Garden Bridge

Background

The is a new iconic footbridge that will span the , from Temple underground station on the Embankment to the . The bridge will house a new ‘park’ and gardens for central London. More information at www.gardenbridge.london

Opportunity

The proposed design was to build one end of the bridge in the ‘Conservative’ run , with the other in the ‘Labour’ run London Borough of Lambeth (LBL). Separate planning consent was required in each borough. During the Planning stage Download PDF the scheme was generally supported by the Conservative MPs and , and generally opposed by Labour MPs, local councillors and mayoral candidate . Gaining planning consent in LBL was a protracted process with every detail scrutinised by both the public and official bodies. To further complicate things the construction site for the south landing building is adjacent to highly noise sensitive properties including the ITV London studios which have live broadcast studios directly overlooking the proposed work site. This included piling works within 4m of one of the studios, which meant that construction noise and vibration was a major concern.

Solution

SRL worked closely with: contractor - Bouygues, the client - Garden Bridge Trust and the stakeholders including London Borough of Lambeth (LBL), City of Westminster and ITV to develop a number of acoustic documents for the planning submission. These included a comprehensive Noise and Vibration Mitigation Strategy to discharge a noise related planning condition for LBL, the noise chapter for the Site Environmental Management Plan for Westminster and a Trigger Action Plan for the ITV London Studios. We also predicted noise and vibration levels from construction works, including piling to the ITV studios and considered a number of mitigation measures. We met regularly with ITV and the other stakeholders throughout the process and attended planning committee meetings. Against the tide of fierce opposition from the Labour MP's, some LBL councillors and local resident groups, planning was finally granted by LBL in March 2016.