Trees and the Public Realm - Westminster City Council

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Page 24 Trees and the Public Realm (Draft) offer scope for some street tree planting but these will need to be very carefully considered according to the particular context and with rational composition in mind. Alternative opportunities for greening in these areas should also be considered as outlined in Section 8. Scale and proportion 45. A 30-metre tall tree is a large object within the townscape (being similar in height to an eight storey building) with the effect compounded if planted in groups or avenues. It is important to therefore consider the effect that the size and number of trees, when fully grown, may have on the surrounding townscape. 46. The height of any immediately adjacent buildings should be a key consideration. This is particularly important in residential streets where trees that over sail the adjacent houses can not only create anxiety for residents, but can also unbalance the overall appearance of the street. Great care and attention to detail has been paid to Westminster’s buildings and townscape over many centuries, and trees should complement the buildings fronting our streets and the area generally. 47. There is much more scope for larger trees in parks and gardens. Furthermore, single specimens at junctions, those in squares, or those planted as part of an avenue may serve a purpose in structuring the space or as a landmark and can therefore grow higher than adjoining rooflines. However in both cases care needs to be given to the amount of daylight to nearby habitable windows, and the size of the space available for healthy growth. In areas of high buildings, carefully selected smaller trees can introduce a more human scale. Ebury Bridge, SW1 (left) and Broad Court, WC2 (right): The trees shown right in Covent Garden are in proportion with the surrounding buildings, in contrast to Ebury Bridge where the tree appears lost at its current size in this arrangement .
Trees and the Public Realm (Draft) Page 25 Buckingham Gate, SW1: As shown here, single trees can be appropriately sited at junctions, giving more space to grow to natural height, and leaving the buildings along the street unobstructed. 48. The Department for Transport’s publication, Manual for Streets (2007) provides helpful guidelines on this subject. The public realm is defined by height as well as width – or, more accurately, the ratio of height to width. The height of buildings (or large trees where present in wider streets) is in proportion to the width of the intervening public space to achieve enclosure. The actual ratio depends on the type of street or open space being designed for. This is a fundamental urban design principle – streets with the height: width ratio under 1:1.4 are generally unsuitable for tree planting. Spacing 49. Strategically located trees can frame desirable views and hide undesirable ones. Equally, poorly-located trees can obscure the view of a desirable subject that is either close to or far away. If planting an avenue consider the vistas created. Strategically located trees can be used to define space without necessarily creating a physical barrier at ground level. Roadside planting marks the boundary between the space for traffic and the footway space for pedestrians.
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Trees and the Public Realm - Westminster City Council

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