Euston Tower

As part of British Land’s retrofit of Euston Tower, DSDHA were selected to reimagine its surrounding public realm to create an inclusive, connected, and sustainable space that benefits Camden’s communities. As a result of a series of co-design workshops with local residents, DSDHA expanded the brief to include significant biodiversity uplifts within an urban centre, whilst providing active spaces for the public.

The resulting proposal, based on the mosaic of habitats found in the Hampstead Heath ecosystem, introduced a new, high quality, accessible open space that would partially mitigate the losses in the surrounding area as a result of HS2 works. At the same time, it has the potential to assist East-West connectivity by improving walking and cycling conditions along Hampstead Road and Euston Road across the site, while also offering a new landscaped pedestrian link through the Regent’s Place Campus and towards Regent’s Park.

A series of activated landscape elements are arranged around a ‘clearing’ –a civic space with a playable water feature – whilst the podium stairs of the new Euston Tower are integrated into the terraced landscape, thus extending the open space vertically. Dense planting beds with a heathland palette bridge the gap between the ground floor and the publicly accessible first floor podium, creating a unique elevated public realm.

On a site prone to high winds, the landscape has been designed to achieve thermal comfort and wind mitigation without the need for hard standing interventions. Strategically placed mounds placed throughout the site respond to microclimatic conditions and work to buffer pedestrians from the adjacent traffic, noise, and pollution. A freshwater and riparian wetland are included to both emulate conditions in nature and act as a natural stormwater management element. Accessible boardwalks over the wetlands will allow the public to observe and interact with the habitats and provide both educational and ecological benefits. A flexible, programmable water feature will sit within a central square to accommodate a variety of events and activities and provide an active hub for Regents Place.