FORMER QUEEN ELIZABETH RIDING SCHOOL

The Challenge

The site occupies the former Queen Elizabeth Riding School, positioned beside the historic pub and directly adjacent to Epping Forest, offering residents immediate access to woodland paths. The project presented two key challenges: establishing an ecological link between Epping Forest to the east and the cricket ground to the west, and ensuring that the site’s equestrian heritage was meaningfully reflected within the new development.

The Design Solution

The landscape strategy uses native planting and informal play features to enhance biodiversity while meeting functional requirements such as an attractive entrance sequence, effective screening, drainage management, and sensitive boundary transitions to the surrounding woodland.

Within the central garden, equestrian references are integrated through repurposed site materials and carefully selected features.

Demolished building bricks are reused to create a horseshoe-shaped path and a pergola incorporating heritage interpretation boards.