Gabions at Cassiobury Park

PROJECT DETAILS

Client: Watford Borough Council

Contractor: Borras Construction

Architect: Knox Bhavan Architect LLP

Location: Watford, Hertfordshire

Date: September 2016

Project Type: Design & Supply

Cassiobury Park is Watford’s largest open space at 190 acres of land which attracts around 2 million visitors a year.

The restoration project was made possible by funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery. The proposal for the project was to restore the historic value of the park, which would include:

Restoration of and improvements to the entrances to the park;
Demolition of the existing structures around the paddling pools and the erection of a park hub building with café, community and exhibition room, education facilities, toilets and changing facilities;
Improvements to the paddling pools;
Extension and improvement of the Cha Cha Cha café;
Relocation of the historic bandstand from its current position in front of the Town Hall to its original position in the park.

Enviromesh were contacted by Borras construction at tender stage to offer design assistance and supply of the gabion baskets. The objective for the gabion baskets was to assist on the design of cladding structures to reinforced concrete walls.

Trapezoidal gabions present a challenge when required to reduce in height over the length of the wall. To achieve this the top unit had to be made as a standard perpendicular gabion rather than trapezoidal in section so that a constant width at the top could be achieved. Custom made trapezoidal panels were provided for the front and rear faces to achieve the sloping top.