Sighthill TRA, Glasgow
Ashlea Ltd are proud to have completed the soft landscape contract at Sighthill TRA in Glasgow. The Sighthill Transformational Area Advanced Infrastructure Project cost in the region of £65 million of an overall project budget of £250 million. The site covers an area of 60 hectares and is the biggest such project outside of London. When complete the project will have created a new neighbourhood on the north side of Glasgow City Centre, just 15 minutes’ walk from George Square.
Some of the features of the regeneration of Sighthill will include
- Almost 1000 new homes
- A new Community Campus School
- A new pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the M8 motorway
- The parkland and green space of the area has been significantly improved with a new public square and proposed new shops and commercial space to follow
Ashlea commenced works on the site in July 2018 and completed these in October 2021. During this time Ashlea Ltd undertook the following works as part of the project:
- Screening and remediation of 25,000 m3 on site topsoil
- Importing over 10,000 m3 topsoil
- Planting of 3800 nr Specimen and Woodland Trees to include semi mature, extra heavy standard, standard and feathered
- Planting of 101,000 shrubs
- Planting 6000 specimen hedging
- Planting over 685,000 bulbs
- Seeding over 100,000 m2 of amenity, sports, and wildflower areas
- Installation of over 4000 m2 RootSpace Underground Tree Cell
Ashlea will now embark on a 5-year maintenance programme to ensure the successful establishment of the soft landscaping to allow the site to mature and develop for the benefit of the community of Sighthill.
Challenges:
- Remediation of the on-site topsoil to allow re-use on site.
- Challenging weather and ground conditions during the 3 winter planting seasons
- Steep areas making semi mature tree planting challenging
- Programme delays and affects to nursery stock
- Site closure due to Covid-19 pandemic
Client: Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure
Landscape Architect: LDA Design
Budget: £5.5 million
The project was entered in to the Landscape Institute Awards by LDA Design in November 2021 and we are proud to say that it was announced as the winner of the Excellence in Landscape Construction Award.
