TEP was commissioned by Northampton Borough Council to implement a 114ha extension to Upton Country Park, which forms part of the award winning and exemplar sustainable urban extension at Upton.
TEP developed the designs based on the original scheme, which had been prepared for planning as part of wider development proposals. TEP’s design role included the routeing and construction detailing of over 2km of footpath cycleway, improvements to a 1.3km section of bridleway, and the design of over 4km of secondary leisure routes.
Other design elements included sections of boardwalk and pedestrian bridges, distinctive primary entrance gateways, secondary gateway orientation points, the creation of a viewing point, new wetland creation, native hedgerow and tree planting, and a comprehensive fencing strategy.
TEP’s Design Team developed a brand and signage strategy for the whole of Upton Country Park. This work included putting together the content and the graphic design for the signage boards, in consultation with the client and local wildlife trust, and with input from TEP Ecologists and Heritage Specialists.
In addition to the signage elements included at the primary gateway entrances and viewing point, these also incorporate hardwood benches integrated into the ironstone walls, and the elevated viewing point features a terraced ironstone filled gabion wall to separate it from the adjacent bridleway route.
The relationship of the proposals to the River Nene and associated drainage was a key part of the design process, ensuring that proposals were compatible with the existing flood alleviation scheme and where necessary sufficiently robust to withstand flood events.
TEP prepared the tender drawings and documents, and assisted with the procurement process, before overseeing the works on site. Implementation was completed in the first half of 2020, and feedback from the client and public has been extremely positive. The footpath cycleway routes and wider leisure network are already proving to be very popular, providing extensive circular routes within the Country Park, as well as connecting pedestrians and cyclists to the wider River Nene corridor and open countryside.
The scheme was awarded a British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) Award for Hard Landscape Construction in 2020.
