Glen Esk Urban Greenspace
Covanburn Projects
Client
South Lanarkshire Council
Value
£750,000
Location
Glasgow
Glen Esk was once derelict wasteland which residents in East Kilbride used primarily for dog walking and as a through route to a local school. Thanks to funding from the Scottish Government Vacant Derelict Land Fund, South Lanarkshire Council tasked us with transforming the area into a piece of greenspace which would incorporate native planting and habitat creation, footpaths, boundary treatments, artwork, an outdoor classroom, a junior mountain bike track and a car park.
There were a few challenges with this former landfill site. Public utilities infrastructure below the ground and close to the working areas were of non-standard depths, meaning we had to be particularly careful that nothing was accidentally damaged during the course of our work. The landfill area had also been capped with clay. We had to make sure we were employing appropriate methods of working for each area.
In addition, the client did not want to see any pointing in a random rubble wall we constructed from Caithness Stone, which made the work more technical than it would typically be. We maintained a careful, patient approach to ensure the work was completed to the standard of excellence required by the client.
The works included:
The granite slabs we placed at points along the recreational paths were inscribed with local wildlife names written in both Latin and Scots, which we thought was a really nice touch. It added a community touch to the project and some character to the space.
