challenge for landscape professionals to demonstrate the leadership potential of their industry in showing the way towards a healthy living environment.’

Project Outcome: For our submission, we choose the Swanscombe peninsula site, an under-utilised area of marshland and derelict harbour, overlooking the River Thames and Tilbury dock.

Working with the grassland and salt marsh habitat, the site was sensitively designed as a series of distinctive parks and natural spaces to Re-connect, Regenerate, Rejuvenate, Repair the existing landscape, Re-using local materials. The key areas are:

Black Duck Marsh. A key gateway from the East with a community hub at Greenhithe, devoted to wildlife conservation and passive recreation.

Broadness Pier. The disused pier would form the key River Thames gateway, defined by a visitor information centre and event spaces.

Broadness Marsh. Broadness Marsh functions as the key recreational area, creating an Aqua Park to promote water sports and recreational activities including, canoeing, kayaking and fishing.

Broadness Harbour & Lighthouse. Rejuvenated from its current derelict state to create a working marina, broadness harbour is designed as a live-work space, showcasing traditional boatbuilding crafts and skills, incorporating a museum with cafes and Kent beach huts for accommodation.

The lighthouse would have a new public pier and viewing platform, overlooking Queen Elizabeth Bridge.

Botany Marsh. An Eco-education centre would act as the key gateway to Botany Marsh which keeps much of it natural character and landscape sensitivity.

The site would be reconnected with a series of paths to promote access, including the River Thames Path, a wide family route, Manor Way Community Link an East to West cycling and walking route connecting Ebbsfleet and Greenhithe, boardwalks and play trails.

Viewing pavilions and pontoons would overlook the estuary and salt marshes to enhance the experience of nature and provide moments of respite and shelter

There is also an opportunity to work with London Paramount Leisure Site, to connect communities to Swanscombe Peninsula.

Expertise:

·     Concept Design.

·     Landscape Ecology.

·     Garden City Ideology / Ebenezer Howard.

·     River Thames / Estuarine Landscape

·     Ebbslfeet / Swanscome.

·     Post Industrial Landscape.

·     Bio-remediation.

·     Green Infrastructure.

·     Landscape for living / Active Landscape.

·     SUDS / Flood protection.

Winning Entries:

Ebbsfleet Design Competition.

Project: Hammersmith Highline Competition, Hammersmith, London.

Client: Hammersmith BID / West London Link Architects Group.

Competition Brief: The competition was launched by Hammersmith BID, alongside architects group West London Link. The brief asked designers to generate ideas for a disused railway viaduct sandwiched between the town centre, Lyric Theatre and rail lines.  The aim was to reimagine the area, considering how the disused industrial viaduct could act as a catalyst for change to create a destination for residents, employees and visitors. The brief invited submission, with reference to the highly successful Highline in New York.

The competition received over 63 entry submissions, considering options from the fanciful to the deliverable. The MSS entry did not win the competition and was featured in an exhibition at kings mall. 

Project Outcome: Following an initial analysis, site and historical research, the MSS submission was based on breaking down existing boundaries and urban fragmentation, reconnecting the viaduct with the surrounding communities to create an active community space.

The design references the ‘Vineyard Nursery’, a renowned Hammersmith nursery founded in 1745 by James Lee & Lewis Kennedy. The local nursery was responsible for bringing in a large number of plants to the U.K, which are listed in Hortus Kewensis, 2^ndedition. This informs the planting palette for the project, creating a rich and verdant range of plants, showcasing the 145 exceptional species introduced by Lee & Kennedy.

The design uses a sculptural pergola or arbour structure running along the length of the viaduct, emulating the curved form of a tendril. Vines and climbing plants would be supported from this structure to create a green and biodiverse backdrop to the adjacent buildings and rail infrastructure. 

The arbour interweaves a sequence of functions to create spill out spaces, outdoor performance areas, viewing platforms and define access and entrance points, reaching out and twining together the surrounding area.

