Happy Londoners move to green spaces for long-term health benefits
- Relocating to a green space improves mental health (University of Exeter)
- Quintain to create London’s newest garden square – Elvin Square Gardens
- Emerald Gardens provides contemporary apartments in nearly an acre of gardens
- Mayor of London looks to ‘lifetime neighbourhoods’ to meet Londoners’ needs
Londoners know that summer in the capital is about being outdoors: taking early morning exercise, long evenings in the parks and weekend picnics and barbecues with friends, making the most of the city’s green spaces. Now it seems that the Mayor’s office is also supporting Londoners’ love of the great outdoors as witnessed in the recent publication of its guidance for planners on meeting the social needs of Londoners.
The Social Infrastructure Supplementary Planning Guidance focuses on ensuring that London has the schools, hospitals and places of worship that its needs for its growing population. But the guidance also considers the wellbeing of Londoners in terms of access to open spaces, with a view to ‘creating places people can live their whole lives.’
It is an ethos that is much in evidence in the massive revitalisation project led by British-developer Quintain in Wembley Park. The North West Village residential development will include the creation of a brand new London square, Elvin Square Gardens, a public space in the heart of urban Wembley for residents and visitors alike to enjoy. It is part of a master plan that is transforming Wembley Park from the home of concerts and sporting events into a destination in which to live in its own right.
But it’s not just the public areas of Wembley Park that are in keeping with the Mayor’s vision of ‘lifetime neighbourhoods.’ The apartments under construction at Emerald Gardens, the current phase of North West Village, are set within almost an acre of tranquil gardens, providing residents with lush green spaces to relax and enjoy year round.
A private courtyard water garden is also incorporated into the progressive layout. The design is rare for a development so close to central London but the inclusion of green space was an essential element as Quintain’s Head of Residential Sales, Paul Hogarth, explains,
“We know how much Londoners love to spend time outdoors so it was clear from the outset that the design of North West Village had to include dedicated green spaces for our residents to enjoy. At Emerald Gardens, we have also ensured that almost every apartment has its own balcony or terrace, for fantastic urban living.
“With Elvin Square Gardens, we have gone one step further and created a new garden square for all those who live in or visit Wembley Park to experience. The design honours the area’s heritage; Wembley Park was well-known as a recreational destination filled with large, green open spaces and tree-lined boulevards, and we have strived to bring this historic identity back to this part of North West London.“
Elisabetta Barone, who purchased a three bedroom apartment in Forum House in Wembley Park in 2009 is delighted with the green spaces available in the area. She remarks on how child-friendly Wembley Park is, with her daughter often playing with the other residents’ children in the gated courtyard in Forum House, as well as the main children’s playground.
Studies have shown that for adults as well as children, access to green space impacts positively on mental health, with the latest research from the University of Exeter Medical School finding that relocating to a greener area in a town or city has an immediate and long-term beneficial effect on an individual’s mental state. Londoners looking to improve their health and wellbeing by moving to a greener area can snap up one of the few remaining apartments at Emerald Gardens for a starting price of £366,000.
For further details, visit http://www.northwestvillage.com/ or call the Savills Sales team on +44 20 3151 8601.