Chesil Street Almshouses is a proposed development with planning approval adjoining the historic Chesil Theatre and SSSI Itchen River. The scheme aims to provide 16 affordable apartments and support facilities for older people in social or financial or social need.
The landscape marries maximum gains for wildlife with engaging interaction spaces for residents. Roof gardens link to the retained bankside habitat with a simple ground planted green wall system. The green wall shelters bat, bird and habitat boxes, drawing wildlife into the development with associated health and wellbeing benefits for residents.
The external proposals create visual interest for users of the adjacent riverside footpaths and usable leisure space for residents. Pleached trees provide boundary screening and visually continue the language of formally clipped trees and vegetation from adjacent gardens. Mature trees on the river bank are retained and protected with selective removal to achieve a balance between privacy for residents and engagement with the activity on the riverside footpath.