The arbour would provide support for bridges and define a sequence of spaces along the length of the structure, with informal seating with access points promoting connectivity to the east. These spaces would range from active to calm spaces which would offer respite from the city.

Expertise:

·     Concept Design / Design Ideas.

·     Precedent Study: High-line New York.

·     Arbour / pergola.

·     Hammersmith.

·     Business Improvement District (BID).

·     Green Infrastructure.

·     Post-industrial landscape.

·     Urban connectivity.

·     City Park.

Winning entries:

Hammersmith High Line Competition Winners.

Eco Bike Høøse, Kentish Town, Camden, London.

Project Brief: As an aside from our normal business, we self-built a bicycle shed for our house in Kentish Town: given that we have over 15 bikes as a family, we realised it had to be a decent size!

Our house in Camden overlooks the garden and to avoid an unsightly shed roof, we wanted something to be attractive year round. The brief was to create a sustainable and ecological shed made from natural materials.

Project Outcome: From this the idea of a green roof materialised, which defined the sustainable approach for the project, using natural light, recycled plastic sheeting, Corten steel and western red cedar throughout. 

The roof is constructed with a natural EDPM rubber coating over ply sheeting, with edges retained by Corten steel to create a rich, earthy looking, oxidized rust finish which is self-protecting. 

The green roof utilises a water-cell reservoir to control run-off and retain moisture for the plants. My wife and I gathered the growing medium material from a local aggregate recycling yard, utilising a mix of post-construction crushed brick / gravel and screened topsoil, with 100L of extremely aromatic green food waste provided by Islington Council. We needed 0.75 ton, and as it was £20 per ton it was a bit of a bargain.

The roof planting is a natural hessian matt, pre- planted with a mix of sedum, wildflower and spring bulbs to provide year round cover. Water filters through to a corten water butt, with a capacity of up to 280L+. This ensures the water to be re-used to irrigate the garden with a watering can and any overflow is re-used to irrigate the roof.

To create a feature of the front we used a brightly coloured impressionist style recycled plastic sheet, which is made from waste plastic yoghurt cartons. (Supplied by a company called Smile Plastics) Large windows, dome roof lights and a glazed pivoting timber frame door provide an abundance of natural light for bike repairs.

The windows and door are framed with Western Red Cedar, which similar to corten steel, requires no painting or varnishing. Another element helping to add depth and rhythm to the facade is the brise soleil timber screen used across the front also helping to reduce direct sunlight and to screen the contents. 

The frame is constructed of recycled and FSC approved timber & exterior plywood sheeting from our local builders merchant, sealed with water based yacht varnish to ensure longevity. All lights are low energy LED fittings 

In 2013 the Shed won the Eco-Shed category for the U.K wide readers sheds, Shed of the year competition, sponsored by Cuprinol. The shed was widely featured in the media, Local and national newspapers and also appeared on TV with George Clark's amazing spaces. The wildflower / sedum roof has now been established for over 5 year and looks as good as ever.

The Wildflower & Sedum turf supplier was Lindum:

Lindum: Wildflower Turf Supplier.

Ham & High Article

Guardian Article: Shed of the Year

Project: Dudden Hill Lane. Brent, London.

Client: Lynas Smith Architects / Findon Homes.

Project Brief: Dudden Hill Lane is a new mixed use / residential development in Brent, North West London. The site contains four blocks connected by a podium landscape and underground parking.  Working with Lynas Smith Architects, Marcus Shields Studio developed the Masterplan for the public realm and amenity spaces.

Project Outcome: The site is surrounded by naturalised railway embankments, which the landscape strategy embelishes to define strong physical links interweaving the built form. The natural setting creates a sequence of spaces: a linear walkway, nursery piazza, central courtyard, rain gardens and play areas in a natural setting.

