Back to Projects
Senior Living: Mayfield Village, Watford
- Client: Audley and Kier
- Scope + Status: Design & technical delivery of communal gardens & roof terraces, completed.
- Consultants: Gaunt Francis Architects
102 Trees Planted
Our Principles
2290 m² Social/Play Space
300 Residents
A place for the residents to feel part of a community
Outerspace helped Mayfield Village become an oasis of connection and community on the edge of Watford town centre. A high-density scheme for senior living, the building layout focuses upon a communal garden. Overlooking the riverside park and railway beyond, these gardens have an open embracing aspect and so the challenge was to create a garden that felt secluded, protected and welcoming.
Design Response:
Embracing a belonging, offering magic moments of delight
The design of the communal garden sort to give residents a sense of community and belonging whilst providing opportunities for them to enjoy their own magic moments throughout the seasons.
Our design balanced connection and calm with interest and delight. So whilst the magnificence of a central lawn and substantial pergola feature has provided an area for communal gatherings and activity, a serpentine pathway offers a winding route around the perimeter of the gardens. Along this route a trail of features that offer ever changing experiences throughout the year such as intimate niches with seating, sculpture and plants that become their calender with their spring flowering, autumnal splendour and winter bark.
And on the rooftops are gardens of a different nature. Raised planting beds are for residents to grow their own vegetables and fruit, whilst seating is there for them to chat, bringing memories back of their old allotments from a not so distant past.
“Moving from our own house into a brand new development was worrying at the time, but the gardens give us so much pleasure. We’re often out there chatting with neighbours, but actually we love just taking a walk on our own”
Mr and Mrs Mercado
Residents
Community Outcomes:
A place that feels like home
The gardens have already made a huge impact on the lives of the residents living there. Whether sitting in the lounge or garden terrace and chatting with new friends or by strolling around the gardens in the late afternoon sun, they really do feel they are living in a communal home.
The fight to flourish
Communal Gardens really can help people flourish in their later years. Both in a protective sense of community and in their own individual mental and physical wellbeing, the gardens provide a sense of belonging to the present whilst evoking memories of the past.
Learnings & pride points
-
Balancing bold simplicity with elements of interest
-
Perimeter walks with magic moments
-
Healthy landscape budgets lead to healthy landscapes
-
Talking to residents living there and their experiences