Walsall Waterfront

• Location:

  UK

• Site Area:

  1.2 Hectares

• Client:

  Urban Splash

• Architects:

  SMC Alsop

• Engineers:

  Adams Kara Taylor

• Quantity Surveyors:

  DBK Back

• Project value:

  £1.6 million

Grant Associates were appointed as landscape architects for this ambitious project to regenerate Walsall town centre. The project aims to create a Walsall that people can be proud of, with a landscape environment that promotes a new focus on community and residential development and contributes to the quality and diversity of the neighbourhood.  

The concept interweaves modern architectural icons into the public realm, grounding the new development by drawing on the industrial heritage and geometry of the canal. A series of landscape layers establish a clear spatial hierarchy focused around a series of Squares.

The Event Square is seen as the main public realm hub. It is a flexible space for meeting, play, performance, peace and relaxation, flanked with soft grass earthworks. The Soft Square comprises a series of tilted grass plinths, terraced to activate the canal towpath edge and gently reclining to face the sun. The canal basin forms the reflective heart of the Wet Square.