The under 6 year olds play space is connected to the Central Courtyard, with a shelter for children and parents. An accessible route circulates the site, containing landform and natural play elements and mound. A tactile play wall has been incorporated into the shelter, with kinetic, noise and sound elements

Located at the bottom corner of the site, the 4-12 year old play space has a number of features for this older age group. A self contained rain garden offers opportunities for outdoor education and natural play, whilst also functioning as a SUDS feature. Within the play area itself a series of terraces, geometric play forms and grass play mounds define a natural playable landscape. A central play tower functions as the key fixed play element in the play area, activated with bridges and slides.

The main podium is defined by a series of courtyard spaces above and offer strategic views to the iconic Wembley Stadium. Allowing fire vehicle access, the central courtyard has a water feature and seating area.

Throughout the site, planting has been entwined to enhance the natural setting, utilising Semi-mature tree panting, green walls, low level ground cover, mixed native woodland and rich layered planting beds.

Keywords:

· Concept / Developed / Technical Design.

· Landscape Architecture / Riba Workstage 2-7.

· Healthy & Natural Landscape Setting.

· Brownfield site renewal.

· Native Planting.

· Biodiversity.

· Play Space / Playable Landscape

· Community Courtyard / Podium Landscape.

· Amenity Space.

· SUDS / Rain Gardens.

Status: Planning granted 2017. Completion 2022.

Project: TP2 Tavistock Place, Bloomsbury, London.

Client: BMJ Architects / London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicines (LSHTM) / Post Novation - 8 Build Ltd.

Project Brief: TP2 is located in Tavistock Place, Bloomsbury, London, behind the existing LSHTM building. For LSHTM, Marcus Shields Studio prepared the detailed design and condition discharge package.

Project Outcome: The project creates a sequence of terraces and green planted walls, which are visible from the new office spaces and surrounding Bloomsbury terraces, creating a natural setting. Working closely with the neighbours, the green walls help mitigate views and overlooking providing privacy along the periphery.

With integrated SUDS, the roofs have been designed to work with a semi-intensive native green roof system, containing a mixture of sedum and wildflower species. Screening the office spaces, a series of brass finish privacy screens ease neighbouring views, with further climbing plants in the low level planters. Each planter contains a carefully selected mix of climbing plants and spring bulbs to ensure abundant cover with seasonal variation to enhance the Biodiversity and urban greening.

Expertise:

·     Concept-Developed Design.

·     RIBA / LI Workstages 2-3.

·     Construction Drawings / Specialist meetings.

·     Integrated SUDS. Blue / Green Roofs.

·     Planning Application / Condition Discharge.

·     Conservation Area / Bloomsbury.

·     Community / End-user Consultation.

·     Health & Wellbeing.

·     Planting Plans / Bio-diversity Strategy / Urban Greening Factor.

Status: Start 2020 - Completion 2023.

Project: Roofgarden, UCLH Phase 5 Treatment Centre, Bloomsbury, Camden, London.

Client: UCLH (University College London Hospitals) / BMJ Architects.

For UCLH phase 5 we were appointed to prepare the planting schedules, BREEAM Assessment and condition discharge package, based upon a previous concept design.

Project Brief: The project brief was to provide opportunity for a private reflective space, which is enclosed from the adjacent residential properties with a 1.8m high glazed balustrade.

Project Outcome: Careful consideration was given to the microclimate to ensure shade, shelter and acoustic conditions were addressed. Integrated seating and planting create a multi-use space that can cater for functions, small groups or individual enjoyment. The roof terrace offers panoramic views of Bloomsbury towards the Shard Building and BT Tower.

Paving and planters are laid at a 45 degree angle to form an articulated staggered edging. Planting has been chosen to include a variety of species which provide year round interest with a rich texture of scent and colour.

Sedum Roofs: The upper roof level contains two roofs at either end, which are not accessible to the public planted with Sedum & wildflower matting. P.V. Panels provide renewable energy to the building.

Expertise:

·     Detail Design: RIBA / LI Workstage 4-7

·     Construction Drawings.

·     Roof Terrace Amenity Space.

·     Sedum roof / Intensive / Semi-intensive roof.

·     Planning Application / Condition Discharge.

·     BREEAM.

·     Health & Wellbeing.

