Royal Botanic Garden Kew

In 2008 Gross. Max. Landscape Architects were commissioned by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to develop a new Landscape Master Plan for the Gardens and update the World Heritage Site Management Plan.

The project involved an extensive site assessment, analysis and consultation process to develop a full understanding of the gardens. The Master Plan incorporated projects aimed at maintaining and reinforcing the landscape structure of the Gardens including its vistas, boundary planting and open spaces. Development projects are aimed at new interventions and improvements to existing features that focus on showcasing the aims of Kew and its Breathing Planet Mission. The proposed Breathing Planet Walk links existing features such as, the Temperate House, Tree Top Walkway and Palm House with proposed developments which include new tidal riverside gardens, a lost World display and Polar House. The Breathing Planet Walk also aimed to open the wider gardens to visitors drawing them away from the existing ‘honey pot’ around the Palm House.

The update of the World Heritage Site Management Plan allowed for the incorporation of key policies and projects from the Master Plan, such as the continued restoration of the vista planting, to be written into Management Plan so that both plans were unified and act as a united driving force behind the gardens development. To aid this key aims, policies and actions were written into a usable matrix at the end of the Management Plan.