·     Planting Plans / Bio-diversity Strategy.

 Status: Competed Summer 2019.

Project: K1 Development, Knightsbridge, Brompton Road, Kensington & Chelsea, London.

Client: Chelsfield Partners / Aecom / Skanska / Fletcher Priest Architects.

Project Brief: The K1 development is a large London city block located in Knightsbridge, on the Brompton Road, adjacent to Harrods and Knightsbridge tube station, considered one of the best shopping locations in the world. 

The development comprises street level retail, offices and residential apartments with terraces offering panoramic views over Knightsbridge and Hyde Park.

For Chelsfield Partners, Marcus Shields Studio prepared concept designs for four roof terrace spaces to compliment office, restaurant and residential activities. 

Ideas were explored to consider how each space could work to enhance the accompanying use. Concepts were prepared for viewing terraces, flexible office break out space with a ‘blood red’ glazed brick feature bench emulating Knightsbridge station below.

The gardens were designed as secluded green terraces, allowing informal dining and internal views to create lush planted backdrops.

Keywords:

· Landscape Architecture

· Concept Design

· Detailed Design

· Roof Terrace

· Amenity Space

· Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, London

Status: Under Construction. 2021 Completion

The Beacon, Pershore Street, Birmingham.

 Client: Rockspring / Bouygues U.K.

The Beacon is located on Pershore Street, Central Birmingham, in an area currently undergoing extensive redevelopment. For Rockspring Residential, Marcus Shields Studio designed three new terraces to create valuable amenity space for 336 new apartments, which overlook the amenity spaces, with views to the city centre and Bullring.

For the main courtyard space a 25m sculptural feature bench was designed,  providing a bold visual quality to the courtyard. Designed to offer a variety of seating typologies, the bench creates space for relaxing, seating and gathering, changing from bench to lounger profile in the centre. The bench overlooks a grass area and demountable screen with external dining area to offer a variety of options.

From the 11^thfloor, the roof garden offers panoramic views over Birmingham, incorporating growing areas, herb garden beds and a shelter dome to activate the space and provide community activities surrounding a central space.

Keywords:

· Landscape Architecture

· Concept Design

· Detailed Design

· Roof Terrace

· Community Courtyard

· Amenity Space

· Mixed-use

· Residential

· Community Growing Space.

Status: Ongoing subject to further client & design review.

Project: Parking to Parks. 40 Ideas for London.

Client: NLA - New London Architecture

Project Brief: To mark the New London Quarterly 40th Issue Special, New London Architecture called for 40 ideas to shape a better London. The request was for innovative ideas, sketched on napkins, which propose measures to improve the city.

Designers were asked to consider proposals ‘from micro to macro, and across all sectors of the NLA network, we asked for the best blue-sky but workable concepts to improve the city, expressed, where possible, as a pencil or pen sketch on a napkin’

The brief asked for ‘positive ideas for the capital, whether they be economic, social, environmental, political, spatial, big, small, interim or long-term solutions.‘

40 ideas were selected from around 200 entries along with short 100 word written descriptions. The Marcus Shields Studio idea for ‘Parking to Parks’ was one of the 40 sketches selected.

The project looked at options to reconsider our streets and the dominance by car parking spaces. The proposal is based on reduced car ownership by 2025 and subsequent decreased street parking requirement.

The sketch napkins were published in Issue forty of the NLQ Autumn 2019 magazine and will form the basis of a 2020 exhibition at NLA.

Project Outcome: (Extract of submission text.)

‘Current policy projections consider that there will be 25-30% less cars within London’s ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) by 2025.

As the city reduces the number of private cars, there is an opportunity to manage and reconfigure empty parking bays, to consider alternatives.

An example of a street with 80 cars, this reduction would provide the following:

2.5m x 5m Parking bay = 12.5m2

20-25 Spaces x 12.5m2 = 250-300m2

This space could permit many activities and engender community place-making, incorporating elements such as SUDS systems, Pocket parks, Play areas, cycle parking, Green Infrastructure, Trees, Community Growing or de-stress / chill-out spaces.’

Expertise:

· Conceptual / Sketch Ideas.

· Idea on a napkin.

· Pocket parks.

· Community Place-making.

· Green Infrastructure.

· Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems.

Available to buy here:

NLQ Issue Forty

Project: Holy Trinity Square, Hartland Road, Camden, London.

Client: Holy Trinity & St Silas School / Camden Council.

Project Brief: Working with Richard Keep Architects, our proposal was for a New public square and playground at Holy Trinity St Silas' Primary School, Camden.

Based on a wider framework and urban realm study, the project reviewed feasibility options for a new public square and playground on Hartland Road connecting Holy Trinity St Silas' Primary School and the church.

Project Outcome: The proposal closes a section of Hartland Road to provide a flexible link between the current school building and its Assembly Hall/ Dining Room on the other side of the road annexed to Holy Trinity church.

Extending the current playground in to the road and creating a new public square between Holy Trinity Church Entrance and the School entrance created welcoming new plaza off Castlehaven Green space. This would reduce the traffic in the immediate area, pollution in and around the school and allow a safe crossing for schoolchildren.

It is proposed to retain a public pedestrian and cycle link along Hartland Road outside of school hours, allowing the Church Hall to reach out to the Community.

Preliminary Public Consultation, including a leaflet drop has been carried out by the school, though formal Public Consultation by the Local authority will happen when funding is available.

The project has been prioritised by London Borough of Camden Primrose Hill Ward for CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) funding.

Expertise:

· Community Consultation.

· Public Realm design.

· Funding / Feasibility options.

· CIL funding.

· Collaborative working.

Status: Feasibility / Consultation.

Project: A High Line for London: Green Infrastructure ideas competition for a new London landscape.

Client: Landscape Institute, Mayor of London and Garden Museum.

Project Brief: The competition was launched in July 2012 by the Landscape Institute in partnership with the Mayor of London and Garden Museum.

Marcus Shields partnered with Rebecca Gale (Beccle design) for the competition entry, proposing a circular park for the city.

Inspired by the Highline in New York, the brief was to create a public design project that went beyond the commonly accepted role of urban parks and engaged communities with the benefits of green infrastructure. The competition attracted over 100 green infrastructure ideas from around the world as an open ideas competition.

Project Outcome: (Extract of submission text.)

‘Circular Park - circularis parcum.

New York has the physical apparatus for an elevated walkway, London however does not: Circularis Parcum aims to emulate the qualities of the High-Line, creating a connected green parkway, retrofitted to a modern urban context.

Regents Parks Outer Circle forms the datum for the concept, adopting the persona of the space to create a kindred route within another city quarter. Significantly for London, the Outer Circle is one of the few roads not dominated by vehicles, offering a safe enclave for the many park users. Our proposal intertwines elements of this popular route and celebrated peoples park into the existing streets of London to create the circular park.

The circular park would act as a device to reconnect parts of the city which have lost their sense of community: so called “Zones Incognito”.

Where the circularis route intervenes, it would connect the neighbourhood, empowering the community to utilize local expertise and skills to enhance the environs. The parkway would be pedestrian orientated with traffic reduced or completely removed, incorporating shared space for community activities and artistic interventions, small pocket parks, allotments, piazza spaces and street markets to provide a community focus, creating a conjoined city quarter.

The reconfigured space would be self-sustaining, incorporating rainwater harvesting, SUDS, Tree planting, enhanced biodiversity, Green roofs & walls to create a significant city park which circumvents the community to create a new focus.

Circularis parcum would be a local park celebrating community spirit and inviting people into the true structure of London.’

Expertise: 

· Green Infrastructure

· Urban Park

· New York Highline - Precedent

· Competition Entry.

Status: The Competition was won by Fletcher Priest. Following the exhibition at the Garden Museum, a website called New London Landscape was set up, allowing visitors to explore the 100 previously unseen design ideas, post comments about individual designs and strike up conversations with the designers.